Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1907-06-07
The BACHELORS STORY.

GlbSOn family. My chance TO nave
talk with Bob about Alice came one Sat
uTday night.
Bob" said l. sit strikes me that I
don't recall ever hearing you mention
knowing Miss Alice Gibson
NO. l guess you're right" said he,
carelessly.
"Well?" I said, when he did not offer
to 90 on.
How did I know that you wanted to
meet herr" he thrust at me. Besides,
[ didn't propose to introduce you, as [
take pains that I am not responsible for
her meeting any but high minded men.
Now, please do not give way to excite
ment," he added, when [ picked up a
heavy paper weight. you see [ look
upon myself as a kind of brother to
Alice since she never had one to torment
her. Then, too, we grew up together,
made mud pies when the weather was
favorable, studied out of the same books
at school, and all that sort of thing. Our
fathers have been lifelong friends. Per-
haps you know her governor-Col. Place
DO Gibson?"
"Only by sight" I replied. "He isn't
what you'd call one of our leading law
yers."
|
contemplate making an extended series of
calls at the Gibson home, you'll find him
very much in evidence until he approves
of your pedigree, if you have anything of
that sort, and a biographical sketch of
your past, on which he will be pretty
sure to use magnifying glass. I'd adj
wise you to bride some well known min
lister into giving you letter of recon-
mendation relative to your character"
After this interview | put forward my
best foot when [ met Col Gibson, which
was not at all necessary, as he was a
plain, sensible man who knew gentle
man the moment he set eyes on one. I
| liked the colonel, and while comparing
notes he made the discovery that he had
met my father once. They were in pris-
on together-oh. military prison, of
course, down at Rock Island, Ill. We
spent many pleasant half hour togeth-
er. While [ was waiting for Alice to
Join us, he marched and fought over ev-
cry inch of the ground from Dalton to
Atlanta, Ca, where his military career
terminated unexpectedly.
After Bob found out that I knew
Alice, he got in my way heap. Every
time I'd go up to the Gibson's he'd be
holding down a chair upon the veranda,
talking to the colonel. 1 didn't mind that
at first, but after a while [ began to sit
up and take notice. I saw that he didn't
appreciate the way the colonel took to
me; it seemed to pain him.
It's funny what lot of things a little
love will enable you to see. For instance,
Bob was presented to me in new light.
Apparently he was as cheerful as usual
when we would meet, but though [ con-
tinued to laugh at the proper moment, |
failed to see anything amusing in his
Jokes, perhaps, l had the charity to
think, because | had heard them so many
times. In the days that followed there
was no improvement, and l began to see
that | had made mistake in my esti-
mate of him; he was not the kind of a
man to choose for friend. In fact, he
lacked a lot of being gentleman, and [
often wondered why [ had not noticed
his glaring defects before. He certainly
was not the right kind of man for such
lovely girl as Alice to have to meet.
For the sake of old times [ tried my
best to be civil, but he continued to an
noy and aggravate me in wretched
manner. / do not recall who made the
first unfriendly move; but we soon thor
oughly detested one another.
Il am so sorry" said Alice, when she
heard of the row, and, by the way, [ be-
| Iieve I carried the news to her. Well,
man who had once been my friend had
turned out to be a Sinking coyote, and
she had right to know the facts, since
| the man was also upon her list of friends.
After what seemed to me an unusual
waste of precious time, Alice and [ start
ed for a walk along the cliffs. The path
| through the woods led us to precipice
which afforded a splendid view of the sur
rounding country, so Alice said.
Lets rest here" said she, indicating
moss-covered bowlder. isn't this just
glorious day."
The moment I sat down I began
searching my mind for words to express
the demands of my heart. The evening
before, while pacing the length of my
room, | had composed a very pretty and
suitable speech for this occasion, but
what had become of those nice phrases?
For the life of me / couldn't recall a
single one.
':Alice, I have something to say to
you.' / was finally forced to begin in the
old stereotyped way, and in a tone of
voice which I didn't recognize as my
own. Something of great"
"Why, look!" cried Alice. There's
Fanny and Cousin Charley"
Did l know Fanny? Yes, indeed. Once
she was my guardian angel. | worshiped
the ground she trod upon, liked what she
liked. hated what she hated. I was very
young and foolish then and 1 shall al
ways consider it a miracle, the way |
escaped for she was in earnest, and so
was I, until 1 woke in the nick of time
and told her / would have TO turn back
and let her jog on alone. Now Fanny
didn't get funny and create a scene, yet
wasn't so verdant in those days as not to
be able to see that it hurt, and to under
stand that she was the sort that go
through life with sharp knife tucked up
their sleeve After that she was very
nice to me, but I could see in spite of her
smile that she was camping upon my
trail, and I never could get over the in
clination to back up to wall when she
was talking to me.
After my affair with Fanny 1 met