The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1909-09-08

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There is a story by one of our
American favorites about man who
assisted matrimony by making an ad
vance entry in his diary: "On this day
I met my fate" l received my in
spiration from that story, and having
made up my mind to take a wife, and
having been so unsusceptible as never
to have fallen in love, and seeing not
the slightest prospect that l ever
should, determined to let fate man.
age the affair for me. So l opened
my diary at random, and carefully
refraining from observing the date, /
wrote: "On this day | met the future
Mrs. Witherspoon. With load re-
moved from my mind l closed the
book. Now let the lady keep the ap-
pointment and she would find me no
laggard.
The weeks passed by, and each
morning l opened my diary with an
expectant eye for my prophetic entry.
One day in the late spring received
letter from Clara Crawford inviting
me to spend a week at her farm in
the Berkshires. She was to have a
house warmingof old friends, she said.
certainly came within that class.
We had known each other ever since
she was little more than baby and /
Bported long yellow curls. She was a
mighty fine girl, full of energy and
resources for doing the unexpected
Her father had left her a snug little
fortune, sufficient to have enabled
her to have nervous prostration at
once and enter upon life of useless
ness if her inclinations had lain in
that direction. But Clara, after grad
uating from college, took a course in
law in order that she might manage
her own property and save herself
from the possibility of dishonest or
stupid advisors. Her strenuous life
had seemed to prevent my seeing
much of her after she became too old
to play Hare and Hounds" prison
ers' Base" and other like games. She
taught sewing to a class of girls and
algebra to a class of boys in the col
lege settlement, and in the meantime
took lessons in every conceivable
thing herself. After skirt dancing,
fencing and boxing her delighted fe-
male friends excitedly demanded:
What will she do next?. Her next"
was the farm, and this was my first
notice of it. AS came to think of it,
Clara had sort of dropped me from
her invitations of late. She used to
ask me on her yacht, but l always
had something else on hand. She in
vited me to dinners and suppers while
she was going to cooking school, and
said she wanted to try things on her
friends, but l nearly always had an
engagement. AS l thought this all
over going up on the train, it oc-
Cured to me that Clara had not been
too busy to forget me, though l had,
with the rudeness of an old friend,
paid little heed to her courtesies. "By
Jove," thought /, "I've treated her
shabbily. / wonder she asked me to
her house warming. On account of
'auld lang syne, of course. l Won
der who the others will be-" Then
with sudden interest l thought of the
entry in my diary. Perhaps the fut-
ure Mrs. Witherspoon would be there!
So / fell to dreaming of what she
would be like and forgot all about my
hostess.
Clara was at the station with
smart little buggy and a spirited
young horse. She was good to look
upon in her white linen and correct
gloves and shoes as she flashed her
broad smile at me, displaying her fine
teeth and deep dimples.
$50 you did come, after ALL" she
laughed as l scrambled in, while the
young horse plunged and reared at
passing electric. II wouldn't believe
1t till actually saw you. You won't
be sorry you came when you see the
nice girls I've invited"
"One nice girl was inducement
enough" replied, with an admiring
glance that was genuine.
was the first guest to arrive. It
seemed. After supper, Clara, leaving
her aunt knitting on the piazza, took
me over the farm and pointed out all
the boundaries. / had never noticed
before what handsome girl she was.
She must be getting along in years,
too, / thought. I'm five years older
than she is, and I'm thirty-five. She
must be thirty. By Jove, but she
doesn't look it.
Dolly Bingham is coming I'D to-
morrow" said Clara, as we walked
back to the house. "You must look
out for yourself. She's a widow and
dangerous. BY the time she had
told me all about Dolly and the other
girls that were coming it was time to
retire. Upon opening my diary the
next morning / confess to a thrill of
excitement as read: Son this day
imet the future Mrs. Wftherspoon.
Clara and / drove the span to the
station for Dolly Bingham that after
moon. She was from Chicago, but
CLARA had assured me ~ was gen.
iuins ~soA widow" Cert1lnly she was