Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1911-06-09

1t may seem paradoxical, but there
is nothing more dreary than beauu-
full morning when one carries LOAD
on his heart. l had left Adele the
night before. she having told me that
she honored and respected me, but
would not marry me. And now l was
walking on the road to the village to
post letter accepting an offer my I'M
Gle. who was In the tea trade, had
made me of position In his counting
room ut Hongkong. The beauty OF an
opening spring Knocked me. The warm
sunshine, the sprouting leaves, that
delicate pale robe Dame Nature was
putting on. contrasted painfully with
tho loss of the girl l loved and from
whom was about to permanently
separate myself by going to live In a
barbarous land A robin on a limb OF
tree, cooking his head on one side,
looked at me, seeming to smile ana
say at the same time, Poor fellow!'
A chipmunk sat up on the top rail of
a fence eylng me roguishly, and some
how he seemed to be saying to me In
congruously: "Cheer up, cheer up!
You'll fare better next timer
knew very well why Adele had re-
fused me- 1t was all on account of
Wilmarth. He had come on to the
field not more than a month before
with that air of superiority some men
always carry about them-an air OF
intellectual supremacy. When one ex-
pressed an opinion in his presence he
would put on look as much as to
say, my dear fellow, have long age
solved that problem, but you-why, II
is far beyond your comprehension
He was graduated at the biggest uni
versIty in tho land, was elected to the
biggest fraternity and was the biggest
all round man in college while there
And, stepping out rs the biggest mar
from among undergraduates, he had
stepped into the possession Of what
so far as competition with me was
concerned, was the biggest fortune II
the world. When this great young
man expressed desire to possess the
girl l wanted what chance had II
Reaching a point beyond which thu
road met another, I saw Adele COMING
on the other road If men have any
one advantage over women 1t is II
possessing pockets. We each carried
letter, and, while mine was bidder
| away In my pocket, Adele was Obliged
| to carry hers In her hand. AS soon al
she saw me she showed plainly tina
she would very much like to get rit
OF that letter. But, poor girl, wha
could she do? man without pockets
| If such II case Is supposable- nigh
| put 1t In his hat; Il woman, unless SHE
carried II hand bag. which Adele die
not, must needs keep It where all the
| world can see.
was n lover of long standing
though had only recently avowed my
| love Adele had not the heart t.
throw me over without preparing me
for the ordeal. She wouldn't accept
Wilmarth until she had dispatched me
| | had the evening before brought mat
tiers to crisis, and she had run me
| through the heart. Having done so
| there was nothing to prevent her Civ
Ing WIlmarth definite answer to his
suit She had written II IN the form
OF an acceptance.
This Is the reasoning went through
In my mind as to why Adele carried
that letter.
Adele came to the fork OF the road
evidently embarrassed Since she
could not get rid Of the letter just be-
fore meeting me she tucked It in her
belt | noticed she was careful to
place the address inward so that II
could not be seen. She was blushing
to the roots OF her hair. II there was
any doubt IN my mind before that the
letter was for Wilmarth there was
none now.
"Why do you crumple your letterT'
l said ut will not be presentable
when received"
"Oh, don't think its appearance
will make much difference to its recip-
lent. It's the inside Of letter that
interests one"
TITS singular that you and | have
met on a similar errand. Pm on my
way to the postofiice to mail let
ter"
This did not seem to interest her;
at least she made no reply to the re.
mark The postoffice was but a few
hundred yards ahenI OF US. Crossing
walk leading from the village. I
struck into IT. Adele followed.
had no sooner done 80 than I was
dissatisfied with myself Had not
Adele settled the matter between us1
What weakness to keep up an as
ISOLATION that could lead to no goodi
The truth is / was desperate. II Is
one thing for a man to be obliged to
give up woman he loves and another
to give her up TO some particular man.
The evening before ! had been con.
demned; In this letter saw my execu.
ton.
Neither Adele nor | spoke TIL we
reached a side hill on which was n rus.
tic bench. There we seated ourselves.
I remember few things in the land.
scape before and beneath us. There
were scattered dwellings and church.
Through the fields ran canal with
locks, In one Of which men were low.
ering boat ! was far too preOccu
pied to have nJticed this had not Adele
said
%'m always Interested In seeing n
cannlbont 20 through locks"
Especially when it's let down TO It's