rr—- ... -. •
TAKING HIS
TIME
I-- ... . ..J
Bobby knew he would marry Beth
eventually. He had known it for a
year—ever since that night Beth un
expectedly passed through tilt' door
way where he was lazily leaning, wait
ing for something interesting to hap
pen
Who is she?" asked Bobby, sml
dfnly alert.
My cousin Beth.” said tlie* hostess.
introduce me at once." said Bobby.
‘‘1 want to ask tier to marry me.”
The hostess laughed. She was used
tr Bobby’s extravagances.
Bobby met Beth later in the even
ing Her eyes shone on him mis
chievously and her mouth curved as if
ifce expected to laugh at any moment.
Are you going to ask me to marry
ypv. at once?” she inquired of him
sweetly,
Bobby smiled. “I am glad you over
heard what 1 said to your cousin,” he
replied. “Now you are prepared for
the inevitable.”
’"hat was a year ago and the in
evitable, in the shape of a proposal of
marriage from Bobby, had not come.
He knew he would become engaged to
her eventually, but for the time being
things were very comfortable just as
they were.
Bp monopolized Beth’s evenings
when she stayed at home. He was
her constant escort when she was
out. He felt all the satisfaction of
proprietorship. Still he was not bound.
He could come and go as he pleased.
He took time for his club. He could
pass an occasional leisurely evening
ar home with his pipe.
One night, however, he met with re
verses. Beth wore a cream lace gown
that night and—was ravishing. They
had been invited to meet an eastern
man who was being Introduced to a
good many persons. That is to say,
he was introduced until he met the
cream lace gown containing Beth.
Then he courteously declined to be in
troduced any further. He remained
beside the cream lace gown for the
rest of the evening.
Aon had every appearance of liking
It.” said Bobby in a rage as he was
taking Beth home.
"I did like it very much. I have
asked him to come to see me.”
For some time after that Bobby's
club knew him not. Until the eastern
man departed he passed no leisurely
evenings at home with his pipe. In
fact, the eastern man gave Bobby
wbat is sometimes called a run for
his money.
"I am glad he’s gone,” acknowledged
Bohbv, one evening about a week after
the eastern man had departed.
"Are you?” said Beth softly. “Then
I am glad too.”
Put Bobby did not take warning
from the eastern man. When Beth
said that soft little “Then 1 am glad,
too." he did not ask her to marry him
and save him further alarms. He only
reiaxed, w’ith great tranquility of soul
and continued to monopolize her even
ings wiiert she stayed at home, to be
her constant escort when she went
out, to give the world to understand
that she was his property—to be very
comfortable, in a word, with the idea
of eventually asking her to marry him.
Bobby took a fishing trip. For six
weeks he fished. He did not write
to Beth very often: it was too hard to
write when one was roughing it.
“I should have to write her every
day if we were engaged,” thought
Bobby.
He sent her his biggest catch, how
ever. and felt considerable surprise
and some resentment when she did
not write enthusiastically to thank
him.
At eight o’clock the first night after
Bobby's return he rushed up Beth's
front steps. He wanted to see her
very badly. He had been gone six
weeks.
Beth's mother was sitting alone on
the porch. •
"How is Beth?” eagerly asked Bob
by. “And where is she?”
“She was married last night,” said
Beth’s mother, quietly. “They left on
a late train. They are going abroad
for their honeymoon.’'
"Married! exclaimed Bobby dully'.
"Married;"
"it was all very sudden. Beth met
him the week you left. He was ex
ceedingly eager. Think of it! Mar
ried six weeks after they first saw
each other"
Tears stood in Beth's mother’s eyes.
She was not thinking of Bobby. She
was wishing that daughters did not
have to grow up and get married. »
Alone in his room that night Bobby
smoked long and hard. He thought of
many things. When he finally shook
the last ashes out of his pipe he said
one word to himself.
“Fool!" said Bobby.
He was feeling very wretched.—Chi
cago Daily News.
Not Qualified.
The two men were getting warm
over a simple difference of opinion.
They turned to the third man.
“Isn’t a home-made strawberry
shortcake better than a cherry pie?”
demanded one of them.
“Isn't a home-made cherry pie bet
ter than any shortcake?" inquired the
other.
