The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1913-02-21

4
90 =. seat. I ordered dinner, and
the ample proportions Of it
completely hoodwinked the waiter
AS to the condition of my cardiac
af1iction; being, as was, desper-
ately and hopelessly and miserably
in love. Old owls say that man
con not eat when he is in love. He
can if he is mad at the way the object
Of his affections has treated him; and
| was mad. To be sure, I can not re-
call what my order was, but the
amount of the walters check is still
vivid to my recollection.
I glanced about. At my left sat
young man about my own age. He
was also in evening dress. At my
right a benevolent old gentleman,
whose eyeglasses balanced neatly
upon the end Of his nose, was deeply
interested In the Law Journal and
pint Of mineral water. A little beyond
my table was an exiled Frenchman.
and the irritating odor Of absinthe
drifted at times across my nostrils.
With my coffee I ordered glass of
Dantzic, and watched the flakes of
beaten gold waver and settle: and
presently devoted myself entirely to
my own particularly miserable
thoughts. To be in love and in
debt! To be with the gods one mo-
ment and hunted by bill-collector
the next! To have the girl you love
snub and dismiss you for no more
lucid reason than that you did not at
lend the dance at the Country club
when you promised you would! 1t
did not matter that you had case on
that night from which depended
large slice of your bread and butter;
no. that cid not matter 1t was all
over. 1t was a dashed hard world.
How the deuce DO Eou win q girl. any
how?
Suppose, besides. that you possessed
4 rich uncle who said that on the day
ii your wedding he would make over
10 you fifty thousand in government
three Fer cents. Hard, wasn't it,
Aud suppose the girl Was independent
1y rich. Heigh-ho!
find that man needs more money
in love than he does in debt. This is
not to say that I was ever very hard
dressed; but I hated to pay ten dol
lars ION account" when the total was
only twenty.
And now 1t was all over!
| did not care so much about my
1ncle's gold-bonds, but I did think q
powerful lot of the girl. Why. when
recall the annoyances I've put up
with from that kid brother OF hers!
Pshaw. what's the use?
His mother called him "Toddy One
Roy" in memory Of book she had
read long years ago. He was six years
nld. and l never think of him with
out that Jingle coming to mind:
Little Willie cholcd his sister.
She was dead before they missed her.
Nilltc'3 always mp to tricks.
Aint he cute. he; only six"
Hadn't he emptied his grandma S
medicine capsules and substituted cot
ION? And hadn't dear old grandma
como downstairs three days later,
saying that she felt much improved?
Hadn't he beaten out the brains Of
his toy bank and bought up the pea
mt man on the corner? Yes, indeed!
Md hadn't he taken my few letters
rom his sisters desk and played post.
man up and down the street? His
papa thought it all huge joke till one
Of the neighbors brought back dun
ming dressmakers bill that had lain
on the said neighbours porch. 1t was
altogether different matter then.
Toddy-One-Boy crawled under the bed
that night. and only his mothers
tears saved him from hiding.
All these things [ thought over as
sat at my table. Well. l would go up
TO the club, and if ] didn't get home
till MORNING, who was there to
care?
The Frenchman had gone. and the
benevolent old gentleman. The crowd
was thinning out The young man at
my left rose and rose also. We both
stared thoughtfully at the hat-rack.
There hung two hats: an opera hat
and dilapidated old stovepipe. The
young fellow reached up and, quite
naturally, selected the opera hat He
glanced into it. and Immediately a
wrinkle Of annoyance darkened his
brow. He held the hat toward me.
rs this yours:" he asked.
looked at the label.
No" The wrinkle Of annoyance
sprang from his brow to mine. My
opera hat had cost me eight dollars.
The young fellow laughed rather
lamely. do you live in New York;"
he asked.
nodded
so do l." he continued. "and yet it
IS evident that both of us have been
neatly caught" He thought for a mo-
ment, then Frightened "I'l tell you
what; let's match for the good one"
gazed indignantly at the rusty
stovepipe. Done" said I.
lost; / knew that l should: and
the young fellow walked off with the
good hat.
Angrily. strobe up to the cashiers
desk and explained the situation, leav-
ing my address and the number of my
apartment; my 'name wasn't neces-
sary.
Troubles never come singly. Here
| had lost my girl and my hat. to say
nothing of my temper-of the three
tue most certain to be found again. I
passed out Of the cafe, bareheaded
ana hct-headed. l hailed cab and
climbed in. | had finally determined