Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1911-03-30
WHEN THEY
MET AGAIN
Bv R. PEMBERTON SLADE
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation, 1911.

age we were twenty. 1 was very
much in love with her, but I hadn't q
cent in the world, nor had she. A girl
1t that age is far more developed than
q man of the same years. She seems
to advance quicker, but not so far as
the man. l know there are women
nowadays who will not admit this, but
/ am not going to stop in my story to
argue the point. At all events, when
Mildred and l were twenty l was still
a boy building castles In the air, while
she was looking at her and my pres
and future status in a rationalistic
way.
I was going out to China to engage
In business and to live there indef-
nitely. was to take a clerkship at
the bottom Of the ladder, and I had
not heard that promotion was very
rapid. was unreasonable enough to
urge Mildred to engage herself to me.
pOf course she declined, but not for
any reason except that she considered
that an engagement between US under
Ano CIRCUMSTANCES "ou'N W 0AJ~
both
every we'll" I said. "Do not con-
slider yourself bound to me, nor Will l
consider myself bound to you, but go
sure as the world turns on its axis l
will return, and II you are free and
willing I will marry you"
SO we parted. I went to China de-
--a kaol otrfok1u RI tho wnPk
Lof advancing myself so that l might
return for my love. l wrote her &C.
casionally and received replies to my
hetters. / was bent on keeping my
promise and strained every nerve to
achieve the ~wherewithal to enable me
to do It. But the luck was against me.
i had been with a firm five years when
they failed and went out Of business.
] found a position with another con-
Germ, with which l spent another W.
years. l was just about to be ad-
mitted to the firm as a Junior partner
when the head Of the house died. His
widow insisted on the business being
wound up that she might get her capt.
tai out Of 1t and go home to America.
This threw me out again. BY this
time / had acquired a little capital,
and, putting it with that Of another
man. we went into business together.
Within a year we lost all the capital
of both by speculation. l started In
again with borrowed money and in ten
years found myself with a fortune.
I was now forty-two years old, and
Mildred was the same age. Fol the
Hast ten years I had heard very little
from her, but knew that b had not
been married. l suppose it was pride
or obstinacy, or both, that induced me
Ito go back to America for her. or
course an absence Of twenty-five years
from a woman one loves-or has loved
must make quite a difference in his
feelings for her. 1t occurred to me-,
however, that when we came together
we would go on from where we left
or. I wrote reminding her that l had
told her when ! separated from her
that l would surely some day come
back to marry her and I was now
about to do so.
I received a reply to my letter the
day 1 sailed. Mildred confessed that
she had been waiting for me all these
years, since she had believed I was
Just the man to do what l had said !
would do. fortunately" she said,
s.all my friends tell me that l look ten
or a dozen years younger than women
of my age, and there is hope that my
personal appearance won't shock you"
/ confess / was greatly ag1tated
when l called on Mildred, sent up my
card and waited for her to receive me-
When she came in she was naturally
embarrassed. AS for me, l was sur
prised, for she did not look more than
t~wenty-eight. While she might well
have changed so much that I would
not know her. l saw her just as l re-
membered her, though a few years
older, and yet not old enough to take
her beyond the pale of young lady
hood.
After a separation of more than two
decades beginning just where we left
off was impossible. l found that
must win my love again-not that
felt any anxiety as to how my court
ship would result, but that we were
both changed. l knew very we'll that
Mildred would not have known me
had she not expected me. And as fol
her, though she vas not so changed IN
appearance as l, there was in hel
those other changes that come over u:
so imperceptibly that ones friends dc
not notice them unless they are sepa
rated from us for long periods. One
change in her was more marked thar
any other. l had left her al extreme
liz matter Of fact oma Increased
years seemed to have developed a Ger
tain ideality that I had not noticed
when she was younger. But l am in
clined to think that every trait there
is in US is developed as we grow
older.
In a month we were married, since
I must get back to my business. TIL
ceremony was over when my wife In
troduced a lady as her older sister.
was much disconnected.
~S~&