The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1909-12-16
NO GNE TO LOVE.
BY FLORENCE ETHEL CROSBY.

brink Of change for better or for
worse. At forty was tired Of life
had built up a good practice in my
profession, the law, aud the novelty
had worn off legal questions. loved
no one. and no one loved me. | was
member of several clubs. but they had
grown to be very dull places to me- AS
for society, The old were too old and
the young TOO young for me- In short.
I had exhausted the pleasures of youth
and had laid no foundation for those
ot age.
One night was travelling on sleep
err. Lying in my berth. | unused: To-
morrow morning shall arrive, go to
my rooms. battle and then to the club
office to be pcs,ered all day by clients
who are dissatisfied With the laws de-
lay or the injustice Of Justice: on the
way TO my rooms stop at The club for
the regular 3 o'clock cocktail: at I
hunt for some one with whom to get
through dinner; evening forced in
order to pass the time to make Il per
functory call: at II bring up at my
desolate quarters. And this will be my
program day in and day out, Oh for q
new sensation.
Here, darling, drink this"
The new sensation had come the mo-
ment l asked for it, The voice was n
woman's. soft and sweet. In the dim
light saw something extended to me.
| 1t was cup. took it. and in doing
so my fingers grazed n soft hand.
| There was spasmodic effort on the
| part of the giver to withdraw the cup.
but had got my grasp on it and re-
| fused to part with it, When | had
quaffed the contents l extended it. but
there was no hand to take 1t. put it
under my pillow and went to sleep to
the sound of an angels voice saying:
Here, darling, drink this"
In the morning l tishcd out the cup.
| 1t was of silver. and on it were the
letters "Bcnnie." After dressing |
looked about me for its owner and was
not long in finding both Bonnie and
her mot Their. They occupied the next
section to mine. The mothers features
were as refined as her voice. She was
about thirty and dressed in half
mourning.
Heaven forgive me for hoping that
her boy was fatllerlcsS.
l tried to catch her eye, but never
did a woman before absolutely ignore
me. She appeared to be absorbed in
her boy and had no eyes for any one
else, certainly not for me. AS we
We're entering the terminal station [
stepped up to her. dotted my hat, ex-
tended The cup and said:
Pardon me, madam think this
must be yours"
Not at all. was the decided reply
| One would have supposed from the
sharpness of her ione--not at all like
the endearing words Of the night be-
| i'iN thtt hi't'i- liIHtI'th uNi. hat'
| irritation and the fact hat she would
not look at me convinced me hat il
| she was not the owner CT he cup her
| boy WAS. a woman on meeting ::
| stranger TO whom she has said loving
| ly. Here. darling. drink this" would
naturally be rutiied.
AS | said in the beginning. we don't
know what is in store for us. The
night before | had gone over what |
would do on he day of my arrival.
did nothing. as | had supposed
would ! followed III Il distance the
lady and her boy. saw them enter /;
carriage took another myself and told
the driver not 10 let he first out of his
sight. Half an hour later ! made Il
note of the street and number at which
they alighted. Instead of going to the
office hat day ! sat in the library Of
the club reading. What | read was.
Here. darling drink this in every
line on every page. One other matter
alone occupied my thoughlS-l was
planning how TO find out all about
| the lady and perhaps make her hc-
| quaintance The perhaps refers tl
whether some one was living or dead
When learned that he WAS dead
said. ''Thank"- and checked myself
| was not lon" in maxim" the widows
acquaintance through the good Offices
! Of mutual friend. What luck that
abe had refused to look at me on the
car. She met me with an uncmbar
I raSSed smile. My smile broke out al
over me at once. like measles If she
/ only knew. Thank heaven she doesn't
During my call she mentioned her lit
tie boy. Sly fox that was. | pretend
ed to be surprised that she had boy
| asked how old he was. his name
wheiher he had begun to go to school
She loved TO talk about him. SO KEEP
1t up.
There was a courtship. Of course
What else could lie expected on m,
part concerning one who had said II
the nighttime of my loneliness, Here
/ darling. drink this?" All the while
dreaded that she should discover tina