The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-01-26
Cwriten
THE FREE AGENCY OF MISS BETTY BALDWIN
by MRS. JULIET v. STRAUSS.

out a few intimate friends. for there
were ladies' and gentlemen of high stand
Ing In ali of the growing towns of In
diana in those days-young lawyers with
younger wives, who had left Southern
and Eastern homes to seek their for
tunes in the West; merchants having
tnat quality which used to distinguish
them when the word hustler" was still
unknown; teachers possessed of that
book learning which was rare enough in
those days; doctors Of the old school who
were, as men of this noble profession
usually are, gentlemen as well, and last,
put not least, preachers, to which class
colonel Billy was peculiarly well dis
posed. He always invited them to his
best tea parties, paid large sums toward
their maintenance and encouraged pound
parties and the building of new churches.
But Colonel Billy was not religious; in
TACT, he never would join the church,
and, stranger than that, neither did
Mrs. Colonel" and in this she held the
most unique position Of any woman in
town. even the acknowledged sin
nerS being professors" conscious of
their backsliding and making returns to
the fold in times of general reviving
Colonel Billy and his wife remained in
corrigible; given to good works, how
ever, and to great charity, and leading
lives OF strict morality, barring the
coionePs disposition to indulge too freely
In spirituous. drinks. This was a fault
by no means peculiar to Colonel Billy.
Inc temperance sentiment had scarcely
had its birth in those old times, and
almost every gentleman INDUCED in
choice whisky as a beverage. 1t was
Colonel Billy who headed that famous
procession that went one New Years
day TO call upon the Rev. Father Gill
| man, the gray-haired, sanity old pastor
OF the Presbyterian Church, and wish
him long and happy life. The COM
| pany had become hilarious in Colonel
Billy's Office over final bowl of Tom
| and Jerry, when some thoroughly tipsy
member, as partial atonement, no
doubt, for his worldly conduct, proposed
| a toast to the good old preacher 1t
was then that Colonel Billy made a
| speech not altogether free from profan-
ity, in which heiauded the good old pas
tor to the skies. Les go and call on
him, boys" he said in a lachrymose
state of good feeling. Les tell i'm we
| 'preciate s work in midst. Damn's old
| soul, anyway" And it was done before
any man sobered up sufficiently to see
the joke. The old preacher, however,
was equal to the occasion, and had many
| hearty laugh in after years when re-
calling the invasion of his sanctum by
| this crowd of somnambulistic aristocrats.
/ The old gentleman, when warmed UP TO
| confidential after dinner mood. was a
| famous story teller, and made the most
| of his opportunities in his description of
the appearance of the little detachment
| or citizens striving vainly to keep the
line in order as 1T lurched somewhat pre-
cariously from side to side in it's ap-
| proach to his suburban residence by way
| of board walk which led from gate to
doorway.
When the colonels daughters reached
| young womanhood nothing would do
| their mother but they must return to her
4 Kentucky RI hQi
education which she believed could be re-
| ceived nowhere else upon the civilized
| globe. Betty could dance and sing, and
she must have training, and Sue could
| play on the piano and showed wonderful
precocity in the art of embroidering, be-
sides handling her pencil with some dex-
terity. The girls were to go to Licking
ton for the perfection of these talents
| and great, indeed was the stir their GO
ing made in the little town. Each arti-
| Gle OF their wardrobe was freely dis
cussed by those who had presumably
the least cause to be interested, and
| many were the predictions that this go
ing off to school would be the eternal
| ruination of them two girls" Old Mrs.
| Gilbert said she thanked the Good Man
she'd never been off to sech place her.
self, but she'd seen them as had, and
| from all sech lack-a-daisy critters Lord
| preserve her.
When Betty and Sue returned, how
ever, there was little evidence Of any
unfavorable transformation. The young
| women had grown wonderfully hand
some, and the cut of their gowns was
the envy Of the female portion of the
| town, but otherwise they seemed the
same bright, fun-loving creatures. The
| colonel and his wife made a famous
| party at their home coming, at which
| the fame of Mrs. Baldwin's skill in the
cuisine was more firmly established than
ever.
Betty was a tall, dashing brunette
Her singing was at once the admiration
| and torture of the young men of the
| village, her dancing the terror and de-
light of certain damsels who took sur
| reptitious lessons in the tabooed art
skurrying up and down the Baldwins
great hall floor while Sue played those
| varsuvienne which more than inspired
these wicked creatures to-, Put your
foot down, put your foot down; put your
foot right down there"
Sue was smaller than her sister and
also more gentle and tractable She was
beauty, too. in style less pronounced
| than that of brunette Betty. Sues eyes
| were hazel, her hair brown and her
mouth as small and pretty as ever you
| saw.
The first notable happening after the
| return of the sisters was the sudden
| anu NlOieDl PASSION Oh LICK vance IOI
Miss Betty. The truth was, Dick had
| become engaged to Mary Ann Nixon be-
fore the Baldwin girls came home, sc
that his evident feeling for Betty was a
serious matter, especially to poor Mary
Ann, who felt that it was all day with
her. But in those days, as now, girls
| realized that a man in the hand is worth
| any amount of false pride in the bush
so, instead of flinging back his love to
her perfidious swain, Mary Ann stuck
closer than a brother, reminding him OF
his promises in happier days, which he
| knew to his sorrow were made partly in
the hearing of Mary AIMS parents, into
whose presence that prudent young lady
had dragged him in the early stages oil
his passion for her to receive their bless
| ing This blessing now, in moments OF
| cooler reflection, seemed TO fall with less
balm upon his troubled spirit than il
| had in days of yore. Miss Betty was
not cruel GIRL she did not mean to tor
ture poor Mary Ann, neither did she
| ever dream of marrying Dick Vance
but-well, a lively girl must have q
| beau. and, besides. Dick could dance
and he rode splendid horse, and, be-
lieve me, he and Miss Betty when they
| galloped down the new plank road
made no mean display of equestrianship
for she wore a purple riding habit with
shining buttons and a Gainsborough hat
with a trailing plume. all purchased a.