The Wagner leader. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1912-1912, 1912-02-02
HOW TILLY 0or A HUSBAND.


and French to young girls In their
homes.
They had met In a street car when 1t
had accidentally ran into a big furni-
ture van. and all the passengers found
themselves In a heap on h floor. Aft
er that time they met often, and Alfred
invited Tilly to the theaters with him,
followed by suppers of beefsteak n
onions In a small restaurant. lilly
knew nothing better than steak with
smothered onions, washed down with a
stein of foaming Munich beer.
1t was useless to try to conceal Ii,
but TIIly was not as young as she had
been. She was a rose which must be
picked soon or 1t would begin to lose
its charm. And often she asked her.
self: II wonder IL he is going to S
me TO marry him7" Her mother at
home always busy knitting stockings
without number. was even more inter-
ested in this vital question, n had
NO higher wish than TO become a moth
er-in-law.
Bat Alfred Bueren had never even
thought of such a thing. He loved his
golden liberty too much. The idea of
having o wife whom he would a to
inform of everything he did and who
would keep tab on the time of his re-
turn from the beer garden had always
seemed most dreadful to him.
And so the " had been going to-
gether for more han a year, and there
was no sign OF an engagement ring on
Tflly's finger.
Then came the time of summer vaca-
tions, and Alfred decided to spend the
three weeks allotted to him at Heer-
ingsdorf. on the Baltic coast. IT was
rather hard to bid Tilly goodby, but he
felt sure of her faithfulness. And Tiily
herself promised that she would think
of no one else--but how could she help
IL that an elegantly dressed gentleman
picked up her books which she hap
pened to drop in the street one evening,
as she was hurrying home? OF course
h had to thank him, and the way
vas open for due acquaintance.
Fritz Mueller, as the gentleman IN
troduced himself was a widower, and
at present rather lonesome In Berlin,
as his old aunt who otherwise kept
house for him, was spending the sum-
mer months on Ruegen.
Fritz often invited Tilly to a rather
pr~etentious restaurant. where they had
lobster and Die R~uedesheimer, a treat
which h had never before dared to
dream of and the evenings fairly few
in his company.
The end OF Alfred's vacation came.
One evening he arrived, tanned as an
Indian, at the Stettiner Banhof. lilly
received him cordially enough. but he
noticed that her cheeks were pale and
her eyes had a dreaming, far-away ex-
preston. Gwen the usual beefsteak,
with an extra stein, did not seem to
cheer her up. Full of pity. he asked
her II there was anything the matter
with her.
"Oh. no, Fritz. nothing at ALL"
He looked at her in surprise.
why do you call me Fritz"
She FLUSHED and ~stammered an un-
Ineligible excuse, but after q little
while h called him Fritz once more.
What the deuce do you mean?" he
cried. who Is this Fritz? / never
heard you mention any Fritz before to-
night"
She tried to find some explanation,
but nothing suggested itself.
We'll. Alfred. ! will be quite honest
with you. While you were away l met
another gentleman. and he
And heg--asked Alfred, In a rath-
er pointed manner.
He wants to marry me" she said,
with a blush.
He jumped from his seat as IL he had
sat down on a tack. Waiter" he
roared. my BILL
When they were outside he gave her
a terrible lecture, so that the poor girl
was glad when they finally parted,
rather coolly at her door.
Alfred did not sleep q wink that
and there seemed to be no end
to the next day in the store. In every
male customer he imagined to see TIL
ly's future husband. The very idea OF
her marrying somebody else was ex-
asperating. As soon as the store was
closed he rushed out and visited every
path In the park where he had talked
with Tilly, and the grinning fac OF the
Fritz was everywhere be-
fore him. What should he do?
Mad plans of shooting lilly. Fritz
and hen himself coursed through his
But he had never had a revolt
yer In his hand and he did not like
the d Of leaving this world for an
other which might not be more pleas
ant, SO he soon gave up his murderous
plans.
1t was quite late when he rang the
bell at Tiliy's door. She opened 1t her.
self. and q faint smile played around
the corners Of her mouth when she
saw that he was dressed In his best
Prince Albert coat and shining silk
hat. I~nstinctively she felt that the de-
cisive moment had come.
ssTilly," he said, almost inaudibly,
don't you think that you could forget
Fritx and marry me insteady"
With . cry she threw herself to his
manly bosom.
A little later. when h had nestled
down In his arms In h N OF the
little parlor, she whispered:
do you know that Fritz never pro-
posed to met II was only q russ to
make you jealous. Fritz does not ex-
list at ALL"
sOh. you little rascal" he said.
threatening her with his finger. and
kissed her. immensely relieved. But
I am not going to take n chances;
he might come some day. Let US go
to your mother and ask her for her
blessing"
The honest old lady was moved to
tears OF JOY. So Tilly was not going
to be an old maid. after all. and as
she gave her blessing h already made
up her mind to begin knitting little
stockings for coming grandchildren.
Three weeks later they were a
ried. and at the wedding luncheon TIL
liz once more had lobster and Reudes-
heimer I'm memory of Fritz. who had
made II possible for her to become
Mrs. Alfred Rueren. But this she
never told her husband.
Joke Was on ~Nick.s
During the ava OF his state in
1888 to gather votes enough to send