The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1899-11-08
SOMERSET. PA. WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 8. 1899

fully. "It's nothing but sentimental
twaddle. The usual Business, you
know-a woman who hovers on the
brink of the unspeakable-"
"And what becomes Of her?''
''She bolts-runs away from 1t ali to
escape temptation, and begins life again
in an obscure country village"
al suppose Lady Dolly suggested it,
more or less ?'' 1 asked.
ave talked 1t over together" said
Talbot. ''I told her that If wrote a
story it would be all about her, as she
is the only woman 1 know anything
about"
"And Lady Dolly Is practically the
heroine?p 1 suggested
'The characteristics are the same,
but the incidents are purely fictitious"
he replied, sulkiIy. ''But why do you
ask these absurd questions about rot
ten novel, when Pm nearly out Of my
mind with anxiety?"
because, you silly old juggins,n
said, ''don't you understand that what
is fiction to you is fact to Lady Dolly.
She has dramatized your story IN real
life-and disappeared
Talbot raved at me for suggesting
such thing, but the coincidence was
too striking to be disregarded. In fact,
two days later-no news OF Lady Dolly
having been received in the meantime
"a smart journalist, who had taken
the trouble to look through the book,
pointed out that her disappearance CO.
incided with the action of the "hero-
inc" and hinted that her ladyship had
been carried away by hysterical de
sire to initiate her. Although this was
precisely my own view, was sorry to
see 1t made public, on Talbot's account.
But that was not the worst. An in
dividual signing himself "a Sturdy
Briton" felt called upon to send long
letter to The Daily Paragraph, headed,
sis Novel Reading Dangerous?' in
which he kindly assumed the truth of
the "hysteriar theory, and went on to
prove that ''Society's Verdict' belong
ed to the most mischievous class of lit
erature. He concluded by showing that
novel reading is only mild form Of su-
icide. 1t was the silly season, and the
editorial mind appeared to have run
amuck, for the following morning a
''leader" was published, in which one
of The Paragraphs spirited young men
quoted seventeen different instances of
young people having been led by SEN
sational romances into acts of folly, and
warned parents against the so called
society fiction" Next morning a let
ter signed Fair Play" appeared, in
which the writer laid himself out TO
prove that "a Sturdy Briton" was an
unspeakable idiot. From that moment
the fun became fast aud furious, and
the s'horrors of fiction" became the
topic Of the day, and were discussed
where two or three lovely people were
gathered together. Talbot was furious
He was unpardoHGbly rude to inter-
viewers, and was not even decently
grateful when they described him as
handsome and rising young barris-
ter"
was quite annoyed with him. "Will
nothing satisfy your" I asked. "Here
are a number of young fellows telling
lies about you gratuitously, your photo
graph is in The Daily Graphic. and yet
you growl. Pull yourselftogether, man,
and tackle your briefs. Many a man
with less luck than this has reached the
woOlsack and slept there for years"
But three weeks elapsed without any
news of his wife, and all classes of soci-
ety-includipg "a British Schoolboy,"
"a Book Reading Chimney Sweep"
"a Country Vicar" and "a Bread-and-
Butter rMiss''-contributed astonishing
letters to the daily press on runaway
wives and modern novels" with
sidelights on such matter as "Patent
Cures for Headache and "Should
Wife Peel the Potatoes ?n 1t really
seemed as If the United Kingdom had
gone mad. One night we turned into
u music hall and heard prominent
comedian call upon the audience to re-
joice with him because his wife had run
away, under the intoxicating influence
of novel called "Dotty Doll; or, who
Stole Baby's Cough?" It was humor
of delicate class, and involved fire.
qnent illusions to his mother-in-law, q
policeman and q kippsr. I led Talbot
out, put him into a cab and took him
home. He was in a state of mental
collapse.
Suddenly the case took a new turn.
Mysterious messages began to appear
in the agony column of the Stand
ard, the first of which ran: At, can
you ever forgive me?-Dolly." Talbot,
Of course, insisted on reply, and adyer-
tised: "Know of nothing to forgive.
Come back, dearest.-T." Two days
later, one ran: al am broken-hearted
and long to see you. Your own Dolly"
And Talbot advertised an affectionste
and equally insane reply.
The police were very suspicious Of
these advertisements, and believed
them to be q hoax, all the more so, see
ing that we could not trace the adver-
tiser. The advertisement was always
sent to the Office Of the paper by the
post, and the advertiser changed her
address after each insertion.
Then this message appeared: al have
been very wicked and extravagant. Am
ashamed TO tell my debts. Dolly"
Here was the money question cropping
up again. / asked Talbot what 1t
meant.
Nothing" he said, with a good-hu-
mored smile. 'It appears she owes a
milliner's bill. 1t certainly is rather
warm one, but nothing to worry about.
II that's the cause of the trouble, I'll
soon set her dear little heart at rest"
He wrote out an advertisement for the
Standard and looked happier than he
had done for weeks, though ! felt con-
fident that there was more in 1t than
milliner's bill.
In the meantime an enterprising jour-
| naIisf had been watching the iaagonyn