Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1907-02-01
ONE OF LlFE'S
LITTLE IRA GEDlES
~ w. }. HAMPTON.

0Ct0r6 IN IL, q man ana o woman.
Neither was too young to be silly or
too old to be sentimental. 1t began
several years ago and ended only re.
Gently, The man lived in New York
ut It's beginning. as he does now, and
the woman lived, and still lives. in
nearby suburb. They met, as men and
women sometimes do, on train. 1t
was no common Irritation. with the
usual disregard of the convention. He
was a gentleman, she lady, and for
some courtesy he had extended with
perfect propriety she thanked him.
and their acquaintance began.
They we're congenial spirits. Surely
II they had not been her thanks for
his courtesy would have marked the
end Of their accidental meeting. They
talked for perhaps an hour before she
left the train, and mutual hope was
expressed that they might meet again.
He had given her his card; she simply
gave him a name. Personal details Of
that sort had small interest for them.
They had discovered in each other in.
tellectual attractions which were OF
deeper interest. They were friends
Of the soul and themind.
Not long after this first meeting
their paths crossed again. this time
in the city. and he asked her to lunch
con with him. She went. and for ar
hour or two they talked as two friends
who had known each other always
They asked no marks OF Identification.
She had his card. he knew her name,
and that was enough. Indeed, not so
much was needed to make their com.
panionship delightful, but names have
their uses in the furtherance Of asso-
citation. A note must be written some.
times or q call sent over the tele.
phone.
After this meeting they saw each
other again several times, never for
more than an hour or so at luncheon.
and then they went their separate
ways.
For two or three years after this
their association was close and con-
slant, and she became companion
and friend who was far more to him
than any he had ever known. He took
her into his business condolences and
she became wise and strong adviser
to him. He did not hesitate to tell
her repeatedly that no woman could
be more to him than she was. But
neither talked Of love, and the grand
passion was ignored by mutual con,
sent. II, indeed, it had ever met with
recognition.
Thus their two lives went on. close
together, interdependent, the one rely
ing upon the other, both faithful. each
uplifting the other. In all these years
what they we're to each other obscured
who they were. and they knew no
more than on that first day when he
had given his card to her and she
had told him her name. What they
knew satisfied them fully.
Not long ago he asked her to come
to town. as he had something Of i'm
portance to tell her. She came, as
she always did in response to any
call he made upon her, and they dined
together, She did not ask him what
matter Of Importance was to be DIS
cussed, because she knew he would
tell her in good time. They talked Of
music and books and plays and people
and the dozens OF subjects intellectual
congeniality makes delightful, and
WHOM they had come to the coffee he
told her they were forgetting the i'm
portant business which had brought
them together.
I'VE have never talked much of our
own selves" he said. "and you know
as little Of ME as know of you, but
I believe we both feel that 1t has been
much better SC"
She nodded, and he went on.
Il What / wished to talk to you about
to.night-what wished to tell you
vas
She put up her hand to stop him.
"You need not tell me-" she said
you are to be married" He bowed
but he did not smile. as one might at
thought Of his wedding day. Il knew
1t must come some time," she con-
'tinued quietly, and with only the
slightest CULVER of her lips, "and !
knew that what we We're to each other
could not always be. l was content
to have 1t as it was. TO have at
tempted any change meant more suf
fering than either Of us can suffer by
the inevitable have not been unpre
pared for this. At the beginning !
saw the end, and have gone forward
to 1t taking, as my own, the sweet
with the bitter, and have been hap.
pier since we met tf,an.I ever was be-.
fore. I shall not be very unhappy
now, but shall miss you more than
can tell"
"And l shall miss YOU he said in a
broken voice. "My obligations have
been elsewhere all the time have
known you and love the woman I
am to marry, but to you | owe a debt
Which"
She did not let him speak further
When are you to be married." she
asked.
He told her.
Possibly my husband might ofici.
ate at the ceremony" she said, hand
ing him a card, with little smile to
tighten the shadows.
1t bore the name Of a clergyman
prominent in a New Jersey town less
than an hour away from Madison
square.
& Couldn't Fool Him Twice.
Tie heavy clouds were massing in