Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1911-04-07

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Neither of Which Wa, Ever
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I BY Ethan Armour :Ba;che Ill:
Copyright by American Press Asso-
:: r., citation. 1911. .El]
=: It, may seem paradox but there
is nothing more dreary than a beauti-
+; full morning. when one carries a load
on Ills heart ! had left> Adele the
night before, She having told me that
she honored and respected me, but
would not marry me. And now / was
walking on the road to the village to
post letter accepting an offer my >un-
Gle, who was in the tea trade, had
made me of position in his counting
room at Hongkong. The beauty of an
opening spring Knocked me: The warm
sunshine, the sproutinE: leaves, that
delicate pale robe, Dame Nature was
putting on. contrasted painfully with
the loss of the girl loved and from
whom was about to permanently
separate myself by going: to live in
barbarous land: A robin on a limb of
a tree, cooking his head on one side.
looked at me, seeming to smile and
say at the same time, "Poor feFlowv'
A chipmunk sat up on the top rail OF
fence eying me roguishly, and some:
how he seemed to be saying to- me in;
congruously: "Cheer up, cheer up!
You'll fare better next time!"
knew very well why Adele had re-
fused me. It 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 a look as much as to
say, my dear fellow; 1 have long ago
solved that problem, but you-why, it
is far beyond your comprehension"
He was graduated at the biggest uni
versity in the land, was elected to the
biggest fraternity and was the biggest
all round man in college while there
And. stepping out as the biggest man
from among undergraduates, he had
stepped into the possession Of what,
so far as competition with me was
concerned, was the biggest fortune in
the world. When this great young
man expressed desire to possess the
girl wanted what chance had I?
Reaching point beyond which the
road met another, saw Adele coming
on the other road. If men have any
one advantage over women it is in
possessing pockets. We each carried
letter, and, while mine was hidden
away in my pocket, Adele was obliged
to carry hers in her hand. AS soon as
she saw me she showed plainly that
she would very much like to get rid
Of that letter. But, poor girl, what
could she do? A man without pockets
If such case is supposable-migh
put it in his hat; woman, unless she
carried hand bag, which Adele did
| not, must needs keep it where all the
world can see.
q
though had only recently avowed my
love. Adele had not the heart to
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 it in the form
Of an acceptance.
This is the reasoning I 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 rue she tucked it in her
belt. I noticed she was careful to
place the address inward so that it
could not be seen. She was blushing
to the roots Of her hair If there was
any doubt in my mind before that the
letter was for Wilmarth there was
none now.
"Why do you cr,1mple your letter."
SAID. '1t will not be presentable
when received"
"Oh, I don't think its appearance
will make much difference to it's recip-
lent. It's the inside Of letter that
interests one"
rIt's singular that you and i have
met on a similar errand. I'm on my
way to the postofhce to mail a let.
ter"
This did not seem to interest her;
at least she made no reply to the. re-.
! mark. The postonice' was but; few
hundred yards ahead of us. Crossing
walk leading from the village.
struck into it.; Adele followed, {, ::
had no sooner done so than was
; dissatisfied with myself. Had not
Adele settled the matter between us?
What weakness to keep up an as
ISOLATION that could lead to no good!