Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1911-03-25
WHEN THEY
MET AGAIN
BY r. PEMBERTON SLADE
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1911

/ age. We were twenty. ! was very
much In love with her. but hadn't a
cent in the world. nor had she. A girl
! at that age IS far more developed than
| man of the same years. She, seems
| to advance quicker. but not so far as
| the man. | know there are women
| nowadays who win not admit this, but
l am not going to stop In my story TO
! argue the point At all events, when
Mildred and ! were twenty l was still
boy building castles In the air, while
she was looking at her and my pres
| ent aud future status in rationalistic
way.
l was going out to China to engage
In business and to live there fndefi-
niteiy. | 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.
! OF course she declined, but not for
| any reason except that she considered
! that an engagement between us under
| the circumstances would be unjust to
| both
| Every WELL" | said do not con-
| slider yourself bound to me. nor will l
consider myself bound to you. but so
sure as the world turns on its axis l
will return. and il you are free and
willing viii marry you"
| SO we parted ] went to China de-
| termlned to attend strictly to the work
of advancing myself so that might
return for my love. | wrote her oc-
casionally and received replies to my
| letters. ! was bent on keeping my
promise and strained every nerve to
achieve the wherewithal to enable me
| to do 1t. But the luck was against me.
! j had been with firm five years when
! they failed and went out of business.
! / found a position with another con-
| Germ. with which / spent another five
! years. 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 it and go home to America.
This threw me out again. BY this
time | had acquired little capital.
and. putting 1t with that of another
man, we went into business together.
Within q year we lost all the capital
of both by speculation. | started In
again with borrowed money and In ten
years found myself with a fortune.
| l was now forty-two years old. ana
Mildred was the same age. For the
| last ten years | had heard very little
| from her. but knew that she had not
been married. I suppose Ii was pride
or obstinacy. or both. that induced me
to go back to America for her. OF
course an absence OF twenty-five years
from a woman one loves-or has loved
must make quite difference in his
feelings for her. 1t occurred to me.
however. that when we came together
we would go on from where we left
| of. ! wrote reminding her that had
told her when l separated from her
that ! would surely some day come
back to marry her and was now
about to do so.
received a reply to my letter the
day I 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 / had said
would do. Fortunately" she said.
call my friends tell me that look ten
or a dozen years younger than women
of my age. and there is hope that my
| personal appearance won't shock you"
| 1 confess | was greatly agitated
\
| card and waited for her to receive me
| When she came in she was naturally
embarrassed. AS for me. was sur
J prised for she did not look more than
twenty-eight. While she might well
have changed so much that / would
not know her. saw her just as ! re-
membered her. though a few years
her beyond the pale of young lady
| hood.
After separation of more than two
| decades beginning just where we left
] Off was impossible. l found that
must win my love again-uot that
! felt any anxiety as TO how my court
ship would result but that we were
both changed. ! knew very well that
Mildred would not have known me
had she not expected me. And as for
| her. though she was not so changed in
| appearance as |. there was In her
! those other changes that come over US
| so imperceptibly that ones friends do
not notice them unless they are sepa-
rated from us for long periods One
change in her was more marked than
any other. | had left her an extreme
| ly matter of fact woman. Increased
years seemed to have developed a GER
tain Ideally that l had not noticed
when she was younger. But I am in
clined to think that every trait there
is In US is developed ms we grow
older.
In a month we were married, since
I must get back TO my business. The
ceremony was over when my wife In
troduced lady as her older sister. l
was much disconnected