Graumann continued:
"A little over a year ago, John Siders, who signed himself as coming
from Chicago, bought a piece of property in our town and came to
live there. I made his acquaintance in the cafe and he seemed to
take a fancy to me. I also had spent several years in Chicago, and
we naturally came to speak of the place. We discovered that we had
several mutual acquaintances there, and enjoyed talking over the
old times. Otherwise I did not take particularly to the man, and
as I came to know him better I noticed that he never mentioned that
part of his life which lay back of the years in Chicago. I asked a
casual question once or twice as to his home and family, but he
evaded me every time, and would not give a direct answer. He was
evidently a German by birth and education, a man with university
training, and one who knew life thoroughly. He had delightful
manners, and when he could forget his shyness for a while, he could
be very agreeable. The ladies of my family came to like him, and
encouraged him to call frequently. Then the thing happened that I
should not have believed possible. My ward, Miss Roemer, a quiet,
reserved girl, fell in love with this man about whom none of us
knew anything, a man with a past of which he did not care to speak.
"I was not in any way satisfied with the match, and they seemed to
realise it. For Siders managed to persuade the girl to a secret
engagement.
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