The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1908-07-10

smile and gracious thanks. With that
he had dismissed the matter from his
mind. A friend had happened on the
scene In time to present him; the
young woman had said it was a pity
that he should have been put to so
much trouble on her account, and he
had recited foolish speceh-he had
read it in French novel-to the ef
lect that any man should consider it
an honor to be her slave.
He had certainly not gone out of his
way to met her, nor tried to extend
the acquaintance beyond the first
meeting. And as for his foolish
speech 1t was preposterous to torture
1t into an offer Of marriage. But there
was her letter, and there was no mis-
taking its meaning.
"A mistake Of the pOstman, of
course" he thought at first, but the
address on the envelope. mr.. Richard
Broadhurst, 81 George street." settled
that point against him.
No; it's intended for me- Now,
this is pretty situation. Has a man
no protection against manageable
girls?"
The letter made it clear provokingly
clear, that Miss Virginia Hamilton
looked upon him as a suitor and that
she was graciously yielding to his en-
treaties.
'Why one would think from this" he
said, that had thrown myself at her
feet and begged her to be my wife,
when, confound her, | wouldn't-but
what's the use Of storming around
about it? l must get this matter
Strengthened out"
For Richard Broadhurst was the last
man on earth who was thinking of
marriage.
But, after ALL why not? The bold
ness Of the thought both startled and
amused him. 1t came back. Why not?
He could not answer the question, al
though he called up all his old-time
prejudices and all the arguments
which to him had seemed to prove
conclusively that he should never
marry.
He remembered that Miss Virginia
was not bad to look upon, that she
gave evidences Of refinement, and that
her manner was pleasing. True, he
had noticed certain haughtiness in
her bearing, but that, he thought,
would be for the world and not for the
man she loved. His old ideas about
marriage might be all right SO far as
the rest of the women in the world
was concerned, but Miss Virginia.
we'll, that was another matter wife
after all-if Miss Virginia were the
wife-might not be the worst thing in
the world
After accepting his offer of marriage
which he had not nade-Miss Vir-
ginia had written that she would re-
main with her aunt in New York till a
week before the wedding, the date of
which, he learned from her letter, was
three months hence.
I suppose" she had written, that
you will call upon your Old friend Mr.
Gay to act as groomsman. Mr. Gay
was the friend who had introduced
them.
'Evidently," Broadhurst laughed,
there isn't much for the modern
groom to do but to appear at the right
time and put his neck into the yoke
The Eride-tO-be picks out the groom
hints at whom she would like to be
best man, names the place and date
OF the wedding, and looks after things
generally. But for the fact that there
couldn't very we'll be a wedding with.
out a groom. suppose they would
eliminate him. But III let Miss Vir
ginlA manage this little affair.""
Then he notified his friend Gay that,
being inexperienced in such matters,
he was going to put himself into Gays
hands. and asked him to look after
ouch little details as his bride-to-be
had not thought to arrange.
He was in a fever of excitement till
Gays answer came, but it treasured
him. 1t was as follows:
"Old hand at the business, and will
see you through 1t. Congratulate you
on the bride you are to get Now, old
man, keep cool and don't get excited.
Above all, don't do foolish things. Just
buy your wedding clothes, be sure to
get here on time, and don't worry
about anything else. l will attend to
all little Details
He then gave minute instructions as
to the clothes the groom should wear.
Really, he's an accommodating fel-
low Broadhurst thought. but I
should like to have something to saw
in this matter. The groom seems to
be almost as unimportant a factor in a
wedding as an unpreferred creditor
where the assets are ten cents on the
dollar"
Then followed three months of &C..
stasy. 1ntermixed at times, it is true.
with the fear that something might
dash the cup Of newly-found bliss from
his lips.
The weeks passed without Broad.
hurst hearing again from Gay or from
Miss Virginia. A week before the date
of the wedding, he thought that per-
haps he ought to 60 over and see them,
but feared to intrude. They were
busy, no doubt, with the arrangements,
and would not care to be bothered by
one who was to play the minor part of
groom. So, impatient though he was,
he concluded to await his cue before
appearing on the scene Then, there
were his own arrangements to look
after. For the fiftieth time he received
the solemn assurance of his tailor
that his wedding clothes were perfect.
Finally, his wedding day arrived,
and he was at the railroad station two
hours before the time for the train to