The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-01-22

carry any OF her indecisions and feaup
to her sister for settlement. Who could
look 10 Waitstill's clear. steadfast eyes
and say. can't make up my mind
which to marry?" Not Patty. She felt,
instinctively. that WaitstiIrs heart. II
it moved at all. would rush out like a
great river to lose itself in the ocean
and. losing itself. forget the narrow
banks through which it had flowed be-
fore. Patty knew that her own love
was at the moment nothing more than
the note Of a child's penny flute and
that Waitstill was perhaps vibrating
secretly with a deeper, richer music
than could ever come to her. Still.
music Of some sort she meant to feel.
Even If they make me decide one way
or another before l am ready" she
said to herself, I'll never say yes till
I'm more in love than l am now!"
b were other reasons why she
did not want to ask Waitstill's advice.
Not only did she shrink from the low
ing scrutiny of her sisters eyes and
the gentle probing of her questions,
which would fix her own motives on
a pin point and hold them up unbecom-
ingly to the light. but she had a fool
ish. generous loyalty that urged her to
keep Waitstill quite aloof from her
own little private %perplexities.
"She will only worry herself sick,'
thought Patty. "She won't let me mar
~ without asking fathers permission,
and she'd think she ought not to aid
me in deceiving him, and the tempest
would be twice as dreadful If 1t fell
upon US both! Now, If anything hap
pens. l can tell father that l did it all
myself and that Waitstill knew moth
ing about it whatever. Then-oh. joy!-
if father Is too terrible l shall be a
married woman and l can always say:
1 will not permit such cruelty! Wait
still is dependent upon you no longer;
she shall come at once to my husband
and met"
This latter phrase almost intoxicated
Patty. 30 that there were moments
when she could have run up to MILL
ken's mills and purchased herself a
husband at any cost. had her slender
savings permitted the best in the mar
ker, and the NOR impersonal the hus-
band the more delightedly Patty rolled
the phrase under her tongue.
Il can v be published in
church," she thought. land perhaps no.
body will ever care enough about me
to brave fathers ~displeasure and in
sist on running away with me. l do
wish somebody would care 'frightfully'
about me enough for that. enough to
help me make up my mind. 50 that l
could just drive up to fathers store
some day and say. Good afternoon,
father! l knew you'd never let me
marry There was always a dash
here in Patty's imaginary ~discOurses,
a dash that could be filled in with any
Christian name according to her mood
OF the mOment-"'sO | just married
him anyway and you needn't be angry
with my sister. for she knew nothing
about it. My husband and | are sorry
if. you are ~displeased. but there's no
help for it. and my husbands home,
will always be open to Waitstill what
ever happens"
Patty, with all her latent love Of
fnery and ease. did not weigh the
worldly circumstances of the two men.
though the reflection that she would
have more amusement with Mark than
with Philip may have crossed her
mind. She trusted Philip and respect
ed his steady going. serious view Of
life. 1t pleased her vanity. too. to feel
how her nonsense and fun lightened
his temperamentaI gravity. playing in
and out and over it like a butterfly in
Il smoke bush. She would be safe
with Philip always. but safety had no
special charm for one Of her age. who
had never been in peril. Marks supe-
rior knowledge of the world. moreover,
his careless. buoyant manner Of carry
ing himself, his gay. bOyish audacity,
all had a very distinct charm for her
and yet
But there would be no land yet" a
little later. Patty's heart would blaze
quickly enough when sufficient heat
was applied to it and Mark was fall
ing more and more deeply in love
every day. AS Patty vacillated his
purpose strengthened. the more she
weighed the more he ceased to weigh
the difficulties of the situation, the
more she unfolded herself to him the
more he loved and the more be re
pected her. She began by delighting
his senses. she ended by winning all
that there was in him and creating
continually the qualities he lacked. |
after the manner of true women even
when they are very young and foolish. |
NIGHT AUTO GOGGLES.
Double 1 ans nevies Pro+ae<. WAC ero~