The daily Alaskan., 1913-04-10
The GirI Who Refused to Dance
 With Me  By THOMAS R. DEAN
By THOMAS R DEAN

.
 When ! was a little boy I used to ] bear a great deal about the famlly's
 "halcyon days. as we called them. My ! father had been both wealthy and ! prominent but first his wealth dlsop- ! pcared, and then he died My mother was anxious to maintain something of
 our social standing but found it very ] difficult to do so on her very limited Income. Nevertheless she was deter
 mined to bring us up as ladies and gen. uemen, and about the only way to re- duc and polish us. outside of home in- ! duence. was to send us to a dancing
 school
 The scholars were divided Into sets, and therc was one set, Che children of
 rich parents, many of whom came to ! che lessons In carriages, attended by ! their maids. They did not mingle with ! Che other scholars, who came to con. sder them oH something above them. selves. too 8ne and beautiful to touch. But l. having often heard my mother say that we hud never associated eS. ccpt with che best saw no reason why ! ] should take an inferior position,
 There was one very pretty little gir. among thls exclusive set whom ! wor. shlpcd from distance. It wos the rule of Che scbooI-uot eulorced-that any girl must dance wIth any boy who asked her. One afternoon when the : object Of my boyIsh admiration hap Dcued t3 be lert without a partner, went up to her and made the bow which was considered an invitation to dance. She sat perfectly stun. In oth. or words. she declined my invitation
 This was tho first rejection l had ever experienced. and it pierced me to the heart But have since had rea- son to consider lt a blessing. for it opened my eyes to the fact that there was a position for me to win in the
 world. and ] resolved to win it. The day will come, said tO myself, when ! I shall live the lie my father and
 mother led in their younger days. ]
 must be successful, and Co be success ! fuI must think and act for myself. grew up separate and apart from this little girl, but for a time ] kept track of her. learned that her father l had made a large fortune out Of a pat cnt medicine. Since my own father
 had been prominent professional man ] felt the Injustice Of this child
 of patent medicine proprietor snub- bng the son Of a lawyer and states. man. Nevertheless when ! saw her rolling about beside her mother in a ! landau driven by a IivcrIcd servant ! ! felt chat she had the advantage of me, and ! renewed my VOW that the ad- vantage should one day be plotted out
 When was seventeen ! had earned and saved enough money to keep me
 year In college and after that taught night school and won scholarships to carry me through Upon graduation ] ! studied law and settled in a small but rapidly growing place where there was no great competition and soon sprang into a fine practice
 ! had reached a point where there was no difficulty in resuming the soc ! claI position my family had occupied ! In che "halcyou days" and, being still
 comparatively young and a wealthy ] bachelor. was somewhat courted by ! che girls ] met in society Most Of ! them were Intent on winning for them selves an establishment before the hey day Of youth passed from them. But ! ! knew their tricks and their manners and had no use for chem.
 ! Instead of seeking a partner for life | to spend my money in a luxurious life l I was making love to my stcnogra-
 pher. She was a woman nearly my ! age and a very intelligent and patient ! person, whose appearance denoted that ] she had seen better days. Neverthe- ]. less there was that which drew me to
 her. though I could not tell exactly
 what it was One day ! asked her
 something about herself She told me ! that she had been born In the same . city that ] was born in and that her . father had lost In speculation a large
 fortune he had made In a patent mcdi-
 cine.
 What need to go further! As look
 ed into her face ] saw what had not
 seen bef0rc-traces of the features Of . Che little girl who had a score Of years l before refused to dance with me. And
 here she yves, passing Into spinster-
 hood, dependent upon a pidful salary !. that paid her for doing my drudgery.
 The day of vengeance had come, and ! I resolved to QuaG the cup of It's
 dregs But ] kept my counsel. Not a
 word did ] speak to call up in her
 memory the boy she had snubbed, And this was my revenge. [ doubled
 her salary. She was much 0st0nished.
 Then ] told her that she wns working
 too hard and employed an assistant for
 her. Her astonlshment was increased
 to wonder
 One afternoon I kent her taking my
 dlct0dou tDl an others had left the of flee. then said to her.
 ] "DlI you uotottend Mir B.s dancing
 school at R. when you were a little
 grI2"