The Cairo bulletin., 1911-02-15
BY r. A. mitchell

| means or the highest ana whose good
| intentions are often not carried out"
How Singular I exclaimed. you
/, have spoken my case us well as your
| own. There Is one whom | prefer to
you. But, gracious. how faulty! | con.
fess am often put to the blush on
account Of Franks shortcomings"
"Selfish!'
Selfish at times beyond measure"
That's just the way with my Win
ME-"
How Is it, then. that we prefer
these unworthy persons to each
otherf" | asked.
There was brief silence, at the
end Of which he asked:
| How long have You known this
person.
1 MANY years"
! II have noticed that the longer ]
have known Frank the greater selfish
ness | fud."
/ Same here. We have been compan-
ions SINCE we were wee little things
I My theory is that it is propinquity. Il
have known my Winnie and you have
known your Frank SO long that asso-
citation has becotten love"
/ "But love Is blind If this is love We
feel for those persons how is 1t thar
we see their faults 50 plainly?'
".ire what we see In them really
faults?
What do you mean by that?
81 win explain. | snatched d kiss
from you. You are angry and blame
me. In other words, you consider that
/ have committed Il fault. whereas /
have simply been following a ma .urai
instinct. Now, your Frank may place
you In mn embarrassing position with
out any intention to do 50, yet you
consider him at fault"
THAT may apply to your Winnie,
but not to my Frank. confess you
are much more worthy of my Iowa
than Frank My love for Frank | nd
nit Is inexcusable, and yet can't
help it,"
"And will admit that my Winnie's
thoughts and acts are gross in com
parison with yours"
How can you love such person.
81 would rather call 1t preference
than love"
"There again we agree; II is prefer
ence In my case too"
While we were talking a cloud hal
been gathering behind us. Our backs
being turned toward 1t. we did net see
1t, We were sitting In the stern of thu
boat, while held the main sheet in nv
hand, Suddenly squat struck us
and capslzed the boat. which sanh
Three Of us were In the water e.
gether, Mr.. Scarborough, and one life
preserver Mr. Scarborough could not
swim at all. very little. 4 few
strokes took me to the corks. Mr.
Scarborough could not reach then
though they were not mans length
from him. He went down. and wheel
he came up, by desperate effort,
reached him with the life preserver
Take hold Of IT, cried
"No; it will bear but one of u.s."
81 can swim"
| mot enough to save yourself"
! He went down a second time. When
he came up fought to get the Pre-
server around him. He was uncon-
scious, and partly succeeded. Then
q boats nose poked itself against us.
The rain and the wind beating up the
waves had concealed 1t from us. 4
hand grasped each one of us and
dragged US into the boat.
| | hung over him anxiously until We
got him to shore, where we applied the
usual restoratives In such cases. Aft
er awhile he showed signs of life and
finally came to himself.
The same evening after having been
revived, we resumed the talk that had
been interrupted by the squat. But
we now chatted under very different
conditions. 'We had been dumped In
the water with--so far as we knew ut
the tlme--a chance for but one to be
saved, Each had preferred that the
other have that chance. We sat lock-
ed In each others arms.
ut has been proved conclustvely to-
day" he said, that these other lovers
Of ours must take back seat. |
would not have done for Winnie what
did for you"
Nor I for Frank"
Its an Ill wind that blows nobody
any good! The squall blew US into
the water, but II blew away at the
same time our indecision between each
other and these two other lovers"
"Thank heaven for that. was aw-
! fully tired Of IT. But tell me who Is
this Winifred that has been my rival?"
"Who Is Frankp
"Tell me and I'll tell you"
my name, as you know. is Edward
w. Scarborough. Winnie is not Wlni.
fred, as you suppose, but Winslaw.
I thought I loved myself better than
/ you"
"And am Evelyn Frances Boyn.
ton. ] thought loved myself better
I, than you"