The third man shook his head.
"In don’t know," he said. “I board.”
Shaky.
“I have been the architect of my
nna fortune, sir."
■ ' ti ir. l-e! ■ the build
.■ • ' - ’ Be you
PERCIVAL
WAS CLEVER
Penelope's eyes were big with the
horror of t^e thought and her little
hand tightened within Percival’s
clasp.
“Suppose we had never met!” she
said in a half whisper.
Percival is sometimes a little slow
about rising to an occasion. All he
said in response was “Um-m-m-m-m!”
It was meant to be the equivalent of
“What indeed!” but it was not satis
factory to Penelope.
"Just suppose!” she repeated.
“Ah!” rejoined Percival in the
same tone as before.
"Wouldn't it have been awful, dar
ling?" said Penelope.
“It certainly would have, sweet
heart.” said Percival.
Penelope thought that over a little
and then: “What would you have
done?” she asked.
“Search—" began Percival. and
then, becoming suddenly conscious of
the seriousness of the question,
checked himself. “Searched through
the world for you until I had found
you,” he said happily.
“How sweet of you!” said Penel
ope. “But reali.v, this isn’t an answer
to my question,” she continued. “If
you had never met me. you wouldn’t
have known that there was any me
to look for and consequently you
wouldn't have looked for me and you
wouldn’t have found me, don't you
see?”
“And yet they say that women
aren't logical!” exclaimed Percival.
"But we did meet, didn't we, dear
heart?”
"Yes, we did,” said Penelope. “But
what if we never had? What would
you have done, dearest?"
“I don’t know,” said Percival,
pinned down to it. 11 don't suppose
I’d have done anything. What would
you have done, honey bird?”
“I wish you would keep still and
let me say what 1 want to say,” said
Penelope. “I want you to tell me
what you would have done if you
hadn’t met me. You would have fall
en in love with some other girl,
wouldn't you?"
“Well,” Percival admitted, “I sup
pose 1 might have. And you would
probably have become engaged to
some other fellow.”
“1 would not.”
“What are you taking your hand
away for?”
“I’m tired of keeping it in that po
sition. Whom would you have cho
sen?”
“I don't know,” answered Percival.
"Whom do you think you’d have
picked?”
Penelope's eyes (lashed. “I wouldnt
have picked anybody,” she asserted
with indignation. “I told you I
wouldn’t. I suppose you would have
fallen in love with Charlotte Smet
ter.”
“Not in a thousand years,” said
Percival, emphatically.
“I don't see why not. You were
ailing there right along.”
“Not right along. 1 used to go
over once in a while when I didn’t
have anything else in particular to
do. T told you all about that, you
know.”
"Rut you liked her.”
“Oh, yes, 1 liked her well enough.
She’s all right in her wray. fiood
hearted girl, too.” Percival spoke
with a fine assumption of indiffer
ence.
"You liked her very much—you
know’ you did.”
"Now, what's the use of going into
all that again?" remonstrated Perci
val. “You know’ there wasn’t any
thing to it. I've told you so over and
over.”
“Please don’t,” said Penelope, for
biddingly. “I wisli you wouldn't do
that. Charlotte Sinetter may like
that sort of thing, but I don’t.”
“Penelope!” exclaimed Percival.
“It's a pity that you didn’t get en
gaged to her,” said Penelope. “I
think that you would have suited
each other very nicely. Perhaps it
isn't too late now.”
“Why Penelope'” said Percival.
“I.isten—”
"I think you ve made yourself per
fectly clear,” said Penelope, coldly.
“I am a sort of an accident. If I
hadn't happened to strike your fancy
somebody else would have and you'd
have been just as well satisfied. If
you hadn’t known me, you’d have
probably married Charlotte Smetter
and been perfectly happy. You say
yourself that you might have. You
may, if you like. I’ll release you
gladly.”
‘Now, you just listen to me,” said
Percival. “When 1 said I might have
fallen in love with some other girl,
I whs speaking hypothetically for the
sake of argument, not according to
my convictions.
“If you want to know what I would
have done, I can tell you. I’d have
gone about all my life with an unsat
isfied yearning for the ideal woman
\ that I had failed to find. To the out
side world I might have shown a
smiling face, but there would always
have been that canker within, that
aching void, the want of Penelope.
