Serious Sixteen

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Tom and Adele are sweethearts and decide that they must marry. Papa gives consent, but enjoins that they must wait four years. Four years! A lifetime. They simply cannot abide by this decision, and resolve to terminate an unendurable existence, hence they form a suicide pact. Their courage fails in the attempted commission of it, so they decide to elope. While Adele goes to get her belongings, a couple of tantalizing misses appear and for a lark bestow upon the nerve-shaken Tom undue attentions. Adele arrives and from what she witnesses, becomes jealous, losing her faith in poor Tom, and leaves him still forcibly detained by the mischief makers. Going home, she determines to be through with the world and join the Salvation Army. When Tom hears of this he, too, decides upon the religious and becomes a friar. The extent of their avowals is the purchase of the costumes of the costumers. Her firm purpose, however, is soon weakened by the present from papa of a picture hat. As she dons this, Tom enters, and seeing her backslide, he, too, apostatizes, reasoning it is better to wait four years, than to suffer as they had during this one day.