THE LIMIT.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1984, 16 April 1906, Page 3

THE LIMIT.

BY FRANK Y. BECKARS. """ "'■

He had been known as ft hopeless drunk* ard and "good for nothing" for so long that he believed it himself. HI;-friends had argued with him i,n:l ; . ; '•-•. they had abandoned further effort no elided to let him drift on as lie would. They were disgusted with him, and even !:e a..milted they had cause to be. And yet, t y .-; ill foitrd something fine in his nature- -perhaps it was hi* frank manner of coi>;V■-: i: g**li*s iaults or his humanity in the face of criticism, or, perhaps, his sincere, if fu', iie, ee.-ircs to reform and, m liis friends would urge, make something of himself or, per Laps, with nme. it wh! the only way he had of smiling under lire. His f:ii nds told him he was weak and not viciously had, and he himself believed he was weak and .'.as very doubtful about the !a.tttr. Finally there came one who had faith in him, abundant enough, he began to think, for both of 1.: c... ! : :, remembered ti.eir irst meeting, in her own jwrlor; she standing at the side of the :i!epla«e, with its glow illuminating her fare, lie remembered that she did not iu.piv.-s Li::; :;s i eing so very pretty then-— neat, sw«ct, f.nd attractive, certainly—with a ph-:t>a!.l and sympathetic voice and '"good-fellow" kind of manner. He drifted back agaiu, he did not understand why, and soon, to his own surprise, found himself on (pule an :iiti:i.aie footing, contented to sit silently studying her features and their ever growing beauty. As a result, he grew ashamed of himself and made determined resolutions to reform, which were as frequently broken as made, and a* promptly made again. He soon began to think that she understood him as no one else had ever done She found so many good traits in his character, delightful surprises to him, thai lie finally d<c : ded to become the man that she believe<t him to be. He decided to start with a clear, slate -and so told her one evening, as they were sitting before the enteral] fire, of his life, and spared nothing in the painting. Confession was sweet, and, of all else, he had never been a hypocrite, and he vnv.'cA to show her what good she had done him. Not a word »he uttered during his recital. She •imply had sat quiet, with her hands folded on her lop. gazing vieadiiy into the fire. He wondered, now and t:<en, as hi* etory progressed, of wha #dic was thinking, whether his recital suo.-ked her. if she was trying to read in the live coals the dreary future opened up to her, why the cat annoyed him brushing his leg. When he had finished, he, too, sat quiet, '■ vaguely wondering if he had been wise in telling, but then he did not want to be a hypocrite. Listening to the heavy clock ticks, he teemed to hear them set themselves to the words: "You have lost her." he wondered why he only now felt how very dear she was to him and how useless life seemed without her. What was the use of it all, anyway, of his good resolutions, of his strenuous efforts, of his abstinence? No matter now what he did or became, he had just shattered her good opinion of him and how could a woman love a man after that? "Is there any more?"' Her mild questiot•startled him out of his revery. He was but dimly aware of the stillness of the house, of her quiet, constrained tones as she remarked how late it was, as she bade him good-night, of her saying that she wanted to think it all over. As he walked slowly homeward, he reviewed again all he had told her. Yes, he had certainly been frank, brutally frank, and made a clean breast of it. After all, had it been necessary? Well, he would Leave it until to-morrow. The night's sleep would clear his thoughts. The next day he received her answer and he thought that if he loved her before, he certainly adored her then. Her faith in him remained unshaken, and she loved him more than ever. How bright the )/orld suddenly looked! How joyous his heart sang! They had been secretly engaged for almost a year, a whole year of unalloyed happiness, for they knew there Would be parental objections. His friends had noticed the change in his habits, but > t-ait-J to wonder, ami accepted his reformation as complete. He felt that be had worked hard, but it had been ft pW-ure to n.ivk. thinking constantly of hes • Her faith in-him was firm. His progress was slow, but they were enoouraged. He was steadi!) g;;ii<ing headway anil, this evening, he and the attended the play together. The evening passed quickly, as all such evenings had, and he gladly accepted her invitation to come in a moment and warm himseli before going home. The moment I ■-.■'■ li-ngthenod silently, as usual, whin sue said: "I realize I've made a mistake. I've bean wanlitiK to tell you for smne time, but. did not haw the courage. I'm »o sorry—but I think it best to break our engagemmet, don't you? Yon know you don't like hypocrites." He found himself trying to remember What the play they \tKt] jusi veen had been and dimly wondering why he couldn't. "Why don't you say what you are thinking? Why don't you abuse me, as I deserve?" she added. He stood looking at her dumbly, numbly. "I suppose." she continued, "you will go back to your dreadful drinking—to your old life?" • s M "I don't know." he nuUtered. "Goo«night."—Mirror. Sltffhtly OCT oci Pr«nui»ciatto». A very estimable woman of Milwaukee is an earnest member of a local German class, but her method of pronouncing some of the words, at least in one B p< c'he instance, aroused the mirth of her companions. At a recent meeting of the class, one of ths questions in the day's exercise was: "Are vou not glad that you are able to learn Germa," 4 *" This i"*^ r y wa * in tbe forei ? n language, and the ans^ er ™[ ~" Ja; gC ' wis ''" ""**" insr: "Yes cert- • ' . . i ?! , ' 7\, «■ this particular woman It so happened tha bn 4n< j was called up to read .* qU ertion all answer. She got tnrough t, ing th« right, but convulsed the class by t„ • answer this way: --**J| "Ya; gee whiz!"— Milwaukee Sentinel. Reflections of a Bachelor. Philosophy is an affectation of submission to what one can't help. It takes two people to make a quarrel and three to make a divorce. Youth draws pictures of the future, maturity works in the present, age dreams of the past. The more dollars some people put into their clothes tht less sense they put into their heads." Whether a man appears distinguished looking to a woman depends either on whether he wears eyeglasses or the wag fit brushes his hair. - N. Y. Press. Somewhat Different. Hix —Windig evidently is not a man who hides his lijrht under a bushel. Dix —You het he i->;.'t. On the contrary, he considers himself the whole electric power house and imagines tnc town would be in if he happened to break dtown. —Chicago Dailv News. ' in ' ———-^—^————————i■■—