Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-08-02

kept my word That is a Wayland
principle. AS it Is, 1t was-compara-
lively easy"
Then you do love me, my Lady,"
He leaned eagerly toward her.
do you need to ask" she whls-
pered from the shelter of his arms.
ut is the same old fascination Of our
girl and boy days. Do you remem-
about your" She laughed softly. Il
used to think you wore a football suit
better than anybody In the world!
Sometimes I suspect that 1t is merely
that same girlish hero worship and
can't last. But it has lasted-so far.
Three years Is long time for a girl
like me to wait, isn't it?'
II know! l know" he returned,
iealously "But l have lived that
time with nothing but a memory while
you have had other things to occupy
you. You are fattered and courted
by men, scores of men
"Oh!"
"Legions Of men! Oh know.
Haven't devoured society columns by
the yard? The papers were six
months old, to be sure, when got
them, but every mention of you was
like knife stab to me. Jealousy
drove me to memorize the name OF
every man with whom you were seen
in public, and / called down all sorts
Of curses upon their heads. used
to torture my lonely soul with hideous
pictures of you"
"Hideous pictures Of me?' The girl
perked her head to one side and
glanced at him bewitchingly. You're
very flatterlng."
Eyes, pictures of you with caravan
of suitors at your heels"
"You foolish boy! Suitors don't
come in caravans; they come In
cabs"
well, my smile isn't far from
wrong in other respects" he replied,
with flash Of her spirit. But any
how I pictured you surrounded by all
the beautiful things Of your life here,
forever in the scent of flowers, in the
lights of drawing rooms, in the soft
music of hidden instruments. God!
how tortured myself! You were
never out of mind for an hour. My
days were given to you, and used to
pray that my dreams might hold moth
ing but you You have been my fetish
from the first day I met you, and my
worship has grown binder every hour,
Mildred. You were always out of my
reach, but I have kept my eyes raised
toward you just the same, and have
never looked aside, never faltered."
He paused to feast his eyes upon her,
and then in a half whisper finished,
ooh, my lady, how beautiful you rae!"
And indeed she was; for her face,
ordinarily so imperious, was now
softly alight; her eyes, which other
men found cold. were kindled with a
rare warmth of understanding; her
smile was almost wistfully sweet. To
her lover she seemed to bend be-
meath the burden of her brown hair,
yet her slim figure had the strength
and poise which come Of fine physical
Inheritance and high spirit Every
gesture, every unstudied attitude, re-
vealed the grace Of the we'll born
woman.
It was this "air' of hers, in fact,
which had originally attracted him.
He recalled how excited he had been
in that far away time when he had
first learned her identity-for the
name of Wayland was spoken sound
ingly in the middle west In the
early stages of their acquaintance he
had looked upon her aloofness as an
affectation, but a close intimacy had
compelled recognition Of it as some
thing wholly natural; he found her as
truly patrician as Wayne Wayland,
her father, could wish. The old mans
domain was greater than that of many
princes, and his power more absolute.
His only daughter he spoiled as
thoroughly as he ruled his part of the
financial world, and wilful Mildred,
once she had taken an interest in the
young college man SO evidently ready
to be numbered among her lovers, did
not pause half way, but made her pre-
ference patent to all, and opened to
him realm Of dazzling possibilities.
He we'll remembered the perplexities
Of those first delirious days when her
regard was beginning to make itself
apparent She was so different, so
wonderfully far removed from all he
knew, that he doubted his own senses.
His friends, indeed, lost no oppor-
tunity of informing him that he was a
tremendously favored young man, but
this phase Of the affair had caused
him little thought, simply because the
girl hersef had come so swiftly to
overshadow, in his regard, every other
consideration-even her own wealth
and position. At the same time he
could net but be aware that his
standing in his little world was
subtly altered as soon as he became
known as the favored sutton Of Wayne
Wayland's daughter. He began to re-
ceive favors from comparative
strangers; unexpected social priv
ileges were granted him; his way was
made easier in hundred particulars.
From every quarter delicately graft.
flying distinctions came to him. With.
out his volition he found that he had
risen to an entirely different position
from that which he had formerly oc-
cupied; the mere coupling OF his
name with Mildred Wayland's had
lifted him into calcium glare. 1t af.
fected him not at ALL he only knew
that he was truly enslaved to the girl,
that he idoliZed her. that he regarded