The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1921-08-20

pieces, and then you wonder that they
fooled you so long.
1--WE only been In love once. I've
imagined myself in love a good many
times, but the great sizzling passion of
my life had possession of me about
ten years ago. l was so far gone that
l wrote poetry, and when a man does
that you may know he's NO longer re-
sponsible for his actions.
1.-THE girls name was Isabella But
terWorth, and to say she was q peach
erino is not doing her justice. She was
an apprentice in u millinery joint, and
only earned two bones q week, so you
can see 1 loved her for herself alone.
If she hadn't been drawing more than
one PUNK q week it would have been
just the same. There's nothing I'M
selfish about me where my affections
are concerned.
"Tom Singletree was my rival. He
was a worthless, loathsome individual,
who had a squeaky tenor voice and
played the mandolin. He belonged to
the glee club and sang In the choir,
and a man who sings In public always
has a strong pull with the girls. Isa-
bella wavered for a while. She realized
that l was n of natures noblemen,
but l couldn't sing any more than a
bullfrog with a sore throat. She was
passionately fond of music, and the
sight of Tom standing up before q Gull
tured and refined audience, all shirt
front and white teeth, was more than
she could resist. So finally she told
me the best she could do under the cir
cumstances was to be a sister to me,
and she and Tom were married.
81 can't tell you how tough I felt,
professor. 1t seemed to me that the
bottom had fallen out of everything.
If the marriage had been q failure my
broken heart might have healed in
time, for there's nothing more encour-
aging to a rejected sutton than to see
the girl strike hard shedding after the
ceremony. Then he knows she is re-
GREETING the choice she made.
"But everything prospered with Isa-
bella. She had Il great business head
on her. She bought out the millinery
store and built it up until 1t employed
fifteen or twenty women, and then she
added dry goods, and inside of a few
years she had the biggest establish
ment in town. / never heard of such
a soft snap as Toms. His wife makes
oil kinds of money, and all he has to
do is to wear purple and fine linen and
sit around looking beautiful. He hasn't
done a lick of work since he was mar
ried, and his wife considers it a pleas.
ure to make money for him to blow
and she looks upon him as the most in
%teresting event that ever occurred.
mo man with flesh and blood in his
veins can look unmoved upon such O
spectacle. Often when / am carrying
milk to my customers l see Tom bowl
ing along the boulevard in his motor
car, and he looks at me In a tone OF
voice that makes me yearn to battle
murder and sudden death. Some day
I'll meet that man where the police
can't interfere, and then I'll manicure
his head until he admits that he Is q
complete mistake.
"If l had never loved Isabella ]
wouldn't are anything about this bus
mess. But when | reflect that l might
be in his place If / had been able to
sing The Lost Chord in a high, squeal-
ing voice, my burden seems greater
than can bear, and l can hardly wait
for the time when FL have a chance
to even things up with Tom"