United labor bulletin., 1913-08-30
The ONE GREAT THING
BY GUY MARKHAM.

and the girl lifted the great armful Of
fragrant and beautiful flowers and
crushed them almost roughly to her
swelling bosom.
"Oh. why, why, cannot VIII send me
such things?" she whispered passion
ately to herself. IT like him so much
better than any other man-yes, yes.
indeed / fear love him; but cannot,
no cannot face life Of love In cot
tage' and know that must always do
without all the nice things of life"
Then she smiled a wonderful smile
tho smile which had made her the
most sought after girl in her set; and
she blushed rosy little flush and
whispered still more softly to herself:
But I'd rather live year with VIII
In a cottage than lifetime in a pal
ace with any other man. Besides
they say VIII ia bound to rise and all
the men say he will some day be an
ornament to the bar and-and all that
sort of thing. Even papa approves of
Will along with all the other men,"
Then she shivered a little shiver.
But mamma does not take any
stock in WILL" she thought soberly,
"and mamma Is the practical one in
our family"
The girl buried her face in the
great bunch of roses-they cost the
sender a cold twenty-five dollars-and
looked up defiantly.
We'll, why should / not marry Mr..
Hadley?" she soliloquized. HE is a
man who has demonstrated his ability
and is not an offensive person In any
way"
Then, without apparent excuse she
cried out, aloud: "win never could
have sent me these roses-and love
them, love them, love them"
Then exercising her woman's pre-
rogative. she sat down and had a good
cry. Then she arose, glanced at the
bit of pasteboard which came with
the roses and which bore only the
words "Nell-from w. T. H. Wear
them tomorrow night" and went to
her dainty desk to acknowledge them.
The note Hadley received at his
ofice the next morning puzzled him
not little, but delighted him great
deal. He never had been able to
pierce the reserve of the girl he de-
sired SO earnestly to marry, and being
q keen Judge OF human nature he de
tected a warmer and more receptive
ring to her words than there had been
any others she ever had addressed to
him
Roses" he exclaimed in a puzzled
way to himself. There's a mistake
somewhere, but inasmuch as it seems
to have warmed her toward me ]
reckon the way is to say nothing"
The incident so interested him that
he lost all track of the market and
made SO many mistakes during the
day that he came out a considerable
loser-an unheard OF thing for Walter
Hadley.
In the meantime the young mar
who had gone broke to send the roses
to the fair Miss Nell, ate his heart
away in disappointment at receiving
no word of acknowledgment Before
night he had decided that there was
no use trying any longer and hao
planned a campaign in the Klondike
where he would acquire fortune oi
leave his bones to bleach.
Miserable as he was, however, he
could not refrain from sliding into his
evening clothes that night and at
tending the ball at the Prices, where
he was assured to see the idol of his
dreams and his despair.
HadIey appeared at the ball early.
easy and confident and proceeded i'm
mediately to take possession OF Miss
Nellie Ross, whom he found as gra-
cious as her note indicated. Hadley
knew well how to avail himself OF an
opportunity and before he had talked
to her five minutes she knew that the
great question was to be asked and
that her answer was to be demanded
that night And she knew what the
answer was to be. She was vaguely
glad that VIII was not there.
II was about midnight, when, after
walking through quadrille with her
Hadley decided that the propitious
moment had come and turned to lead
her to the conservatory. Pale and
trembling with excitement. for she
too. saw the moment had arrived. she
turned to take his arm.
At this particular time VIII Hunter
who had pust come into the room, ap
peared before them in a state of more
or less suppressed excitement. He
had arrived late and with the instinct
of love his eyes had rested at once
upon the object OF his devotion. With
a start he observed that she wore the
roses he had sent.
"As you wear my colors I think ]
may claim a waltz" he said with easy
assurance. And before Miss Nell fair
ly knew what was going she found
herself swinging round and round In
the clasp of a strong arm.
Did my roses bring any subtle
message with them?" he whispered
Your roses!" she repeated. puz
Eled.