The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-11-11
JIM'S DARLING.

ever he happened to sec May ana Lucy
Thompson together.
May and Lucy We're cousins orphans,
who shared d home. an aged aunt who
performed the duties of q Chaperon,
and dress allowance of $50 per an
mum.
May was young and pretty. Now,
youth and beauty being two of the
surest OF Cupid's darts. Mays youth
and good looks would surely have set
tied Jim, only. unfortunately, Lucy was
young and pretty, too.
May was tail and dark with n Greek
profile and masses of smooth. blue
black hair. arranged in simple coils,
regardless Of Fashions DEGREES.
Lucy, on the other hand, was Il small,
fair girl, with an aureolc of fluffy hair.
and the saucicst nez rctrousse in the
world.
Jim admired tall dark women. and
the contemplation Of a Greek profile
was to him n source of unceasing joy.
This would, no doubt have led him
to give the preference to May had 1t
not been for the fact that an equally
ainiablc weakness for Lucys type of
1ovliness drew him in the opposite di-
reCtion.
Jlnl's friends spoke Of May as one OF
the most accomplished and aniabe
creatures they had ever met.
They referred to Lucy in precisely
similar tones.
May looked magnificent in white
satin; and when Jim saw her in a
ballroom he wondered how he could
ever have given a though 10 Lucy.
But then, Lucy was altogether be-
Witching in blue linen, and no sooner
did Harrison behold her thus attired
in a. punt on the river than the vision
of Mays charms faded into insignifi-
cancc. TO make long story short
Jim'ss alteration to May was only equal
led by his devotion to Lucy, and his
difficulties were in no wise lcssened by
the fact that both parties reriprocated
his affection.
The chances are that Jim would have
ended by remaining a bachelor to his
dying day but for the advent of
fourth party upon the sccn.. of action.
The F'ates selected as their instrument
one BERTHE Thompson. brother to May
home from school for the summer hol.
days.
Eertic. ut fourteen, was Il smart lad,
cousin and sister. He took in the stu
alton at a glance, and. having no par
ticuar objection to Jim as brother
in-law. decided, for reasons to BE- here
matter set forth, that May was the
girl for Jim.
He pondered the subject at meal
times. and other odd times not occu-
ricd by weightier matters. After the
1, % ,1o =, iS =, ~
Elections might have been crystallized
into some such solloquy at this
Both the girls arc dead nuts on
Harrison, and Harrison is dead nuts
on both the girls. Eut. then. Harr,.
sons only seen them in their best bihS
and fuckers, stuck all over with COM
pany manners. Suppose he caught
sight Of them mouchng around the
house-say at $3.50 in the morning
woulG he go on being spoons on them
both: I'G back May u hundred to one
against Loo, any day. Perhaps he'd
chuck them both, though. But it's
worth riskng, anyway"
Thereupon BERTHE hatched a diaboli-
cal plot.
AS the nearest relative of che object
of .Iim's affections, BERTHE was j privil-
eyed visitor at Harrison's room. Jim
evinced no astonishmcnt. therefore,
when BERTHE burst into his deu late one
saturday night and announced his in
tcntion OF accompanying him on a
long projected bicycle trip on the fol-
lowing morning.
You'll have to pass our show in
any case said the astute BERTHE, $50
you might AS well pick me up on the
way. Besides, the girls want to see
YOU about n picnic they're getting UP
next week"
This latter argument, an inspiration
of the moment not altogether founded
upon the fact, proved irresistible. and
so it fell out that. punctually at $50
on the following day, Jim's rat-a-tat
sounded upon the Thompsons' front
doo:.
Now May and Lucy We're quite ac-
cuStomed to the sound of double knocks
on Sunday morning. 1t was the sound
with which certain chums of Bertie's,
the boys from next door but one, were
wont TO present themselves at the
Thompson doorstep every sabbath with
unfaiilng regularity.
Thus it was that when Harrison. ad-
mitted by the rimble BERTHE, entered
tho Thompson domicilc May nor Lucy
was prepared for his arrival,
The two girls. as BERTHE had taken
care to ascertain, were engaged, each
In her own way, in killing the time be-
tween breakfast and dressing Tor
church.
Lucy, who invariably indulgel in
tea and toast in her bedroom, had Just
clnerscd from that sanctum in semi
civilized attire, ana when Harrison.
at Berte's instigatlon, entered the
drawing room, an unexpected vision
met hiS gaze
Lucy was seated al the piano bang
ing the keys with one hand, and with
the other maintaining u steady com
municaton between her mounth and
box Of chocolates, placed within con-
yenient reach, she was CARRIED in am
old satin skirt no longer in its prime
and IL much befrllled dressing jacket,
that must have been coquettish In itS
youth but was row slightly Sulcd. \
pair OF pink satin shoes, no longer IT.
reproachable, completed the costume.
Her pretty, fluffy hair, with its dis
tracting little poufs and curls that
Jim considered the most adorable part
OF Lucy, had suffered total eclipse
under a mas of hair-Curlers.
Jim, having no sisters of his own,
was unaccustomed TO this last phenom-
cnon. Who that has ever experienced
ii will readily forget the shock produc-
ed upon delicate, nervous organiza
tion at the first glimpse OF u young |
and beautiful woman under the infu- |
ence of hair-curlers.
In ten seconds Jim Harrison suffered |
all the tortureS of a terrible Gisillusion- |