Dewey County advocate. [volume] (Timber Lake, S.D.) 1910-1913, 1911-01-27
CHAPTER l.
At Least I Meant Well.

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When the dreadful thing occurred
that night, every one turned on me.
The injustice Of 1t hurt me most.
They said l got up the dinner, that
asked them to give up other engage
ments and come, that 1 promised all
kinds of jolliflcation, If they would
come; and then when they did come
and got in the papers, and every one
but ourselves-laughed himself
black in the face, they turned on me!
L who suffered ten times to their one!
I shall never forget what Dallas
Brown said to me, standing with a
coal shovel in one hand and a-well,
perhaps 1t would be better to tell it
all in the order it happened.
It began with Jimmy Wilson and
Q conspiracy, was helped on by foot
square piece Of yellow paper and a
Japanese butler, and 1t enmeshed and
mixed up generally ten respectable
members of society and policeman.
incidentally, it developed pearl col
lar and box of soap, which sounds
homogeneous. doesn't 1t?
1t is a great misfortune to be stout,
especially for man. Jim was ro-
fund and looked shorter than he really
was, and as all the lines of his face,
or what should have been lines, were
really dimples, his face was about as
flexible and full of expression as a
pillow in a tight cover. The angrier
he got the funnier he looked, and
when he was raging, and his neck
swelled up over his collar and got
red, he was enhancing. And every
body liked him, and borrowed money
from him, and laughed at his pictures
(he has one in the Hargrave gallery
In London now, so people buy them
instead), and smoked his cigarettes,
and tried to steal his Jap. The whole
story hinges on the Jap.
The trouble was, l think, that no
one took Jim seriously His amb1-
don in life was to be taken seriously,
but people steadily refused to. His
art was a huge joke-except to him.
SELF II he asked people to dinner,
every one expected frolic. When
he married Bella Knowles, people
ohuckled at the wedding, and consid-
cred 1t the widest prank Of Jimmy's
career. although Jim himself seemed
70 take it awfully hard.
We had all known them both for
years. I went to Pennington with
Bella. and Anne Brown was her ma
tron of honor when she married jim
Ny first winter out, Jimmy had paid
me a lot Of attention. He painted my
portrait in oils and had a studio tea
70 exhibit it. 1t was a very nice pic
ture, but it did not look like me, SO
stayed from the exhibition. Jim asked
me to- He said he was not pho
tographer, and that anyhow the rest
Of my features called for the nose he
had given me, and that all the Greuze
women have long necks. l have not
After l had refused Jim twice he
met Bella at camp in the Adiron-
Aacks and when he came back he
came at once to see me. He seemed
70 think l would be sorry to lose him,
and he blundered over the telling for
20 minutes. OF course, no woman
likes to lose a lover, no matter what
she may say about it, but Jim had
been getting on my nerves for some
time, and I was much calmer than he
expected me to be.
1T you mean" said finally in des-
peration, that you and Bella are-are
In love, why don't you say so. Jim?
I think you will find that l stand 1t
wonderfully"
He frightened perceptibly.
II didn't know how you would take
Il, Kit" he said, land l hope We will
always be bully friends. You are alb
solutely sure you don't care a whoop
Tor me?"
Absolutely" replied, and we
shook hands on 1t. Then he began
phout Bella; it was very tiresome.
Bella is nice girl, but had room
Cd with her at school, and was under
no Illusions. When Jim raved about
Bella and her banjo and Bella and
her guitar, had painful moments
when l recalled Bella learning her
two songs on each instrument, and the
old English ballad she had learned to
play on the harp. When he said she
was too good for him, l never batted
an eye. And l shook hands solemnly
across the tea table again, and
wished him happiness-which was
sincere enough, but hopeless-and
said we had only been playing game.
but that 1t was time to stop playing.
Jim kissed my hand. and 1t was really
very touching.