Ellsworth American., 1916-05-31
His Affinity
a, WILLIAM CHANDLER

ii, as that we men don't marry the
.ouen; they marry us"
4put" Helen persisted. n NO wom-
.,ooses TO take the trouble to bring
=, down and you don't care to re-
..,n single, deprived Of wife, chill
80 and the comforts Of . home, II
..,ms 10 me that you had better bestir
uslsn was a matchmaker. l knew
.he had stome scheme ON hand and
,,,,ed for her to declare It.
~ can make It easy for you" she
.,,,,nued. II know 4 girl who. like
vou has put OF matrimony too long
"a has begun to realize that she Is
a-f,ipg toward u lonely old spInster.
hn.d | have offered to help her out.
!, have invited her to spend July and
,urst with me at Fernwood- I shall
h.vs other guests during the summer.
10Th men and women. shall tell her
,h,, I have . man In view for her.
How would you like to be that manr'
.ueeu,~ | exclaimed admiringiy.
-rou are the queen Of matchmaker.
mad YOU told me you had 4 girl for
mo and introduced me to her. she and
I knowing OF your plan. would doubt
es have spurned each other Your
wor,sal is delightful. I enter into It
WITH all my heart But why do you
smume that there Will be 4 natural re-
j~c,ion between us"
Il don't | simply assume that you
ar persons Of opposite sex who seek
4 mate. The mate being at hand, per.
hans you will recognize Il II you are
left 70 yourselves to do So"
spent a number Of week ends at
Heen's country seat besides two
weeks IN August
fancied she had got up the scheme
TO make a match between me and
some dear friend OF hers. and be
ueyed that ! might nnd out the youns
kdy by the fact that she was some
one Helen adored But I knew that
Helen would conceal this alteration
from me.
settled upon q Miss Jcwett, one OF
her guests during the summer whom
had heard her speak OF quite often
before as the lady between whom and
NE there was 70 be q natural selec.
ton. Nlsa Jewett was evidently a
young woman not especially Of beau
II or endowed with such lightweight
frivolties as are usually attractive to
men. In other words, there was q lot
to her, though admit the words are
q very poor description. met her at
week end visit early IN the summer
and. having settled upon her as the
lady Intended for me. showed her con
sterable attention. To tell the truth.
she Interested me In conversation and
preferred h8 company.
met her At HeIen's again In July
and was counting on further pleasant
moments with her. but this time she
vas principally taken up with MFR
Judk.ns. whom she seemed never To
tre Of. II ! were talking with her and
Judklns came up she would dismiss
ne with nod. accompanied by q
Gnile, and ] was thus commanded TO
give place to him. After three days
st Fernwces1 l went back 20 town dis
gruntlesi.
During the longer period I spent at
Fernwood Miss Jewett was again
v!sttor there. She seemed delighted tc
ueet me again. and we were getting
on nicely when that fellow Judkins re
appeared. and again my association
With Miss Je~ett was broken up.
4 suppose" grumbled to my host
es, that you've got another couple
besides mo and my unknown to bring
0sether-Miss Jewett and that cad
'ndkins. What she can sec In him
Helen smiled and turned away with
out listening to the rest OF It. and l
went OF TO hunt up some Of the other
spinsters. none Of whom interested me
N the least Judkins went away Bun
Gay afternoon, and l spent Sunday
evening in tete-a-tete with hts Ne
section," which was what considered
nef' She had the tact to ignore him
now that he was gone. and I had never
Known her to be 20 entertaining.
Not long after this I told Helen that
ner selection plan for me must have
gone awry. since l had evidently run
across Judkins' affinity. But she turn
90 the subject, giving me no satisfac-
uon.
ihe summer passed without any se-
iecuon between me and q girl, 10 faf
a. could zee. but during the winter !
ss~ great deal Of Miss Jewett- !
eased to be interfered with by Jud
1ihs and-well. to make a long story
mort l made q match with Miss Jew.
~ Tom Aowbry and his wife were
x the wedding. and after the cere-
nony Tom handed his wife a valuable
ri necklace. l asked how he came
ave 1t to her on that especial Oc-
caaion.
enc won It on a bet. L.As& winter
e Oct me that within q year she
sould make a match between yos and