The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1910-05-26

other side: but. .; snfs.. BachSlor John
was blissflliy isn.sant. ~ unfamiliar
as he was with thu, thoughtlsss Impair.
TALLY Of caresses that, charantseisS9
the comradeship a these boys 1an1
girls.
However. 40 the summer drew 70 an
end. he found q g,eat .lapsituds assail.
Ing him. He fought With Il desperate.
". the desire still strong within lin:
to win favor In the sight Of Elizabeth.
He attended her. % before, wherever
her caprice demanded. but It seemed
to him sometimes that her roasl6ts'
feet were never still, and hs oeten
found himself wishing that she would
indicate trifle more inclination to
settle down to q less 6trenuous'way Of
living.
f Meanwhile. from week to week. 20
followed out the routine Of his coin;
mercial life. Az he went about the
store with tagging steps. his oyss
heavy from the keeping Of late hours.
Mary Congdon watched him With i
brooding tenderness. Yet. sincs thGtt'
was nothing that she could do. she
went quietly about her employers
work. unobtrusive. dependable. Just %
( she possessed no woman's heart q
all. to be burdened with solicitude for
his personal welfare.
With the first cool nights, the roller.
skating craze took possession OF the
town. As a matter Of course. Elise.
beth became one Of the devotsss.
Haywood had not the heart to object,
and so. outwardly enthusiastic. but in:
wardly shrinking. he presented him
self at the rink. determined. for the
girls sake, to master the precarious
art. After few weeks Of 'pefSisteney
he was able to skate fairly we'll: but
he never went out on the floor with.
out paralyzing fear clutching At his
heart and stiffening his limbs-a fear
that was not diminished by the recol.
lection Of sundry memorable bumps:
for. at As. one does not sit down un-
expectedly on a hard door with any
degree of ease.
When the annual masquerade was
announced, Elizabeth poutingly In.
eisted that Haywood should be her
partner in the grand march, the In.
tricacies of which he had never dared
to attempt. He demurred. but tho
pouts were persuasive, and, in the end,
he yielded.
Mary Congdon was among the spec:
tators who thronged the rink on the
evening of the masquerade. While
conversation buzzed all around her,
she sat silent and alone, her eyes fixed
on two of the gayly dressed figures
that swung dizzily round and round
down below her. BY and by the grand
march was on.
Out on the floor. Elizabeth was say.
ing. "Now we're coming into the figure
eight. Don't forget, John. to swing
one foot in front Of the other when We
turn"
The next moment there was the
frantic swaying Of mans body In q
vain effort to regain its balance, .
girls startled cry, the thud Of some
one falling. the hilarious laughter of 8
dozen or more skaters. who, unable TO
stop or swing to one side. precipitatsd
themselves on the two who wera
down. From beneath came q; itfnSd,
Involuntary groan Of pain. When the
skating had been stopped and, one. By
one, the fallen ones had laughingly
picked themselves up. Bachelor John
lay on the floor helpless. one limb
twisted under the body.
Call afdoctor." suggested some one,
Haywood lifted his head. "Take mo
out of here SO the skating can 60 on, q
he insisted. TITS only q broken leg"
Mary Congdon, standing near!
caught the note Of suffering and
WINGED. Garry him across the street
to our house," she begged. And tht
crowd. thinking of Elizabeth, did not
consider the request strange one.
In the days that followed. three
things worked themselves into the
foreground Of Heywood's conscious
ness. One was that he was through
with all effort toward re1uvenation.
Another was that the beautiful Eliza
beth, rushing into his room in the
buoyancy Of her youth. rasped on his
nerves and made him desperately
weary. The other was that Mary
Congdon was Infinitely sweeter and
dearer than he had known q woman
could be. At the first two conclusions
he arrived in short order. The third
was process Of evolution.
Mary was a woman whose sole
creed was the gospel of helpfulneii.;
and poor, lonely Bachelor John r..
veled in her ministry. Thus it WIS
that he came to long for her return
from the store each day, to listen for
her step outside his door, and to re6ls
lie. at last. her real worth, and his
need Of her. He wondered, after .
time. that he had ever thought hSf
plain, though this was likewise q pro-
cess of evolution, as was evidenced BY
his first complfments tn her