“I would never have married. I
would have remained solitary to the
end if I had never met you. How do
I Vnow? Because I never loved be
fore, but the moment I saw you I
knew that I had met the one and
only girl for me. And you reproach
me; you repel me and say cruel,
wounding things to me!”
“Well, why didn’t you say all that
when I first asked you?” said Penel
ope. “Are you quite sure, though,
that you didn't like Charlotte Smetter
very very much?’’—Pittsburg Leader
r 1 — . ..
The Highwayman
Unmasked Stuart B. Stonr I I
The man with the black mask made
the nickel-plated revolver fairly gleam
as he flourished it in Marshall's face.
Marshall shivered, though the very
fine eyes and the very pleasing tones
of the highwayman hardly went with
things such as killing.
"1 have my hands up," Marshall
finally expostuated.
The masker chuckled, but continued
to move the revolver about in a grad
ually narrowing circle.
"You can trust me if you play no
tricks," lie purred."
Somehow the highwayman's soft ac
cents soothed the man with elevated
hands. He felt no imminent danger—
yet the revolver was a very grim
thing.
The masker dived into Marshall's
vest pocket and appropriated his
watch. The light front a little lantern
was sufficient to show a massive gold
time-piece, bearing a picture of a deer,
and attached to a chain that weighed
half a pound. The highwayman re
turned the thing, while n derisive
light shone in the very blue eyes.
"You have no taste in watches,” he
said. "Why don’t you carry an eight
day clock?”
And Marshall took comfort in bis
own inelegance.
Next the highwayman levied on a
pin front Marshall’s scarf—a perfect
gem in a setting of exquisite gold
carving. The blue eyes were pleasure
lit now.
"I taka it this is a gift," tie com
mented. "Tile bail '.i.ui who bought
the watch would n< v r see the opal."
And this time Marshall, with the lit
tle steel circle hove:‘n't evilly in his
face, bemoaned the fad that called for
costly opal pins in wonderful settings
of gold.
Then the highwayman scoffed at a
signet ling and jeered at a massive
button in the blue, green and red of
the Ardent Sons of St. Timothy. But
a sparkling diamond of price and a
ring of finest emeralds appealed to the
fantastic robber, and also tlie wallet
of his victim was very fat—and you
know fat wallets are negotiable from
Bering sea to the Friendly islands.
So that altogether Marshall would
have done better to have avoided this
lonely open road.
I ue masker reached the bulging
side pockets now, and ‘he examined
certificates of copper stock and a
budget of Wheeling 4's with equal dis
gust.
"Very pretty engraving,” he de
clared, "and vastly desirable for Mr.
Man-With-His-Hands-Up maybe, but
an honest gentleman of the road
makes a poor coupon clipper. I’ll leave
these.”
After the stocks and bonds came a
gaudy periodical of bulk, with a wom
an in flaming red taking the whole of
the cover. The highwayman glanced
idly at the thing and would have re
turned it, but he caught the words,
"The Adorner,” on the flaming cover,
and he hesitated.
"Let's see what the women are
wearing,” he suggested. "Hold steady
now,” and the highwayman turned
the pages as best lie could with one
hand. The light from the lantern,
placed on the fence, revealed skirtish
things and waistisli things and gay,'
nodding hats and other dress-treasure
of quality, cut bias, cut V-shuped, cut
zig-zag.
“Well, I declare,” remarked the
masked man, “the polonaise is com
ing back. I always detested the
things.”
The glittering pistol dropped just
the least bit.
“Now these picture hats are just
dear," went on the highwayman, and
the line of fire from the deadly circle
would have missed Marshall probably
half a foot.
It was the moment of moments and
Marshall had the nickeled weapon in
his own hand and the highwayman
flung two delicate palms heavenward
in about the space of three ticks of
the big barbaric watch.
"Dress—dress—dross—" hummed
Marshall, as he tore the black mask
from a pretty pink face and stripped
the rough derby from coils of glorious
yellow hair. "It is the frills and fur
belows tiiat ever catch you women.
The lady of the highway sobbed as!
