The Lamar register., 1892-08-06
P0RTlA. JUNIOR.
Moro or Les, o, a Fairy Tale.

ity. Her father was learned. even.
tempered. and unprepossessing; her
mother handsome and OF equable
temperament. sud not undiily knowl.
e-l,aolc-wlsirh may account for the
fact that portia herself. while OF the
in,cliectDaliy beautiful type, was SUI
psrciliously lovely. as is often the case
with women similarly gifted. She
cou,d talk with man without com
IeiliH- him to feel his own ignorance,
and. OF course. this made her excss-
<iyclv popular uith the male and n
portion OF tho community in which
lived. but, rurrr still, Portia ondenred
herself 80 to women that plain girls,
, 4 spite hcr beauty loved t o De with her
Sh- had a way OF maxim. them feel
that her beauty d-tract-d from rath-
than enhanced their plainness. ms
though she shed th- glamour OF her
personality ON all those hbont her,
Ittst a.. he sun sometime. seeks out
ths dark corners OF the earth and
make gloom itself seem the source OF
Iieht. WithRl PortiA was not con
seioas ot her prepoeses,ins qualities.
anl went her way through lie as sim
ply. ss quietly. and as sen-lbiy ~ she
cotiii.
That sh- should have princes dance
ins attendance upon her by the score
was not surprising. that she should
have her preferences for certain princes
was equally TO be expected. that she
shonld have a. least two particular
prir-re- who wished her TO be theirs
was not striking. and yet. sensible as
portia Wa., when these gallant gentle
men made known their matrimonial
hop.- 20 her. she was startled. That,
| think. was the only commonplace
thing about Porta. To be startled by
so Insignificant an episode as two
proposals ON the same evening is
qnit. in the line of woman's way.
Bu, Porta hRd AN excuse for her
embarrassment. which most women
have not, and that excuse was that
il wns not until Prince Heury
proposed marriage to her that she
realized how much she cared for
Prince John. nor did she awaken to
,hr fact that she Ind a very warm
piac. IN her heart for Prince Henry
until John asked her the same
question that had been put by his
rival inst two hour, previously.
To neither could she say no;
10 neither could she say
y.s-stre here was dilemma IL is
ny own opinion that most women
xoald have solved the problem by
onarrslin- with both princes, md
narrving n third: and man similar
iy piacs-l would have settled it by the
to-s of a coin. Not SO with Portia-
Neither dissemhlRnce nor Penny.toss-
in. Uns one OF her accomplishments.
Frankne-s was. and she told the two
gentlemen as plainly as she could Just
how matters stood.
I'll think / love You both" she
-aid. And so. of course, | cannot
marry either OF You at present Time
alone can tell which OF the two love
the better
Most girls would have said (which
Of the two love the best" IL was IN
matters of this sort that Portia
showed her erudition.
Come back in five years, she add
ed and will decid-. between you
Meanwhile you should both bestir
yourselves. for by that which you
achieve are my feelings likely to be in.
tiuenced. Ordinarily n question oi
this kind is settled on the basis oi
low. and affection. Here the love
and affection being in botn cases
equal, il becomes question OF those
atIal,ties plus the unknown quantity
+, dsnrnds. then" said Prince John,
"upon that unknown quantity
YES" replied Portia.
but supposing this unknown qnan,
tity turns out to he a third prince!
suggested Prince Henry;
..The advantage is with you, re
tnrned Portia. "iou have the start
ON him. If he overtakes and passes
YOU. 1 am not to blame"
And the two princes went out INTO
the world and strove. =,
Prince John deEoted himself as
eiduously TO many things, ana sue,
eeeded in all. He became lawyer Oh
recognized standing, not alone OF re
spectability, buS of marked aohity.
In or out of court Prince John was
snr,. 10 win any cause to which ms
enerpie, we're devoted, yet so ieariui
was he cf not ultimately reallZIne uhe
ideals Of the still undecided fortia'
that h. branched out into literature;
lie wrote n novel that even pieasea
The critics. His work was discussed
seriously by the pulpit. and altho9gn
while writing his novel he hao no ioea
that such was TO pe the
case. he found himself SIX months
after the publication oil ms erea.
work nailed as the father s, t3,s OF a anew ne%
Dhilosophy. To counteract tls eliec1
Of his novel, which, while gratifying
was not exactly to his taste ne oe-
came humorist-a humorous humor-
ist. who, while be brought 5e tears n,o.t to
ether OH humorists, did SO less abruptly,
len leading up to them through the
medium Medium f of laughter. Having shown shown
his ability in this direction, Fl Prince e
Iobn in order to show Portia'what a
,o;ns,r.,lIv nonn, ~ accomplished person he
was. was turned bis attention to;poetryy
success that one OF his poems ,;t sr.psd pa.d IN n
TO several Western papers e1sa'ssa ,Ist mss {, %
snci, n nuality that promrnen
soc;.,v journal called him 80 mute