Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1912-02-08
A Split Coin
Bv ANNA B. WRIGHT
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1911

but a portion of mans life ii is Il
woman's whole existence. or words to
that effect While there are many ex-
ceptions TO the rule, there is no doubt
chat woman treasures love, or at least
ifs memory. longer than a man. Miss
Amelia Dexter has the half Of silver
ten cent piece which has been In her
possession thirty years At any rate
she was treasuring 1t TIL recently, wheE
she met the man who gave 1t to her.
What she has done with 1t since no
body knows,
Wien Amelia was seventeen she Wis
tied her aunt, the wife of a professor
Of The Naval academy at Annapolis.
There she net q young midshipman
who smiled upon her. showing a beau.
tifuI set Of white teeth. while his eyes
laughed with every other feature The
girl collapsed at once. Whether her
love for the young man strengthened
Is a question More likely il was born
all at once.
Nevertheless cadet Williams aud
Amelia Dexter paired Off" as young
people call being exclusively devct' d
TO each other Williams was Miss Dex-
ter's escort to the cadet dances and
accompanied her In her walks. No
other girl asplred to any attention from
him. and Amelia received no attention
from any other cadet In short, there
was between them one Of those limo
cent relations which have not the for
mality VI an engagement--a sort of
natural youthful emotion preliminary
70 mating. In a man 1t Is usually a
pleasant tenderness which may or may
not take root. 1t may be the same in
girl, yet there are cases wherein il has
been an undying love.
There were special auxiiaries In this
case. the academy band discoursing
martial music. the cadet corps march
ing on and or parade. the formal sa-
iutes between officers and between OIL
GERS and cadets There Is an autocracy
among men trained to fight rs well as
q certain swagger, probably intended to
overbalance the fact that what they
are being educated for is to be killed.
Nevertheless IL is fascinating to the
young of both sexes. who take very
little account Of what 1t Is for Ii has
always figured largely in love.
Amelia spent a couple of months at
Annapolis. then went home TO begin
another year az school The nearest
thing 10 an understanding between her
and her cadet lover was the split coin.
As to an engagement. neither Of them
thought of such a matter of fact pro-
ccediug They had not grown mature
enough 20 make an arrangement for
lifetime They lived and loved only for
the present The future was or seemed
TO he TOO fnf for their consideration.
The split coin represented what they
felt, and its intrinsic value tabout so
per cent Of its current valuel repre-
scented the real depth OF their nlfec
ton
That is. for the boy As to the girl,
this Is one Of the cases the poet de
scribed 1t was not an egg to be de
yeloped Il was born perfect aud In
destructible She left Annapolis With
her half coin hidden away in her
bosom, while underneath it burned a
flame like that kept alive by yestal
virgins
What transpirod from that time till
thirty years had passed is not part
Of this story Miss Dexter is now an
old maid Williams is an admiral and
n grandfather one summer there
was a naval war game on the Atlantic
coast AT reception given TO the OF
ficers of the fleet Miss Dexter, an eli
derby spinster, was present Admir-
al williams was introduced 10 her
They chatted awhile. when Miss Dex
ter began to ask him leading questions.
She spoke OF certain moonlight even
ing on the porch OF one OF the pro
fessors Of the Naval academy. Then
aud there he had given her her first
kiss She contented herself with men
tioniug certain correlative incidents,
The admiral didn't twig, She referred
60 a ride on the water In which they
sat side by side in a retired corner,
his arm eucirellng her waist The
aiilANNl Ni0 hbi f'tH tNAAAthbtl Aht
boat ride She mentioned certain ctr.
cumstanges corrected with their last
parting The admiral wondered what
she was driving at
Then the ADMIRAL began 60 rally her
on not having married. saying that IL
was undoubtedly her own fault. She
admitted that she had had an affair
when very young with naval ohi-
Ger and. taking In her hand O tluc
gold chain she wore about her neck
drew from her bosom half a dime
She told the admiral that the man who
had kept the other half had forgotten
her
III you'n tell me who he is re.
piled Williams, "and II he Is ever I'm
der my command I'm make him wish
he had a better memory
Miss Dexter sighed but made nj
reply The admiral clustered about
the fine sense Of honor of officers of the
navy IN matters pertaining to woman
declaring that the saying that a sailor
hiss sweetheart IN every port is aslnr
on the service Then, being called
away, he made a profound pow and
continued 10 pour forth his repertnrv