Putnam patriot., 1909-05-07

 His Game of Patience. F. Gertrude Delaney. Cops 3eifes lsss h Azsgsfafsi
 t.IferHFF frfs
B. Gertrude Delaney

laras and hls love fer Us daughter shais
 ii VAS woufef1ui how maa5 roung men xere wiling tp ,ms fheir eseil lnQs ai fhe oaptaiH's hanse playlnS with bin. flp waa 7 Nary old oppo- nent and ali buf nslaefble
 The young me' eaae by twes and fifees Iu their best tailor made agIts with pasies ia iheir butfonheles Often they broughi offerings te tbe captains alughteF
 Thals aereptel the gifis and lhe too evident good wifi indisereuily Some times when fourth hand was needed nf whist si4e lehi her ai Otherwise she betoet herself to tbe par or and praetieed as diligently ss fl there wss oot man ln the house
 Aunt Lefty. capfaiI Rlanding's wM- owed sikter kept house for him and mothered his otherwise m1theriess daughter She WAS gentle soul. large hearted and small minded who u,ade the best dougbuuts in tewp By the aid of her smiles and her cakes she encouraged eligible men te fire quent the captains hanse. hoping That some one of them would prove ac- cepiable to Thais
 TbaIs name hnd been given her be cause of an early fondness Df her ia sher for Greek literature Thals de spifp her name. did nat lean toward scholarly achievement She was butterfly. very beautiful 10 book at md very difficult to catch
 She had rend 4 litlc poetry and very many romnnees where The hernlnes we're all beautiful Ike herself nnd the heroes proved their devotion bg as. founding desiis ef yalef These men who sal evening nfter evening with hits If red and hlaek pasfehenrd be tween them evidently hacked every heroic quality
 When one ly one these finld ad0rers laid his heart nt her feet she promptly frampied upon II and gent him away nmartIng
 When after q few evenings he did mol agaih appear thc old captain would wonder mildly what kept him away. Sometimes he asked the victim aud re eeived atarnmercd excuse
 By the lime the young mans place st the card table was filed the captain had ceased to remember him
 II was Sheldon King who brought lilly Smith 10 the house for the first time Billy was n newcomer in Ken einrton and wholly unaequalnted He was little fellow with haif of no pnrticuiar shnde of brown. square. plain face and blue eyes behind glasses He had no stories to teii, no jokes to raise hugh and h. had never handled cards before in his life
 II took him the entire evening ta learn to play pedro. hnt hr applied his mind to Il with wilt and when he went away fhe captain slapped hun on the shoulder and told him he would make u pIa-er If he kept al Ii. The captain always said that to the de feAfed, who sometimes ehewed theit lips over it bitterly
 The captain conceived great liking for lilly, and they spent many even
  learned ali the ga mes the captain knew and could even beat him af some of them.
 He came obviously fer the captains sake alone. for he brought no offer lnes to Thais He hnd his own way tn make and an invalid sister to maln tain af an expensive sanitarium This much he told the captain and was for ever after silent about his affairs.
 sheldon kinr presently. having had hts wings hadly slugcd at the candle of Thals Indifference. ceased to Do seen at the captains card table Hut nllly came unfalfiuels The captain was delighted with him
 Here at lest was I man who dld not play to nre.s hnmer who beat one un YneretfrllN fl he could or was beaten without showing the white feather
 The seco d winter HillN's sister died lie stayed away two months, and the captain oreaiY frested for hiin Then ens evenior ntlly appeared wlth q box us the eap'ains favVelte eisprs The rspfaia faais wsgi f,sr lay et sight of hlln and haeg his hand twenty times
 He eaiitt Th8ls te SIC wao had e"me Thas rane. stlriied hs the tlaner and . llttie dizeusgasi wheu she found eaiy Isiiv. Sic sase hlm q eavi tlilIe hand aud A essii lItlle smile and eool little phrase of weleaHe. then returned to the aiane and eha@lnaae. She dld aot understand nillY. N ho brought cigars sa hnr father instead of henbons e her
 Two years went hy The circle ahaut the captains eani table had changed many ilmes and had dwindled to an occasional widawer, sltiy Tom fike and Billy Que hY one the other young men had uendea their hearts aud of sered them gssod as new elsewhere
 The vetive offerings that now came to Thass' shrine were far less frequent Riily brought her nothing at all, but it was wonderful how many ntlle things he found to present the captain with He even gave Aunt Lefty beautiful crochet hook with chased geld han siie
 More years passed and ulare slowly for Thsis chaminade had ceased so charm her. and she missed the eNslte ment af past adoration Nf sweet had gnne away and Tam Pike iH de. spair of winding ThHis. had marrled a woman rasseF to wa0 fhene were un nNw lovers faF'h eMies fer That's was sa~ generally laAs1ei aauge.vus NnFv. AAcr she had essa>ed tp te stse hssatx 9f the tiae
 Slae had re.tehed sets tfsing pef.ea ef her lie bslns tsa esA sa ks Ia size spAnS Sst fee Kg sa ra ii taa aaa