The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-07-23
Romance Of a
Broken Nose
How q Dream Turned Out
a Reality
BY v. MONROE

3 BY MARTHA v. nONRO6 3
Howard Chichester stood at his club
window looking out on a street along
which now and again some pedestrian
was forcing his way against wind and
rain. Mr.. Chichester was depressed
and the sight from the window did not
tend to raise his spirits. His club was
supposed to be q home for bachelors,
but It was q great stone structure, its
interior faced with marble and during
the day usually deserted.
. Mr.. Chichester thought how pleasant
a real home would be on such q day as
this. He pictured himself coming home
from business. met at the door by a
loving wife with q kiss, divesting him.
self Of wet clothing and sitting down
before q cheerful flre In his library, bis
wife on the arm Of his easy chair listen
Ing to a recital OF the events Of the
day. r.
"A gust Of wind changed a woman's
umbrella from concave to convex and
sent q mans hat rolling over the wet
pavement Chichester turned away
from the scene contrasting y widely
with his dream Of 4 home. and to
escape 1t he went into the billiard
room. There was no one there to play
with. 20 after knocking the balls about
Tor a few minutes he started out into
the storm to 60 to his room to dress
for dinner.
The wind vent tho rain almost
parallel with tho sidewalk. 90 instead
Of holding his umbrella over his head
he held It before his face. Suddenly
he felt a shock and heard q scream
Raising his umbrella he saw a girl
directly in front OF him from whose
nose blood was running. It occurred
to him that he had drawn that blood
with the stick Of his umbrella.
1t was no time to talk, but to act.
though Chichester gave vent to two
words. Thousand pardons." as he
whipped out his handkerchief to sup
ply the place Of the one used by the
girl, which resembled a dolly rather
than a blood %stancher. She seized
the one he offered her greedily and held
It to her nos
A cab, was passing, and Chichester
hailed 1t. Fortunately it was empty,
and the driver was ready for a fare.
He drew up by the curb. Chichester,
opening the door, said to the lady:
Il beg of you to permit me to do
what I can to atone for my careless
ness by taking you home" ..-.a
The girl removed the handkerchief
from her face. saw that her nose was
still bleeding, hesitated, then got into
the cab. Chichester asked for her
street and number, then. giving 1t to
the driver, got in and sat down beside
her. On the way he bemoaned having
injured her and hoped that there would
be no i'll result. The girl said very lit.
tie and when they reached her home
and he handed her out a in no state
of mind to thank him for bis attention.
Nevertheless he followed her to the
door and into the house. where she
| was received by her mother, who natu.
rally showed great anxiety to know
what had happened.
Inviting Chichester to q little parlor,
the mother vent upstairs with her
daughter and presently returned with
the report that the hemorrhage had
ceased, but she had decided to call In a
doctor to make vi that all was right.
Chichester asked II he might remain to
| hoaP tho 6nctnr,S noDnp< and mas ~ro nj
ed bis request. A telephone message
was sent for the family physician, who
arrived In due time and went upstairs
to the patient.
Meanwhile Chichester remained In
the cosy r0Om to which he had been
shown. A cheerful f1re was burning
on the hearth. and some one had been
sitting In an easy chair directly before
it. for such was the position Of the
chair. Chichester dropped into it, and
presently his mind became diverted
from the damage he had done to bis
immediate surroundings.
The was very tastefully fur
nished. Indeed, there was an air of
| comfort about 1t which Is in some
rooms and not in others, why, it is hard
to tell. On the wall were pictures, all
works Of art, one OF which was a por-
trait Of a young girl evidently about
fifteen, which Chichester recognized at
once for a likeness Of the girl he had
injured. though it must have been
painted several years before. His at
tention was fixed on the nose, which
was very shapely. He WINGED as he
thought that he might have made 1t a
DETACHMENT instead of a thing of
beauty.
Chichester sat musing. He recalled
the dream that had come t him while
looking out of his window at his club.
when he had pictured himself coming
In out Of the rain received by a wife.
her sitting beside him on the arm of
bis chair and their talking over the
events Of the day. He o fancied the
girl stepping out Of the picture and
taking the place Of the wife of bis
dream. True, she was but a chit. but
he had e her as a woman. and It
1 49, - AAHQ 81 - .>>Vl-~ 49, $500