The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-12-26
HER CHOICE.


engagements to go to Mexico. Lila Ravens
went on alone to friends she was to viHit
at Sharpsburg.
We expected you this morning +" said
her hostess.
Yes, dear, but you see, was unavota-
ably delayed What lovely day it has
And there Is q telegram for you, Lila. =
Really Something aunt forgot to
mention, dare say. Excuse me- She
broke it open careIessly. Dear metz She
puckered her brow. .tOnly fancyi The
admiral is coming down here tomorrow. =
The admiral appeared on the scene at
noon the day following.
Ny dear Lila, = he said, II must have
a little talk with yon.'
Yes, uncle. =
Lila, my dear''-they were quite
alone-..I have had a proposal for your
hand ID marriage. II I had chosen the
man, I could not be better pleased than to
see you the wife Of Judge Mason.
.Unclel He Is more than twice my age.
never dreamed of 1t. =
de i young man. my dear--a vigor-
Gus young man. He viii tdolize you. You
knew he admired you !"
He is a widower.' =
But his only daughter is married. .
oh, uncle lit is out OF the ques-
toni
My dear, you give me great cause for
apprehension It will disappoint me ter
ribly il you do not accept him.
But uncle, am but / g. Why should
marry for five or six years yeti I'll never
be young but once=never!'' she said pa
theticaIiy. And I am not a pennilCss
creature that requires home. I might be
allowed to pick and choose.
My dear the old man looked sud
denly grave and pale, there Is bad
news. You must make up your mind to
meet it bravely''
LiIa's face reflected some Of the paleness
of his own.
Unele-my-my money! Have lost
itY''
There has been q terrible financial fail
ure. hardly know how to tell you We
only heard yesterday, and we don't know
for sure as yet. / am afraid-Lila, you
must bear up--I afraid you have lost
nearly all you had. 2
The girl leaned back in the chair. There
was a stunned look in her face She did
not speak. The admiral went on speaking
more rapidly:
Il can hardly blame myself 1t was an
undreamed Of thing. OF course there is q
little real estate left you. Heaven knows
wish it had been all IN houses Judge
oh. = the girl broke in suddenly, he
won't want me now-when he knows ]
am pennilessI'
My child, he came as soon as he knew
in Then she wrote to Carroll Trainor.
Il am no longer rich There is no use
of an engagement. have lost everything
Perhaps you will be rich some day, Car
roll If SO, you must come and find me- I"
But she said nothing of Hon. Thomas
Mason.
Trainor felt grieved at the tone OF the
letter He wrote back reproachfully. She
had made promise Perhaps she sought
to be released from it. If so, he would re-
lease her. In her place he would hardly
have so written.
But, then, he was only a man.
The girls soul sickened within her. A
brief note from Trainor told her that he
was just leaving for the gulf coast where
he would find a steamship for Vera Cruz.
He thought he would never return to the
United States.
a great despair came over her. In her
sensitive state she felt that he no longer
cared for her
She capitulated and consented to receive
Judge Mason s addresses.
Three months had passed The wedding
was to take place the last week Of june.
Miss Ravens was to become Mrs. Thomas
Mason.
The wedding invitations were about to
be sent ont-the wedding day was fixed a
fortnight hence. Miss Ravens, out on a
shopping errand, turned a street corner
sharply and ran against some one. She
looked up ana grew pale. 1t was Carroll
Trainor.
Your she said family.
You didn't expect to see meS Lila,
for heavens sake, is that true? You are
going to marry Judge Mason?''
She nodded with an effort. The idea of
the marriage, to which she had become
Teconciled, but never enthusiastically dis
posed, suddenly seemed sickening- Her
whole soul revolGed.
-Carrollly she gasped. "Oh, CARROLL
If there were any escaped
.Escapef What do you mean2 Isn't it
your own choosing2 Are you being forced
into marrying the old widower?''
t'1-I-oh, you seemed not to want me-
And uncle and aunt seemed not to want /
me. Nobody seemed to want me-except /
Judge Mason. He was very kind, but I |
never have loved him Carroll, If you had
not deserted MEL
deserted you'll I've just returned /
from Mexico, !" said Trainor and IN go 4
ing back there at once I've got a SPLEEN
did chance. It's lonesome for q man to be I
by himself. The climate Is like paradise" I
The admiral and his good lady we're ae I
the breakfast ia BILE
His morning mail lay before him. He I
took up the top letter of all and gazed SCI
verely at it. The handwriting was Lila's.
The letter had been posted the night be-
fore He opened IT. read 1t in silence and
passed it TO his wife.
q Do not send the Invitations. = it said, \
for shall not marry Judge Mason He 4
Is a good man and will understand it As
q mistake / love some one else and have 4
gone away to marry him. We shall spend 1
BUR honeymoon IN palm thatched hut In
Mexico. =
Mrs Blair could not speak After a
silence the admiral observed.
On the whole, I'm glad the marriage ID
Of. The judges daughter was greatly OPP I
posed She might have made things I'M