The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1907-11-21
A Grand Passion.
[Original.]

| ed down the cnduI1ol every one re1ndlu-
ed on deck l passed Il lady propped
with cushions in steamer chair and
| noticed that she was both refined and
beautiful She was neither young nor
old-twenty eight to thirty, | should
| say, an age l have always considered
most attractive in women. At any
rate, women about that age are capa.
| BILE of gaining the strongest influence
| over men. AS I passed the lady, look
| ing straight at her, she glanced at me
| for a moment, then lowered her eyes
In very young girl the lowering of
|. the eyes would have been attractive
| In the case Of the lady | refer to both
the lowering of the eyes and the brief
glance had their effect. Not that there
| was anything bold in the latter. It
simply bespoke the quick birth of an
| interest.
I looked that afternoon and the next
day for some one who knew her to III
troduce me, but no one approached her
| with whom | was acquainted. Indeed,
no one came near her. She seemed
very much alone. However, she knew
that I wished to make her acquaint-
ance. I made that evident. She was
writing in her chair, and sheet of let
ter paper flew away with the wind.
chased it to a corner where she could
not see me, picked it up and put 1t in
my pocket. Then l went back, raised
nv hat deferentially and expressed my
sorrow that 1 had not been able to re-
cover her paper. She thanked me for
NV effort, but seemed distressed at its
loss.s was obliged to assure her that
II had gone overheard before she was
satisfied. That opened the acquaint-
ance.
A man strictly honorable, even
soueamish, in ordinary matters may
consider all fair in love and in war
At any rate / did. l wished to gain
some clew to the lady'S inner self. SO
as soon as I was in my Stateroom
read the writing on the sheet. The
writer rambIed to a friend on trifes,
then suddenly said:
ST have met my fate. know it.
feel it. Something tells me that the
rest Of my life is to be given to grand
passion. He is now walking the deck
near me, and I tremble. He is tan
and Saskatchewan hair and eyes ex-
pressive of manly strength of charac-
ter. teeth white under a dark mus
tache Oh, the
felt repaid for my dishonorable con-
duct. / had done evil but good had
come of it. | had discovered that
had excited a grand passion, and this
stimulated grand passion in myself
From the moment / read the words
gave myself up to love. In the morn
ing we gently fenced with Cupid's ar.
rows. In the afternoon we languished.
In the evening 'our spirits rushed to-
gether at the touching Of the lips.
She could not understand how she
could have been so suddenly affected
and wondered if after all it were not
dream. Fl
Then she became indisposed and was
obliged to keep her room, but only for
day. During that day | sent to
her half a dozen notes, in some OF
which l told her that | should die II
she remained where | could not see
her and in one of which | spoke of the
happy future in store for us as we'd
ded pair. When she emerged she was
more subdued. She was not so demon
stratiye in her expressions of love.
She said that she had had trouble; that
when / came to know more about her
might be affected adversely. | sWore
that nothing I might hear would ever
cause me to cease to love her.
When we reached port she gave me
the name of her hotel, and received
permission to call the next afternoon
at and drive her to the park. When
I left her 1 wondered how | would
pass the time till the happy moment
when I should see her again.
The next morning | was breakfast
ing with my paper before me. read
facetious article on the voyage OF the
steamer on which l had come over.
Among other things, there was men
ton of one Of the passengers, woman
of London whose husband had divorced
her, the court giving him the charge
Of their children, the mother being or
scription of her I recognized my charm
er. =
The hour for the drive came, but
did not. / was wondering what l
should do Should disappear? Should
II remain quietly at home and trust
that she would not use the notes l
had written her? / concluded to do
nothing; to wait.
The next morning received re-
proachful note. She had foreseen that
when knowledge of the triumph of her
enemies became known to me I would
desert her; that, having raised her to
the summit of happiness, would cast
her down into an abyss of misery.
made no reply. Two days later | re-
eeived another note. Her tone was
changed. She limited at applying to
the laws for protection. 1 paid no at
tention to the threat Then came
cool note informing me that she was
about to commence suit for a breach