The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-12-02

margaret StaDler In the ArSOnaut.
Tom Randolph is such charming
| fellowr Every girl who knew him and
every girls mamma lifted up her heart
| and joined in the universal chorus. He
! was the sort of man women love to love.
! His patrimony was sufficient to make
! him thoroughly worth while, his mental
! depth was beyond nobody's fathoming,
and even the men who were inclined to
leave him alone admitted, perforce, that
he was a good enough fellow. He could
/ do so many useful things, too-Wield a
chafing-dish or banjo, lead a german
or sail a boat-all with equal grace and
| skill
But the measure of his popularity was
| the measure of the plumber he accunu-
! lated from year to year. His apartments
1 might have riYaied a public exhibition
| in point Of his collection Of photographs.
! There were girls of all sorts and condi-
! tons Of beauty and style; blonde girls
| and brunette girls, stately girls and kit
tenish girls, tall girls and petite girls,
! and girls in every variation of haplll-
ment from a bathing suit to mourning
weeds, varying in size from tiny minia-
! lures, gently limiting they might be en-
| shrined in the watch case, to the large
| iridium panels that lined his walls in
tiers. And the sofa cushions that filed
! every nook would have made the fortune
! Of a charity bazaar. After noting the
fact that about every third girl who gave
| him her picture was industrious enough
! or cared enough to make him cushion,
! Randolph, at rough estimate, had hXed
| the number at twenty-eight and two
thirds cushions. Every holiday season
! a new pile was started, and as each
| girl perfumed her gift with her favorite
sachet nothing but the most powerful
| disinfectant could mitigate the combined
odors of the twenty-eight and two
thirds saehet powders. Such 1t is to be
acclaimed "a charming fellow"
But Randolph was not ungrateful; in
| return he loved them all collectively. his
| only trouble was that he could not DEUCE
his ideal from the composite three-times-
| twenty eight-and- two-thirds to the 1ndl-
vidual. But Mrs. T. Courtney Randolph
! was to be a flawless creature who COM
| bined every grace of mind and body,
| and much time was spent in a dllgenL
| search for that not impossible she. Ihls
search indeed, threatened to rival lie
hobby he had ridden, or rather, tnat
had ridden him at a break-neck pace LOT
all his life. He had been victim Oh
every collecting fad people with long
nockets and short wits are heir to. But
he was shrewd in his judgment, and his
insight had brought him not a few treas
ures from unsupported sources. The tuf-
niture he had gathered about him evoked
associations of the First Empire, early
Colonial. old Dutch, and French Rena1s-
sance Once he had set his heart on
piece Of bric-a-brac he could brook no
barrier. But now, for the first Time
Randolph was bafied, and by woman
at that. -,
Down in Monterey in a crumbing Old
adobe house that might once have been
the home of some naughty hldalgo, Out
which now bore only the pitiful traces
of its early preten1ors, he discovered
a great treasurer fine old Spanish cnest
of most unique design. The Ola aooDe
house had been burned out on the IN
side leaving the walls blackened and
charred; the floor was the bare ground
baked almost into cement from genera
lions of use; the window-panes were
broken and boarded over to keep out
the rain. In such rickety little hole
stood this regal old chest, that might
have held the court robes OF queen 1sa-
bella. Almost black with the lapse OF
centuries, large enough for whole
family's wardrobe, the massive prass
trainings furnished by the touch OF
hands long ago crumbled to dust, Its
every aspect breathed an atmosphere OF
romance and tradition.
The manner Of its discovery was the
nerest chance. While taking a snort
! cut from the bay back to the hotel.
looked a little less dirty than its neigh
bors to ask for drink of water. While
! the old sonora had gone to bring it, ne
espied through a crack in the door ms
| marvel OF the metaI-worker's art. The
chest, which stood several inches from
the floor, supported by lions claws, was
Of cedar or mahogany, as nearly as ne
could tell through its coating of dust
The edges were held by heavy carved
brass arabesques, and inwrought on
every lock and hinge was the croWn and
! shield of Spain, the proof Of it's royal
| lineage.
When the woman returned with the
| cool water, she found the stranger seated
on an up-turned whale vertebra before
| the chest, pulling at the brass rings,
! thumping the wood examining the locks,
| and wondering at it's excellent preserVa-
ton Dropping the glass and shrieking
Rosa, Rosa" she ran to give the alarm
| to her daughter that there was burglar
in the house 1t was several minutes
before Randolph could allay their sus-
| picions sufficiently TO ask them If they
would sell the chest.
How mueh?" he asked the older
woman, thinking she would probably be
| glad to dispose Of it for a song.
But for answer the mother turned to
the daughter. who had followed at her
elbow, repeating in indignant tones,
| "Cuanto?" And the daughter, surveying
the stranger with Mortified eyes, echoed
"Cuanto?"
Yes" answered Randolph, thinking
they had not understood what he meant;
chow much would you take for this
| chest? Twenty dollars?"