The Cairo bulletin., 1908-04-06
TIL DEVOTION
OF DICK

lMNMSs ,MzEMz

, Although Dick nnger admitted il.
1t was quite obvious that he was jeal-
: Gus of young Ansaa the next-door
neighbor, who call, | on Miss Edith
two or three eyeri. 80 in the week,
Edith 'erself had Lever shown any
preference, howeVef between the
two; in fact. she hal almost coaxed
DICK to remain In the room when
she saw Arson coming up the front
walk. but Dick usually saw him first
and invariably he would scowl and.
deaf to her urging. go qlietly out
and wander off by himse.i In the
| darkness.
Young Arson was newco mer at
least. he had been In Win.on bat
! lew months, but since the first a.
he saw Edith he had been in Ice
with her, fact which he made 10
attempt to conceal. and which Dick
silently resented; for had he not
! ilVed In the same house with her
since that night he had been found. Il
! tiny bit Of a thing, nalf frozen On
/ the front steps. and taken In AMI
! adopted by the family? Had hey
not loved each othe- before the II
er appeared on the scene? Had he
not once jumped In the pond an
saved her from drowning? Was
she not his by right of discovery?
, Dick thought so.
True, he had never declared his
love in words, AZ his devotion ana
! his pleading eyes must have spoken
more eloquently han any spoken
words could have done. and from the
first he had claimed her for his own.
ANA no one to say him nay till Arson
had appeared on the scene At first
be and Arson had been good friends,
but when the latter began showing
preference for EdIth's society a cold
ness crept in between the two. and
thotgh he showed hi: dislike In
many ways. he was as silent on the
point as he had been on the subject
OF love.
He was still devoted to Edith,
however. and spent every moment
possible with her, but the sight of
the Jther would bring a scowl to his
face and he would stink away, leav-
ing clear field for his rival Arson.
OF course, noted all this, and one day
mentioned the subject to Edith, who
only laughed and answered that IL
was only one'of Dick S freaks and he
would probably soon get over 1t.
Time paccod
stead of her prediction falling true,
DICK grew more sGlky than ever;
that Is, when Arson was about.
which was much more than he used
to be, for he now not only came Jour
or five evening in the week, but took
her out driving on Sunday, or some
times boating on the pond.
Dick was with her when Anson
was not. but the rest OF the time he
passed no one knew where. II
hurt him, too, to think that she was
so heartless, for she was apparently
utterly oblivious to his suffering.
spending much time at the piano
singing songs and this alo grated
on his nerves to the extent OF some
times driving him from the house.
One evening when Arson was
there Dick went out ard wandered
down TO the pond where the tiny
waves CLEANED like ripping silver in
the moonlight He was seriously
running away, for IL
seemed to him that the whole family
was taking an unusual interest In his
rival, but while looking In the wa
ter and thinking over the situation
be was startled by footsteps approach
ing. Looking round he saw two fig
lres coming nearer. a man and
woman, the mans arm about her
waist and her head resting lightly
against his shoulder Dick drew
back In the shadow and waited
They stopped near and began talking
but he could not understand what
hey We're saying. As hey turned.
however, he saw the man take her
n his arms and kiss her again and
T. dll.
Dick could hardly restrain himself
rom dashing out and tearing his riv-
i to pieces; his devotion to Edith
'nly prevented. One point was set
led though. he would run away, he
would not stay there and eat his
eart out with jealousy. He waited
i'll he heard Arson go home. AMI
hen Went up and sat down on the
teps t. form his plans for the flu
are.
Something had also happened to
,dith that night that sent her
thoughts flying into the future, AM
he came out on the STEPS to think
nd found Dick there. Dropping
own behind him she threw ons
rm about his neck and held up a
and on which sparkled a tiny dia-
lond
See, Dick she whispered, that
my engagement ring. | am going
D be married next month. What
o you think of that?"
Dick gazed at her a moment, then
lrned away his head, but did not
peak. He couldn't, for, you see.
lick was only a Big St. Bernard
og.
Sack Full of Ears.
Caorua RroUn of Cairo to4od