The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-06-19
...A...
Revelation
II Came After a Very Un-
pleasant Experience
By DONALD CHAMBERLIN

WI as lily kITi Cuuu. LOT l UeilcEe JnAt
boys may have girl chums as well as
boy chums. When we arrived ut an
age at which the sexes mate there was
q" change between Agnes and me
from friendship to love.
This state Of affairs continued be-
tween us until | became smitten with
Lillian Gray. and the first p~ersOn-the
only person. in fact-to whom | con.
8ded the matter was Agnes.
When ! told her Of it l noticed a
slight contraction Of the muscles Of the
face.
you don't approved" l said.
Il neither approve nor disapprOve."
she replied.
"Well?"
"A choice made by one in love is a
love choice. not the result of judgment.
You have. | dare say. chosen through
love. and even if l knew Lillian Gray
well enough to make a judgment choice
for you it would avail nothing. for you
would nOt think Of abiding by it. In
deed, | would 0 expect you to abide
by it."
Nevertheless | perceive that you are
not especially pleased with the girl who
has charmed me"
Nor displeased with her. You have
not asked me to pick II a wife for
you"
"1f | had you would not have picked
out Lillian"
There is nothing to her discredit in
that. Suppose | should fall in love with
a man. then ask you to pick out a hus-
band for me-. Do you suppose you
would select the man l had chosen"
mo, | wouldn't" | snapped.
| could not define even now exactly
what it was in her question that caused
me irritation. ! supposed at the time |
was miffed because Agnes did % show
any enthusiasm yer my sweetheart.
My words ended the discussion. and we
proceeded to other subjects.
The withholding Of Agnes approval
OR disapprOval. for that matter
caused me to defer a proposal Of mar
rage for some time to the girl who had
enthralled ne. l did not relish marry
ing any girl over whom my chum was
not enthusiastic. Indeed. would have
liked Agnes to love her as well as |.
In a subsequent conversation with Az.
mes on the subject after l had become
engaged to Lillian l told her this. and
her reply was that there was no more
reasOn why she should love any partic-
ular girl because l loved her than that
l should love any particular man be
cause she loved him.
That's all bosh." I exclaimed. Men
don't love men,
This was the second time that | was
irritated at a remark Of Agnes con
corning my affair. and a second time it
ended a discussion of the subject.
Another matter troubled me. | was
not approved by Lillian's parents. But
there was an especial reason for this.
q wealthy a l was doing pretty
we'll and had ONE prospects. but that
did not satisfy Mr.. and Mrs. Gray.
Their aim for Lillian was an establish
ment. She had an excellent position In
society. which they desired her to keep
up after marriage, and they were we'll
aware that this would require a for
tune independent Of anything they
could give her.
l did not blame Lillian for being dis
tressed at their opposition. A very
strong love for me on her part was re-
quired to induce her to give up a life
to which she had always been accus-
toned. in opposition to her parents
wishes. l saw plainly that a struggle
was going on within her, and after de
liberation I offered to release her. She
declined to be released. l told her that
If she felt a reluctance to leave the gay
world she would serve her own inter
ests as well as mine by accepting a re.
lease, for no couple could be happy to
gether when one was pining for the
unattainable. She replied that she
could not and would not give me up.
But the matter dragged. Her par
ents would not give their consent to
our marriage. and since Lillian did not
like to marry me without it there
seemed to be no prospect Of any out
come. At last l told her that she must
w OuC IuluS VI IlC LACl CilhCA AAOAA )
me or break with me, and after much
deliberation, in which l detected az
much unwillingness to give up the
fashionable world as to act contrary
to the wishes Of her parents, she de
cided to marry me. But she stipulat
ID that our wedding must be without
the knowledge of her parents. W.
would go to a clergyman. be married
she would return to her home, comics!
what she had done and secure forgive
ness. after which we would live to
gether as nan and wife.
l did not like this plan at all.
urged Lillian to do nothing secretly
She replied that she knew her parent.
better than l and could better judg'
what course was best to pursue witt
them. / told her that anything clan
destine was foreign to my nature an
frankly confessed that ! would prefe
to give her up than act underhandedly
She burst into tears. Every n know
49, -~~>~S. <o~p~ min IN 9TH