Marshall took back the jewels of
price.
"Oh, do take care,” she wailed,
“you are mussing my hair up dread
fully!”
Useless Waste of Energy.
A small Wichita boy’s father is a
Democrat. But at the grandfather’s
house all are Republicans and whenl
he visited at the latter place he heard
a good many jolts flung at Democracy
and its friends. He tried to stay
loyal, however.
One day his aunt was helping him
through with his lessons, when he
suddenly flung his book into a corner
of the room and said:
“Auntie, it’s no use. I’m not going
to learn to read. It’s no use, I tell
you. Why, I’ve got to be a Demo
crat, anyway.”
Kansas Appetites.
Here are some tilings discussed on
a North Atchison porch the other
night: One woman said she had a
hired girl who ate lard by the spoon
ful; the girl said she “adored” lard.
Another woman said she had a friend
who ate toilet soap. That reminded
some one on the porch that her
brother-in-law ate peaches with sugar,
cream and salad dressing. A sweet
little girl on the porch said: “Well,
when we have hash I always eat it
with sugar."—Atchison (Kan.) Globe.
Ehe North Pole
Could Be Made a
Cozy Little Corner
by the judicious use of GOOD COAL, and plenty
of it. We have the GOOD COAL, but the North
Pole is in the other fellow’s territory. It is the Falls City consumer
that we are after-WE HANDLE THE COAL THAT STANDS ANY
TEST -WE HANDLE GOOD COAL, and nothing but good coal,
and an order placed with us for the winter’s supply brings happy
results—good fires and general satisfaction to all concerned.
Order Now—Don't Procrastinate
Lay in your winter’s supply NOW, or at least a part of it. Come
and see us or phone to us and let us “ talk coal ” to you. WE CAN
SAVE YOU MONEY AND SAVE YOU MUCH VEXATION,
MAUST BROS.
Phone 38 Prompt Delivery.
^ »;• »T* »;* *t* »I* **- *1- -I* *T* *I*-T**I- *1 • •!* *!•
! Wanted!!
X t
f t
j- Horse and Cow Hides, X
j; Wool and Pelts *
•|* highest Market Price §
V
I Porter Randolph |
| Falls City, Phone 422 j
\ .•*•'•*•••*« v • J* •> *!' *$**5**!* *1* *i* *!••!* *5* •$*
CLEAVER & SEBOLD
INSURANCE
REAL ESTATE AND LOANS
NOTARY IN OFFICE
Japanese China
A package just in. It should have been
here in mid-summer. We have marked
it low for a quick sale. You can see it
in the south window at
Chas. W. Wilson's
I
BFew Snaps
in Land
Richardson County
80 acres, 4 1-2 miles from Falls City, nicely improved. $115 per acre.
80 acres, mile from Falls City, nicely improved. $150 per acre.
240 acres, 3 miles from good town, nicely improved. $80 per acre.
80 acres, 7 miles from good town, nicely improved. $90 per acre.
94 acres, 1-2 mile from good to wn, some improvements, $6,500.
160 acres, 6 rn. from good town, fine farm, fine improvements. $20,000.
120 acres 9 miles from good town, fair improvements. $7,ooo.
Boone County
480 acres fine land, good improvements. $40 per acre.
Thayer County
240 acres of fine land, fine improvements. $80 per acre.
5. & F.=-Jefferson County
280 acres good land, good improvements. Easy terms.
Pawnee County
54 acres close to town, good improvements. $80 per acre.
80 acres ,six miles to Pawnee City, good improvements. $9o per acre.
120 acres, 1 1-2 half miles to Pawnee City, good imp. $9o per acre.
80 acres, 6 miles to good railroad town; good improvements. $5,200.
120 acres, 6 miles from good railroad town; imp. $65 per acre.
9o acres, 1 mile from Pawnee City; good improvements. $100 per acre.
121 acres two miles from Pawnee City; good imp. $80 per acre.
97 acres 1-2 mile from town; good improvements. $7o per acre.
The above are worth the change, and if you want a good home for
yourself or your children, it will pay you to investigate.
SEE ME SOON, AS THEY WILL NOT LAST LONG
G. H. FALLSTEM)
FALLS CITY, NEBRASKA
