The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-11-11
wish | knew how much you think of

Meaning Cholly?'
| "Yes"
''Oh, I think he is ever SO nice! In.
deed, he is one of the very incest young
men / know"
HE has been making love to you for
six months or more, hasn't hep"
'He has called on me frequently for
about that long
| "And not without some encourage
ment from you. dare say. I wish
knew how much you really think OF
| him"
You said so before, papa Why
| would you like to know?"
Because / would as lief seen you
marry monkey as Cholly Lytewayte. -
A CLEAN of mischief flashed in the
girls eyes and smile curved her
lips, but she did not let him see either
poisoning of her internal mirth.
Very seriously. and with little affect
ed hesitancy, she replied:
'But-would you really object to
Chol1y's marrying me|'
Would 1 object I'd see him
boiled first"
Flora was silent. She could not have
spoken without bursting into laughter,
it appeared to her such an excellent
joke that her father should seriously
think of Cholly in the light of a IA
vo:ed sutton for her hand; so she bit
her lips to keep straight face, and
Mr.. Blodgett very enormously imagined
he had spoken none too soon to restrain
his beloved moth from the fatal fasci-
nation of that brilliant fame Cholly
Lytewayte.
81 don't see." he pursued, with lit
tie querulousness in his tone, why
you should want to think of marrying,
anyway. You are only seventeen"
Last November"
"Well-'last November But there's
plenty of time, for years yet. Why
don't you amuse yourself finding hus-
band for your Aunt Jennie? She wants
one badly enough I've no doubt she
would even accept Cholly."
81 should think she would-if the
sleeps eyes she makes. at him mean
anything. But Cholly does not recipro-
cate He is faithful to me-so far as
she Is concerned, at least.
well, wish to goodness somebody
would marry her. I'm not particular
who, any more than she is; and that's
saying good deal"
Late that night the mosquitoes in the
shrubbery Toasted again on Chollys
neck, while the "twinkey-twanlS" of
his little mandolin and the chippery-
chirp of his small voice stirred the katy
dds to cumulative fury. Mr. Rlodgett,
rising from his bed in wrathful disgust,
sent to the city Office long telegram,
which he knew the automatic receiver
would faithfully record and present to
the chief clerk the next morning.
By little after nine o'clock the fol-
lowing morning two expert linemen
presented themselves in Mr.. Blodgett's
Office, saying that Mr.. Marshall, the
chief clerk, had sent them down to re-
ceive instructions. Two hours later
wagon arrived, laden with wires. plain
and insulated, heavy storage battery,
and boxes of objects carefully con-
cealed, all, as the driver explained,
sent down on Mr.. BlOdgetts order to
Mr.. Marshall.
Flora went to the city early that
morning, on a shopping expedition,
and was gone all day; else her ever
vigilant curiosity would have been
much excited by the strange industry
of the linemen, who busted themselves
hour after hour with the laying down
of insulated wires just beneath the sur
face of the earth, all through Mr..
Blodgett's grounds, and connecting
them with many almost invisible wires
which they temporarily left coiied out
of sight under shrubs, or laid up along
tree-trunks, or concealed in the grass.
Long after dark they were still busy;
but as there was almost no light they
must have had the perceptions of owls
or bats, to enable them to work at ALL
AS they took care to keep out of sight
as much as possible Miss Blodgett
knew nothing of their presence, though
she was then at home and much of the
time seated on the porch
At ten o'clock the twinkey-twank of
Cholly's mandolin in the shrubbery
smote the ear OF Mr. Blodgett. who ex-
pectantly sat alone near a window of
his Office, in the darkness Briskly he
CROPPED to the column by his desk and
pressed button, at the same time I'm.
consciously translating into the words
Let 'er CO. the signal he thereby
transmitted to the linemen waiting in
the basement battery-room
The light-hearted serenader had just
e. <oA in ho no Aoy
self he sang best:
'Evah OF thee I'm fawawawndly dreeesming"
when Q tremendous cannon. asst seemed
to him, was fired of directly over his
head. and he dropped into sitting
posture, half-stunned upon the grass.
Scram bling to his feet he ran. as fast
as his trembling little legs would carry
him. in the direction of the gates but
contact with thread-like wires,
stretched just above the grass, the
breaking of which precipitated upon
him an avalanche of alarms Roman
candles and bombs poured forth rain
of many colored fires; balls of flames
carried through the bushes and scared
high overhead; blazing wheels whizzed
before him; fiery serpents raced to and
fro; cannon Numbered to right and left
of him; whichever way he turned he
seemed to set going another electric !
gong to add its maddening clangor to
the general uproar. Lights CLEANED in |
all the windows of the mansion-excep,
before he had gone dozen steps JET,
of CHASTITY blue and green fires burst /!
forth on each side Of his path, flinging |
a curtain of emerald sparks across the |
way. lie recoiled in terror dazzls6 |