Part Love Story, Part Travelogue Pt 9

Our
Love – Story

My Grandmother Margaret E. Winslow, 1908

BY SWEETHEART (SHARED BY J. STEWART)

( click here for other installments)

Installment #9:

Upon your saying that you wished to do an errand at the dock, where the Dolphin was loading for her next trip to Alaska, Mr. Stewart informed you of his intention to accompany you. So you rode down to the ship where you discharged your errand greeting at the same time several of the officers you had met on your trip to the north. Then Mr. Stewart suggested that you give yourself up to a little surprise outing he had planned. So you boarded a little ferry and sailed out onto the twilight waters. Ah! dear Other Girl, you enjoyed the evening, didn’t you? Of course, you knew that Mother might have worried had she known you were headed for Seattle’s Coney Island with a comparative stranger but she didn’t know and you did prefer an adventure with your guardian to sitting alone in your little back room. You danced with Mr. Stewart, sitting at an open window between the dances, where you could see the orange sunset on the horizon and a lighthouse flashing its crimson warning across the waves. The soft lap of the water against the pier mingled with the weird moan of a bell buoy and you enjoyed it all keenly. After you had tired of dancing, you strolled around. Mr. Stewart pleased you by saying, “I did enjoy those dances with you, Margaret” ~ he would call you that. He was so genuinely pleased himself that you felt yourself warming toward him, so much so that when he put his arm around you on the homeward ride ~ to shield you from the wind, he explained you made us resistance, thinking you might hurt his feelings by appearing to misjudge his motive. After he had complied with your request to show you a restaurant by taking you to Stokes and then at a little side table for two, treating you to ice cream, you went home. I believe, yes I do, Other Girl, that before you said goodnight he attempted to kiss you but you refused the permission so strenuously that he at last compromised on a hand clasp and you went to bed, a little disturbed but happy, nevertheless.

To think, Other Girl, you will never visit a Seattle houseboat again, that rocks on the shore-going waves and has curious rugs and relics on the floors and walls of its unique living room! But at least you had one happy time in the houseboat whose hosts were Mr. Stewart’s friends. That was on the Wednesday evening, you remember, after you had spent the morning with a friend from home who was visiting out in Madrona Park. When your friend and her hostess had ridden in town with you and left you at your house, you attempted to snatch forty winks but your cavalier Roger appeared and with him another boy whom you knew at home. You three exchanged home news, notes of travel and gay bantering till Mr. Stewart and Mr. Smith drove by to dinner again. What a happy feeling entered your heart, dear Other Girl, when you saw them leave their machine and go into the house next door where you soon joined them. How it pleased you to have Mr. Stewart genuinely interested in your daily program. You told him eagerly what you had done. Where you had been and whom you had seen. The second dinner trio was very pleasant and you felt more unrestrained and natural than you had the evening before. To your intense delight after dinner Mr. Stewart told you and Mr. Smith to pile into the tonneau of the car they had brought from the garage. Acting as chauffeur he drove you up and down the Seattle hills to your friend’s house intending to take her and her hostess for a sunset ride. They were not at home but what a sunset you saw gleaming over Lake Washington ~ a crimson bank of clouds all edged with gold. Then you were whirled thru the beautiful residential section on the lake shore till the machine stopped and you were escorted across a narrow plank, thru a rear door and pantry into the living room of Mr. Terrell’s houseboat. The host was not home but his side partner Mr. Noah was very much so, especially with a Mrs. Higgins and a Miss Gilchrist whom he was preparing to take for a short ride in the “Hello Bill,” a motor-boat at the disposal of whomever was disposed to run it. So Mr. Noah acted as captain, Mr. Stewart as chief engineer and you made an extra passenger who reveled in the short sharp trip over the lake toward the Fair grounds. How beautiful they looked under a pale crescent moon and how excited you were with all the new experiences. I love to remember, dear Other Girl, what happy times preceded your disappearance! On your return to the houseboat several things happened. Mr. Stewart pumped the piano player while you danced with Mr. Smith and Mr. Noah. The former proved to be a master of the dancing art and you enjoyed him more than ever. He wasn’t a party to an indignity put upon you by the other two men, tho’ really you will have to forgive one of them now wherever you are, Miss Runaway. After you had refused a glass of wine as had the others Mr. Stewart took you all for a little spin and then you dropped the girls and Mr. Noah while your trio sped homeward. You had been shocked at Mr. Noah’s familiarity with Miss Gilchrist and you had begun to wonder at the way of a Seattle man with a maid. Consequently when Mr. Stewart made serious attempts to kiss you goodnight you were less surprised than before but more indignant. “Why do you try to do that?” you demanded, “I want to feel that you are like a big brother.” Mistake number one! Didn’t you always kiss your brother goodnight? “Yes ~ but ~ that was different.” Anyway you preferred to shake hands, it was so cordial and comrade-y. With that your would-be brother drew you toward him and pointed to a fraternity pin you were wearing. “Are you engaged?” he asked with level eyes. You answered, “No ~ but ~” He interrupted you saying that was all he wanted to know. When you were in bed that night and reviewing the day’s events you pondered long over his question ~ and your answer. But he had not kissed you.