Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-02-12
STRANGER THAN FICTION


a recent dinner given in this city, said a
young man who goes out a good DEAL" as
the phrase has Ii. -ese..
1t so happened" he continued. that the
dinner was given In honor of a young bridal
couple from Dunkirk, n Y. the bride be-
ing niece ofsthe hostess The dinner was
on quite an elaborate Scale and the dinner
cards were decidedly handsome. Each was
hand-painted and.S had an appropriate
sketch on ttseuridsS brides, bridal bouquets
and thesiike. In the lower right-hand cor
nef Of each card Eere the initials of the
bride and groom. linked together and tied
with true lover'sfknot The groom's last
name began with the5letter M and the
name which the fair Bride had surrendered
Tor better or worse. as time will show
began with the letter C.. 1t made a very
pretty combination Son the cards.
NOW, among the dozen or more guests
VINO sat down and ate and drank in honor
OF the young people from New York state
were Two other young couples whose we'd
oinss, occurring during the course of the
OF considerable moment in local society
why, that's curious said the more re-
cent OF the two other brides, about the time
the fish was served
What's that?' said the host.
cards.
And it was true. Her maiden name, it
seems, began with the letter C. while the
name that she goes by now, at least among
the people who remember to address her
by her married name, begins with M,
wen, that's nothing said the other
pride, whose wedding, by the way, took
place but a couple Of months ago, aren't
they our initials, too?'
And this remark was fust as true as-the
other. In the case Of each Of those young
couples the maiden name of the bride be-
gan with C., while the name of her hus-
band began with M. And the funny part
OF II was that there were no other young
bridal couples present so the rule applied
in every possible instance
On the doctrine Of chances, I presume
such thing as that would happen only
once In good many millions of times. At
any rate. II you do not think with me that
II was very unusual happening I will
agree to eat another dinner as good as that
one was"
which only goes to remind me Of curl
Gus experience 1 had up on the Island of
nantucket few years ago." remarked one
or the best-known artists in Washington
who happened to be in the party when the
story was told.
Il was spending the summer on that
quaint old isle before the rush Of summer
tourists had put an end to its old-tirne
charm. l sketched a good deal out of
doors, but when the. weather was bad 1
made the best of 1t by working on what I
considered pretty good picture of the in
terror of one of the old houses, or at least
OF the one big room that lent itself best to
my purposes.
The people who owned the house were so
very nice to me that when 1 finished my
picture thought to repay them in part for
their courtesy by making for them
sketch of my more ambitious canvas For
the sake OF variety however, I drew in the
ngure OF an old man sitting in big chair
and gazing abstractedly into the fireplace
IL was fancy figure, pure and simple and
drawn without model, but the face be-
longed to the type that one so often sees
along the New England coast, a type that
years go by. W W.
But imagine my surprise however. when
came to present the sketch to my friends.
for they drew back from dt as if I had Civ
said: u
Why, that's picture of my father. pre-
clsely ash have seen him sitting in front
OF that fireplace hundreds of times gazing
INTO the Goals and thinking of the days
when he captained one of, the biggest whal-
ers that sailed out of the harbor Of Nam
tucket.' 'S+.-a q, as III : -
And his wife bore out his statement
when she said that 1t vas an admirable
likeness of the old man. who had died
many years before 1 ever visited the island
The neighbors We're summoned in and
every one OF the people Who had known the
old man recognized! the likeness without a
moments hesitation. They said that in
every detail of face. and figure it was as
accurate as photograph could possible
j. "No,c.y of course, it vas only A coincfss
OF those people think there was not some
thlng supernatural about 1t alI-and do Won
Know, am more than half Inclined to
think they were right"