El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-02-23
THE RETURN OF
THE NATIVE"
A Dainty Sketch of Country Girl
Who Married q Divorced Man
and Was Cut by Her
Old Friends.
BY JEAN EDGERTON H0VEY.


The whole town of Little Britain
was talking about Mrs. Clarence
Richie on street corners, at literary
society meetings, over the billiard ia
BILE, in the long, dingy clubroom above
the grocery store, until the air was
full of her name.
The teacher of the school Elizabeth
Richie had attended in her youth said
that she had foreseen something like
this when Elizabeth took that trip to
Europe with her aunt, but still, she
must add, Elizabeth had gone further
than she had supposed she could, and
It gave her pain to see one of her girls
come back the wife of a divorced man.
Mrs. Burdette lifted her fine, white
crowned head:
you're like me, Miss Percival- 1
suppose Elizabeth had too much char
acter to go against all the principles
she was raised by. But this is what
comes of living in a big city,
In the low ceiled, carpetless club
room, where the youth of the town
gathered, Mrs. Ritchie's name flashed
to and fro like billiard ball.
James Ingrames, a man of the world,
having just returned from his yearly
cotton tour through the Georgia towns,
observed:
THAT aunt Of LIS did good trick
by her, trotting her over the world and
showing her on to the New York mar
ket." When he had chalked his cue
carefully, he added: 81 didn't suppose
our little, everyday Liz had it in her to
get to be a swell, for all she used to be
such a sharp little piece. 1 see her
name in the New York papers"
A short, square youth who was seat
ed by the window leaned forward.
did you know, Jimmy, that her
husband is a divorced man"
Listen to Rufusr' jeered the other.
"'Why, yes, Rufus; Clarence Ritchie's
q great gun; his life's common prop
erty. Don't you read, MANI" Pres
emily Jimmy, skirmishing the balls
over the billiard table, added:
"PoohI That's nothing, a woman
marrying divorced man. What's the
matter with that, eh? But this towns
dead SLOW"
The youth by the window shifted his
feet where they were propped upon
the sill.
Its to be expected of you, Jimmy.
that you would pick up everybQdy's
notions as you go travelling about, but
/ expected better Of Elizabeth"
YES" said Jimmy, pleased by this
allusion to himself, "she's a sensible
woman, a very sensible woman. 1 adj
mfre people who get on in the world.
Her husbands a famous man. She
married him after he got good, legal
divorce, and now she's a great big
swell. And yet 1 understand" added
Jimmy patronizingly. "the good people
around here don't hardly want to
speak to her."
Rufus turned round and dropped his
feet in their heavy heeled shoes to the
6oor.
"She's not the woman 1 thought she
was. If she has the whole world at
her heels, she's severed herself with
me-"
Jimmy grinned across the table at
the square figure in it's suit of checks.
The next day, when Rufus CHANGED
TO observe Elizabeth Richie coming
toward him on the opposite sidewalk,
he looked at the fence palings. Hear
ing her feet patting on the hard clay
and the swish of her skirts, he carried
his cane consciously. 1t was a stout
orange wood cane, with a small alli-
gator on the handle, which his uncle
had brought him from Florida. She
could see it from where she walked
and remembered it. She had a love for
odd little things and had always ad-
mired the alligator. Suddenly the pat
ting and the swishing ceased. She
called his first name Familiarity, step
ping off the sidewalk and holding out
her hand. He went across slowly and
took it. She looked him up and down
and smiled at his face.
''Old friends are rare to meet" said
the afrily dressed woman.
Rufus showed a tendency to move
on, but she held his hand until she |
brought him to a standstill; then she |
stood away from him, fitting her par
aSol about. Its lace ruffies rippled be-
hind her pink and white face; her dark |
blue eyes shone through her fine VEIL |
the ribbons on her dress and the silk |
founces of her skirt were lifted and |
rustled by the breeze; her French shoes |
and silk stockings showed themselves |
and were gone with the movement of |
the fiounce. The whole costume seem
ed to emit with every breath the faint |
scent of cedar or sandalwood.
''WeI," he said, looking her all over
with a slow laugh, $50 this is you?