Harvey had always seemed to me different from the other men of the town, and he _was_ different. He would come over to play the piano for all my family in the evening, seeming to love us all. He would join in the general fun without trying to monopolize me, like most of the other men. He wasn’t so terribly much older than I, under two years, but he seemed older. He was always so considerate and unselfish. Though shy, he carried his years with a dignified air of responsibility. I think it was this, added to his sweetness, and musical talent that made him stand out from the others. Anyway, deep down in my heart I must have known for a long time that I was just waiting for Harvey. “But, Harvey, what will we live on? If your family doesn’t approve of me, what can you do?” “I think Father knows how I feel—he’ll help us. He said something the other day about sending me out to see about some mining property he’s part owner of at Central City, Colorado. We’ll go West and make our fortune overnight in gold. People are doing it all the time out there!” Love and adventure all at once! It seemed as if my whole life were blossoming into one great golden sunburst that evening. For some time I had been gazing across the broad waters of Lake Winnebago and picturing the world beyond. The more I thought about it, the more I knew I didn’t want to settle down in Oshkosh. I wanted to try my wings—with Harvey! But I still didn’t say anything to him as we sat there. “Let’s just be secretly engaged for a while,” Harvey went on, “until you get used to the idea. And maybe Mother will change—.” Romance began for me then, warming gradually each day into a brighter and more glowing emotion. It was several months before I even told Mama what I was planning. I kept right on seeing other men meanwhile. But more and more I knew girls were saying catty things behind my back, insinuating I was fast. Several older women had cut me dead ever since the skating contest, and I was beginning to be not only restive, but rebellious. “It’ll certainly show them all up if I marry Harvey!” I said to Mama, with a toss of my head. The Doe family was very much respected in Oshkosh. Harvey’s father, W. H. Doe, was so important in the community that one of the new fire houses and steamers, located at 134 High Street was named after him—the W. H. Doe Steamer. The snobbish girls who said I was just the common daughter of an Irish tailor would certainly have to eat their words if I were Mrs. W. H. Doe, Jr. “Pay no attention to them, Bessie,” Mama said. “They’re just jealous of your looks—and wish they could attract men as easily as you do.”