The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1912-01-11
WHEN THE
ARROW FELL
BY F. A. Mitchell
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1911.

. | Theodore StrlcklanQ. aged thirty -nlne
years and eleven months, stepped from
carriage at the entrance Of his bach
elor home, entered and seated himself
before the remains of fire In the CRATE
In his library. He had been born and
lived in the house. and from 1t had
been buried every member OF his ia
theirs family except himself. He had
long been a member Of a dancing club
composed of the young men and wom-
en- of the place and had just returned
from one of their meetings. The re-
suit of his attendance was very de-
pressing to him.
He had not only been left alone by
the taking Off of his brothers and sis
tiers. but now he had discovered at the
dancing club that he had grown be
yond young people. he had had no
romance in his younger days: therefore
he was condemned to live singly He
looked the problem square in the face.
! Since he could not fall in love he must
ask some woman TO come into his
house as wife and companion. The
| idea was repulsive to him. He had be-
lieved in grand passion and waited
for one. But what could he do? He
could not inhabit the house alone. He
must either get a woman in 1t or
leave II.
Strickland was desperate and re-
solved TO make plunge. He thought
over the maiden ladies of his acquaint-
ance, made list of them and resolved
to ask one after the other to marry
him until some one of them accepted
Had he realized his worth he would
not have expected to get very far
down the list. He wrote out the
names alphabetically and began with
the first name. which was among the
BIS, Burwell. lady Of thirty-seven or
thirty -eight and devoted to missionary
work. He had known her for some
time. having met her at public places.
but had never called at her house. In.
deed, he wasn't quite certain where
she lived. He wrote several notes in
the spirit that was moving him-that
is, without the slightest sentiment
and tore them all up. No true woman
would accept him on such terms. FL
nally with an effort he wrote a very
short One-"l love you; will you be
my wife," He sealed it so that he
could not read it again and left it on
the library table addressed simply to
Miss Burwell, City," intending to get
the address in the morning from a
directory.
But the next morning the spirit that
had moved him was with him no long
er, and he went to his Office, leaving
the note on the table During the day
he abandoned his matrimonial plan as
absurd and went home. Intending to
burn the note. 1t was not where he
had left 1t. He called his housemaid
and asked for it Supposing that he
had forgotten it, she had given it to
the postman when he called.
Strickland went out at once to a
drug store. looked at the name Bur-
well I'm the directory and found twelve
Burwells. There was a sense of re-
lief such as a gambler might feel who
Der on a faro table with his last dol
lar. Even If he didn't know a Miss
Burwell into whose hands it should
fall, there was nothing in it to indi-
cate that it was not a genuine pro-
posal. Il love you; will you be my
wifew was a statement that covered
good deal Of ground. The woman
might even infer that she had been
worshiped by an unknown man.
Possibly he might get a reply the
next morning, so he waited at home |
for the mail. A note addressed to him |
in a scrunched feminine hand set him |
trembling. Where had the lightning |
struck? He tore off the envelope and |
read:
When left you after that whirl we had |
on Thursday evening at the dancing club |
little did 1 know Of the happiness in store |
for me. II you only knew the thrill that |
ran through me the moment you touched |
my hand, 1t must have been mutual / |
was out for my first evening as a young |
lady. and no one knows how a girl at |
such a time is delighted with attention,
especially from an older man.
AhciC was q Soou uedl more OI tDlS /
in the same vein. Indeed, the letter
was as expansive as his own was con-
densed. He remembered a girl to |
whom he had been introduced at the
meet OF the club, but had not caught |
her name. She was evidently a new
conner. had therefore little attention,
and he had stuck by her. Indeed, he
had secretly wished that he were
young enough to make love to her.
This must be the Miss Burwell whom
his arrow shot out in the darkness had
struck.
Strickland jumped up from his chair
and yelled. "Hallelujahv
There was no use in his attempting
to attend to business that day. Getting
out his horse. he drove into the coun-
try, dined at road house, returned to
his home for dinner. then looked at
the clock every Eve minutes until a
proper hour had arrived for him to
make call on the lady whom fate had
tossed to him.
When he heard a rustic of skirts on
the staircase his heart beat a tattoo.
Then a blushing girl entered the
room with averted gaze and, coming
to him. waited for him to put his arms
about her. When she turned her face