The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1917-08-09

invited out Il vas another mattDf.
While he I'D not actually demur at
her going. ha by reproachf1l words or
looks, showed he considered himself
neglected. So tho patient self-sacr-
fcing girl blamed herself for having
taken the pleasure, and stayed home
more and more.
Then something happened. It was
Joe Whitman. Joe was about twenty.
four, with a rather stubby nose.
bristling brown hair, and eyes that
seemed to laugh no matter how serious
he tried to be. Joe was not opulent,
he was slowly making his way up in
a lawyers Office; but everybody liked
him and wanted him, which, after all,
for ones peace Of mind may be better
even than Opulence. Eva did not seem
to regard the lack Of money seriously,
since Joe was apparently climbing
steadily toward the achievement of q
decent living. She thought only Of the
Joy, the new impetus to live which his
presence gave to her. The young man
was what they call "a live wire;" which
really does rightly apply to those who
are 20 much alive they make II felt
by others.
For Eva he made the drab days fun
Of sunlight. After awhile she won
dered If he came only out Of pity for
her. Then she knew that II it was
only that It would be more cruel than
death.
The blind sometimes seem to devei-
; op q sixth sense, and Alvin Towne d.
v1ned that she loved this man. At
once he was tortured with the fear
that Eva might leave him. The thought
was u~nbearable, and one day be let
her know a little Of what was In his
mind.
I ,"What could I do without your" he
walled. "What could I doY"
"Why think of such a thing7" she
said, putting her arms around him, and
laying her cheek against his. aren't
you all I have in the world1 Why
should I 60 awayr"
"Are you sure" he urged, "there IL
no one elsef"
She protested and petted him into
| a happier mood. But one evening when
she was letting Joe out, and was alone
with him in the hall. he held the hand
she gave him In good-by, and would
not let it 60 Her eyes fell beneath his
gaze.
"There's never been any time to say
it" he said. $50 it's got to come blunt
but I mean I'll I want you, rrlisl Do
you want mel"
+ II ~ wanted anything 80 much In
my life!" she laughed a bit hyster
ically.
Joe's reply seemed to be expressed
in those actions that speak louder than
words; and when the door finally
| closed Eva stood In a kind Of blissful
trance only to be awakened by the
rather impatient call of her father.
The sight of his h~elplessness seemed
| suddenly to drop the girl from the
heights of heaven to the depths Of
self-reproach. What could she say to
him? How could she tell him of her
happiness?
When Joe came the next evening she
wrote upon a slip of paper, and hand
ed it to him. He was not to speak to
her father yet. Later she would .ex-
plain. They wrote all sorts of funny
and foolish things on the slips of pa
per, and laughed so owe them that the
fathers inquiries put Joe's ingenuity
to test in %inventing answers.
Finally Eva saw that the time had
| come when her father could be put
off no longer. She must tell him. It
would better come first from her than
from Joe. The blind man hearing the
confirmation Of that which he had
feared the worst, broke out with a
/ pitiful wall of reproach and despair.
"But, dear" she coaxed. I'VE will
both be with you. It will not be leav-
ing you"
"Oh, I know" he walled. "You will
think only d each other. That's natu-
raj. You will forget me! forget me!
I'd rather be alone than that. Can't
you wait a little till I'm gone? It won't
be long"
Then Eva had to promise him that
they would wait a while. The next
time that he heard Joe was coming
he refused to meet him, saying he was
only in the way. He would lie down
for a while, perhaps be would sleep.
Poor Eva had to face another trying
interview. Joe had grown rather
FESTIVE rel the prolonged delay in be-
ing allowed to speak to her father. Al
though she had tried to make him IN
derstand the situation, he had begun
to almost doubt If she really cared for
him. Youth and the impotence Of a
lover cannot always be strictly un-
selfish and reasonable. So when she
told him how her father felt, and that
It seemed the only thing for them was
to wait, he asked in q choked voice:
"Do you love met"
"Joe!" she cried. "What a cruel
question"
"No!" he said. mot SO cruel as to
have. to ask I'll"