Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1912-01-12
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B. PHI ViAiNDEVEER

My engagementsnWith Edith wan
short, sweet andN hery. We parted
after a quarrel and never spoke again.
The only things which passed be-
tween us after the break were the
gifts had, bestowed upon her and
our letters. When mine came: hack
to me: I tossed them into a drawer IN
q writing desk kept for personal use
In my home. intending to destroy them
whenz I*shad time. But somehow /.
disliked to touch anything that re-
minded me of: this love turned 70
hate. - -:
My engagement to Mildred that fol
lowed was q very different affair. 5I5
resolved that I would write no such
twaddle al had written Edith. NIL
dred was ono Of those undemonstra-
tive girls whose. feelings are often
very strong, but who keep them pent,
fearing that some one may detect them.
Such people rarely make friends. Those
they meet casually are never drawn
to them, but the few who break
through their shells adore them.
Our engagement was a hong one, for
I was obliged not only to set my
house in order, but first to get the
house. I was satisfied that Mildred
was the woman I wanted for a wife.
We were companionable, interested In
each other and our joint affairs and
had complementary tastes. But there
was no gush. When we parted and
met our kiss was more like one be-
tween brother and sister than be-
tween lovers. Nevertheless we were
wrapped up in each other.
Our engagement had lasted year,
and so used had I become to consider
ing Mildred as my own personal prop
erty that I gradually dropped what
few endearments / had been used to
giving her. I was away from her fire.
quently, and so great was my aversion
after my experience with Edith-7to
love letters that l never wrote one to
Mildred. Finally, during my absences
I did not write her at all. Mildred
never complained Of this in the slight
est. Indeed, she never wrote me except
in reply to letter of mine, and it was
usually shorter and less demonstrative
than mine.
Then came a thunderclap. While
from home l received letter from Mil
dred's sister Clara informing me that
Mildred was intending on my return
to break our engagement; The reason
she would give was that she had found
that she did not love me well enough
to marry me. The real reason was my
unloverlike treatment Of her. ''You
have mistaken her," wrote Clara. "She
is brimful of romance, feeling, every
thing that tends to bring out q grand
passion. She loves you devotely, as
you would have known had you treat
ed her In a way to bring ont the
strength of her passion" !
With a mute blessing upon Clara for
giving me chance to avert the calam-
fly before it should fall, sat about the
work Of rectifying my mistake. I be-
gan at once a letter-ignoring, Of
course, the information possessed
which would meet my Mildred's most
ardent desires. What was my disap-
pointment, my chagrin, my terror, to
discover that I could not write in the
required vein. wrote dozen letters,
none Of which satisfied me. Those that
were exuberant Of love seemed to be-
lie me; those in which / expressed what
I conceived to be a full modicum Of
the tender passion seemed cold to me.
Every one of them destroyed. Wheth-
er it was that the attempt to write
love letter awakened remembrance
Of my affair with Edith that had made
such effusions repulsive to me 1 could
not conjecture; I only knew that they
were now impossible to me.
Then brilliant thought struck me.
I had once written such letters, and
they were still in my possession. I
could copy them, or when they did not
enter into any particulars-were sim.
ply love letters-1 might use the orig
tnals. I telegraphed Clara to send At
once q package marked ITO be dc"
stroyed" contained In drawer ut my
desk at home. Two days later I re-
ceived It by express. =
Nearly all the letters began 'Dear-