Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-04-20

IL, but to me the fact that this devil
was incased In a very attractive body
made it all the more acceptable to me.
Now. this girl was really a devil,
and l am going to tell you how she
proved herself one.
When we came to that period in a
courtship where a couple can sit side
by side from 7 o'clock in the evening
till 3 in the morning l told Alice all
about my woman hating uncle. BY
this time he had given me a full ac-
count of how he had been ruined in
his brothers affection by a designing
woman, and l gave Alice the story.
She seemed much interested, much in
censed, against the "horrid thing" who
had so foully misrepresented her sex.
Meanwhile l had given my enchan-
tress to understand that I was to in
herit my uncle's estate in trust for the
next nan to inherit it after me, and
that 1 could only do SO by giving a
pledge that l would never marry.
Alice could not very well object to
this till after l had come SO far under
lc IlIuCD(Cs Vi thC uCNh HAthAh -
as to resign a fortune for her. She
was willing to take me with the for
tune and, being still quite young, de-
clared that she would take me with
out 1t. But she admitted that it would
be a great deal nicer If we could in
herit my uncle's wealth. The mink
had conceived a scheme for getting
that fortune, but she said nothing about
1t to me.
NV affair drifted on till l was of a
proper age to be married and Alice
was a grown m Since l had de-
termined to put my head in the lion
ess' jaw / was in a desperate hurry
to do so. But Alice vas in no hurry
at all. She kept putting me off till at
last / told her that | believed she was
fooling me and would not marry me
at all. gave as a reason hat she
wanted my uncle's fortune as well as
myself and she would not take me
without 1t.
I can never forget that beautiful, re-
proachful look she gave me. 1t seemed
that l had touched a sensitive plant
and had blighted it. | caught her In
my arms and implored her forgiveness.
She forgave me.
But our wedding was not a whit
nearer than before.
It was about this time that | began
to notice a change in my uncle. His
Trades against women were less fire.
quent. He surprised me n day by
saying that If a man could capture one
of these creatures young and train her
to a sense of honor such as is inherent
in a man she might be changed, as a
wild cub is changed, to domestic uses.
"How young, Uncle Ted l asked.
do you think it necessary to begin
with a girl?"
THAT l don't know. Perhaps eight
cen would not be too late" vas his re
ply.
been tanned at the age of forty-six, fol-
every day l noted some new evidence
that he was becoming a domesticated
animal. Then there came a period
when he seemed very i'll at ease with
me. Up to this time he had been very
chummy with me. Now he would sit
at table reading his newspaper. and in
the evening when we had smoked al
home or gone out to a play together he
would either go to his room to read OF
would go out alone. One morning ]
saw him going into a flower shop
What business he had there l did not
know. and | was not of sufficiently
small caliber to try to find out. Nc
flowers came to the house. No woman
hater could be sending them except te
a funeral. and / was not aware thai
any of my uncle's relatives or friends
had died.
One morning after breakfast my I'm.
Gle took me into his study and said
that he had a very important commu.
nication to make. After great hem.
ming and having and getting very red
in the face he began:
81 have adopted you and led you to
expect that on certain conditions you
will inherit my fortune. Circumstances
have somewhat changed this intention
You will remember that | have said
to you that if a woman could be caught
young she might be tanned and turned
from a devil to something that could
be lived with. | have decided to try
this plan. | am about to marry q
young woman, a woman twenty-five
years younger than myself. But / will
not disappoint, you. | will on the day
of my wedding settle on you a third
of my estate without conditions. If ]
have no children you will eventually
get the whole"
l was relieved and delighted. A
third Of an estate was far better thar
one, and if my uncle had adhered to
his original intention | would get moth.
ing unless | resigned Alice. | con
graduated my uncle. and from thai
moment we were again in perfect rap.
port. | asked him when | should be
introduced to his tancee. and he told