Bridgeton pioneer., 1917-06-14

A Story of Romance Ver-
sus the Practical.
BY ALAN HINSDALE

character stamped in her face as plain
fy as the word may be printed. But
she was, or seemed to me to be, devoid
of sentiment I was full of it. l fell
in love with her, and since she was de-
void of what was born in me endow-
ed her with it. For this purpose had
plenty of Imagination and succeeded in
covering her with an ideality which
she did not possess.
It is said, and l believe it, that op-
posites are readily attracted to each
other. At any rate, Gwen and pair
ed off. 1t was not long before l was
making love at high pressure Gwen
did not seem averse to listening to my
rhapsodies, but she made no return In
kind. Besides, she showed her matter
of-factness in other ways. For in
stance, l gave her a book rack, hand
somely inlaid, one of those con-
frivances to put on a stand to hold
dozen or so choice books. Not long
zafterward her little brother knocked
it off the stand and broke it. l told
Gwen that l would have it mended
for her. She said that it would cost
more to mend it than it would be
worth.
This reply was a great shock to me.
I had supposed that the gift, coming
from me, would be Of ineXpressible
value to her. Gwen looking at it in a
pecuniary way rather than prizing it
as an expression of my tender feelings
for her seemed to me to be barbarous.
4 made no complaint l simply went
of and nursed my wound.
When entered seriously with Gwen
into a discussion of future together
she again threw damper on me. She
poo-poOhed my talk about love In a
-cottage-poverty she called it-and
brought up many objections to a
match between us. 1 was so inflated
by my romance that nothing seemed to
stand In the way Of our union. l told
her that with love in our hearts OBJ
Jections were of no moment whatever
Her reply was, when poverty comes
In at the door love flies out Of the win
dow"
This was all the more chilling to me
because there were no important world
ly reasons why Gwen and / should not
he married. l was in receipt of an in
come on property to enable us to live
comfortably. I had, besides, a good
salary and was advancing as rapidly
as was to be expected. I have noticed
that women have a way of saying one
thing and meaning another. Ovens
real objection to marrying me came out
in good time. She saw plainly that
had set her upon q pedestal as an OBJ
1ect Of worship, and she feared that
when the time came-aS 1t inevitably
must come-for taking down the gilded
image and putting up one Of flesh and
blood my love would not prove to be
OF the kind to endure the change.
This was the way Gwen expressed
IL to me: You have mistaken me"
she said. You consider me generous,
a1nselfish. On the contrary, am mean
and never give anything away that l
want myself Besides, I have traits,
Inherited from my ancestors, that
would turn any man from me whose
love was Of the most substantial kind"
was bit staggered by this confeS-
sion, but not for long. My optimistic
disposition rose above fear that would
not love Gwen even If she were all she
painted herself and I told her so in
most impassiOned words, at the same
time lavishing upon her an abundance
OF earesses. But she disengaged her.
self from me, avowing that at the first
sign Of real fault in her my caresses
would turn to expressions Of contempt
One day when Gwen and l were
walking together we came to a fruit
stand kept by poor woman who was
evidently obliged to keep her little
-cAild with her while selling her goods
Gwen took fancy to some apples and
asked the woman their price. Instead
ef paying it Gwen endeavored to beat
the vendor down and, failing to do so.
walked on without buying. I was so
filled with commiseration for woman
whose sphere in life condemned her to
make her living in such an humble
way, especially as she was obliged to
Eeep a hungry looking child with her
while doing so, that would have been
glad to pay double the price she asked
for her apples.
i said nothing to Gwen about the
matter then, but l thought great
a4lcI ali, was Suc uOL TlSuC Ill
asserting that after we were married
her faults would come up to make trou-
tble between us? She had said that she
vNas very mean and when time came
snad not scrupled to show that mean
NESS While I was repelled at her
Gault, could not but admire her frank.
mess and her wisdom at hesitating to
snarry q man who was ignorant of it.
Gwen and I We're invited to spend
couple Of weeks in midsummer at the
ccaantry residence of a friend Of hers
SGTen and Miss Emily Tucker had been
scnoehnates, and 1 did not doubt that
Miss Tucker possessed my fiancee's con-
eHdence to far greater degree than l
sdid, for If there are two persons in
the world who are bent on Withholding
confidence from each other they are an