The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1907-04-02

mercialism. Perhaps this is SO, yet
there must be few exceptions.
know OF one, |. real estate agent,
discovered within cold. prosaic real
estate transfer the threads OF most
narrowing case OF duplicity, crafti-
ness and romance Tying these
threads together and showing them
to the guilty person my cousin
| obtained full confession after prom
ising never TO tell. The best OF II IL
that the other interested person does
not suspect the romance In which he
| figured.
About year before these events,
my cousin Kate had, to prove her inl
| dependence, obtained position az
stenographer for an architectural
| Arm In town. Here were employed
several young draughtsmen, who
promptly became interested in Kate.
but she treated them all impefson-
ally, except one. In this matter,
among many others, Kate showed
her queerness OF taste, for Kate tho
! fy-away, Kate the fiirt, Kate the
conqueror. chose to adopt" Billy
Thotne.
Billy Thorne was a quiet, hard
working fellow, generally considered
rather prosaic He got a fair salary
AMI saved most OF It, never went
anywhere and was never known to
tax to a girl Hence, there was
great wonderment In the Office when
one morning In walked Billy Thorno
with the stenographer. He repeated
this performance several times in
the rext few weeks, and even went
out TO lunch with her. He carried
on IL this way until he became reg
ular caller on Wednesdays and Sun
days Then Billy began to think.
Billy had ideas on certain matters
He thought that man ought no. to
propose TO girl till he owned
house; that q man should never get
In debt was another axiom.
Inasmuch as his bank account
grew slowly he could see no possbil-
ity OF further progress In mis- love
affair, and he knew that he must so
either backward or forward. Hence,
he vas not at all smiling when he
rang the bell at Hates home on one
balmy Sunday afternoon, nor did
Hates proposition TO take a walk
cheer him greatly. They had taken
walks before and Billy had found
that contemplation OF admirable
building sites one could not buy was
depressing
Although Billy had never spoken
OF building sites In personal way,
nor expounded his IDEAS on debt and
marriage to Kate, she, being observ-
ant, had put this and that together
and got a fairly good idea OF the state
Of affairs. Hence she understood
Biliy's guinness and let him walk
alont at her side, scowling and ST.
lent
As they had done before, they
stopped and read certain sign On q
certain lot Billy laughed--a little
bi terly-and said: IF we could
only have an earthquake I'd be
happy
Kate looked puzzled and he ex-
planned: An uncle of mine left me
500 acres OF rocks on the Maine
coast, and a nice, accommodating
earthquake might, In the general
mixup. set few acres down here.
where could use Them
What part OF Maine are they in?"
asked Kate.
Other side OF Calais. I've been
trying to sell that land for several
years, but nobody wants 1t.
Did you ever ADVERTISED"
Yes" answered Billy moodily.
Nothing doing "
Then they walked on. Here's
where come into the story. Just be-
cause | had proposed four or five
times to her--and been rejec. I'd
each time-Kate used me for all
sorts of errands, so was not bit
surprised when Kate came into the
Office and sat down.
Well" | asked, what Is II now?
Want me to circulate a petition for q
municipal theater or restore lost
dog"
mo, John; have you met Mr..
Thorne?" She even blushed.
NO, but I'd like ton dark
night" | answered, looking as fierce
as ] could.
Don't be silly, John; I want you
TO 20 to Mr.. Thorne and buy some
land he has for sale. It's near Calais,
Me. I'll buy It from you-you know
AuTt Emmy left me some money
so you won't lose"
What in the world" | shrieked,
ARE you going to do with land up In
that place; start a fresh air hospital
or summer hotel?"
John" she answered severely.
you we're always too inauisitive
Now do as you're told. And John,
don't mention me at all. Pay him a
good price. | must 90 now. Good
by"
AS usual I did as I was told. II
was throwing money away, but II
was Hates money.
And now go out OF the story. for
the next day Snnday-after
borght the gold brick. Billy Thorne
ran up the steps to Hates house and
hardly got inside before he an
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