The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1898-01-27
aGaTHa'S
WEDDING.
BY John Walker Harrington.
Ida Rowe in Madame.

school was in turmoil of excitement
Melicent was in charge, for Agatha wa
at the dressmaker's, and Mrs. Penning
ton had put on her best black bonne
and fastened out to tell the news t
her relatives and friends. Intelligenc
of this sort is best made public at once
I'm so glad to hear Agatha is to b
married." said Judge Bryson's daugh
ter, red faced girl who was alway
saying the wrong things. Il wish
might hear of your engagement, Mis-
Pennington.
Melicent Pennington flushed angrily
and threw back her thing shoulders
There was a compressed look abou
her lips.
do not concern yourself, my dear.
she said. Il could have been married
long before was your age"
Everybody who knew the Penning
tons had heard of Melicent's propose
of marriage 1t was her first and he
last. She was travelling in Europe
and in a Paris pension she met Ger
man count who proposed to her, after
a frenZied courtship of two weeks
Melicent was then but sixteen years
old. Mrs. Pennington was fond ol
saying. "Melicent had such car.
riage. She looked as though she were
twenty"
The head of the house of Penning.
ton-Pater, the daughters called him
set his foot down squarely. No child
of his should marry titled foreigner;
the count was mere fortune hunter
Pater had no fortune worth speaking
of, but that made no difference. What
Pater said was right, and Melicent sent
the young member of the nobility
away.
Its just as well,' she often said
81 find my ideals are changing as
grow older. | shall never marry until
l meet a man as good as Pater.''
Melicent waited fourteen long years
but the paragon never came. Her
cheeks were not as plump as they had
been, and her features were becoming
angular.
Pater fell down the steps of his house
one night, six years before, and few
days later died from the effects of the
shock.
He was a good fellow" the world
said. He was kind to his family,
anyway"
Affairs had not gone well with the
Penningtons since then. Barring a
law library, few outstanding claims,
and a house with a mortgage on it, the
father left little The house-and the
unsatisfied mortgage-were about all
that remained after the debts were
paid.
Think how much worse it might
have been, Mater dear, said Melicent
to her mother, after it was all over.
so long as Aggie doesn't feel how
hard it is, shall be satisfied"
Mrs. Pennington and Melicent be-
lieved that young girls lacked the pow
and they issued their theories in the
form of a four page pamphlet, which
they mailed to the families whom they
had known in the days of their pros
perity, and to most of the pewholders
of ST. Sebastian's. And thus it was
that the Pennington School of Observa-
ton for Young Girls was established.
This institution occupied the parlor
and the second floor OF the mortgaged
house. The house was in a Harlem
street, lined by two brownstone shells
pierced with holes. Some of the holes
had glass over them, and the others
had doors, behind which cleaned rows
of brass letter boxes. Before the era
Of fiat building came, houses surround
ed by lawns filled the street, but the
homes of the Harlem cliff dwellers
crowded out the old mansions. Pater
bought the house years before, but in
a time of financial stress-his money
affairs nearly always went wrong-he
sold the land on either side. In the
deed it was mentioned that only pri
vate houses were to be erected there;
but as soon as Pater was gone the in
sidious work of the fiat builder began,
and the Penningtons' house was shut
in on both sides. 1t was useless to
lament over the loss of light from their
side windows. The house, wedged in
between huge structures of brick and
mortar, was the only private dwelling
which remained in all that street.
Mrs. Pennington taught sciences,
languages, and the art of thinking:
Melicent inculcated the principles of
and music; and Agatha,
l red faced, freckled girl of twenty,
who went to the ART school, was in
,tructress in free hand drawing.
agatha is so different from Nell
,ent," everybody said. "She never
will have the carriage her sister has"
The younger woman came home one
lay with her face beaming.
Mr.. de We're will call tomorrow eve
ling" she said. Il suppose you have
10 objection, Mater?"
when | was your age" began Nell
ent-and then she stopped. II knew
several artists" she concluded lamely.
I'm aware of what you were about
o say" Agatha retorted. well, he
nay not have long mustachios like
our German count, but, at all events,
les not after Pater's money!
Forgive me, Agatha" said Nell
ent.. Il spoke before l thought"
Haying nothing TO forgive, Agatha
vas magnanimous She even asked
Ielicent to lend her her silk dress, to
year on the following evening.
Il am so glad" said Melicent, when
agatha came into her room one night,
everal months later, and told how
he" had proposed at last. Il know
'ou will be very happy"
Thank you" remarked Agatha.
Melicent told Mater the next morn
ng at the breakfast table. She did
lot wish to disturb her rest with such
tartling intelligence.
81 do so want Agatha to have a beau
iful wedding" said Melicent,