The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1901-11-20
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MARRIAGE OF MISS BLAND1sH. /
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BY EDWARD r. spENCE.

Ihere was pretty futter in soclet
when a haif-penny morning paper an
nouneed the engagement OF Miss Poll,
Blandish 20 the very young Duke q
Rushminstsr Then the papers discov
cred tha, pretty Polly. though not
Variety Theatre girl, had strong artist,
instincts and longed to play Ophelia ano
Desdemona, and that her family wal
ancient and honorable. Now. the sim
PIE fact was that Polly, after serving
several years In the ranks OF the choru,
at the Variety Theatre, coaxed com.
poser into writing a dance for her. ane
made a big hit" The Duke Of Rush.
minister who has just come Of age. wa.
a charming foolish fellow with an i'm.
come Of e5eOOO. after deduction Of All
The appalling charges under the family
settlements.
OF course there was a terrible rum.
pus In the Ducal family.
Suddenly came an announcement that
the engagement was at an end. and thai,
the young Duke had received a quasi
diplomatic appointment in the Colonies
which required him to leave England al
once. The world guessed correctly tina.
very august parsonage had inter
vened The negotiations for settle
ment took place after the Dukes de-
parture-a piece of ili-luck for Polly.
At her interview with the family solic-
itor Polly threw up hel rlng-burdened
hands-and the sponge-and agreed to
take 10000
The young Duke returned 10 town very
proud of the successful accomplishment
Of his mission
One evening. when the Duke was sit
ting at his club trying to make up his
mind on the eyer-dsputable question
whether hors d'oeuvres really excite ap-
petite or stay hunger letter was
brought to him, and at the sight Of the
writing he jumped then gasped.
He opened the letter and read:
Dear Charlie: Won't you come and
see me? Don't be afraid; I'm dying;
at least, tie doccr says so. and my III
ness has made me hideous, and l would
Ike to see you once again / shall be
at home at O'Clock tomorrow AT
least, am always at home now, and
could you see me then
She did see him then-that is, at
o'clock next day--and when he saw her
he was horrifed The pretty color had
gone from her checks, great black
patches lay dnder her eyes, and strange
lines marked the lately beautiful face.
The eyes were bright the lips still pink,
and the hair IN picturesque disorder had
lost none OF its beauty. Seeh there in
the darkened room, With the medicines
all around her, Pclly really seemed to
be at deaths door Charlie was allowed
tc stay only a few minutes and when
he left the room ne stumbled into the
arms Of a woman in white cap and
apron, and recosn.z,d Polly's old dress
er. She was very surly, and, when he
pressed her as to the condition Of her
mistress. bluntly said that the nature Of
her illness was her AFFAIR, and not his.
The Duke offered her a tip, which was
also so scornfully declined that he
crawled out OF the house as if he had
been fiogged. When he called the next
day. the Duke found Polly little bet
ter, and there was quite a flash of her
old self in her manner. So the Duke
spent a pleasant quarter Of an hour ere
Rollit, the ex-dresser, turned him out in
a surly fashion, alleging that he would
fatigue her mistress. As he was pass
ing through the room the bell rang
'sThe Doetor!" exclaimed Rollit to the
young Duke. Come in" A minute
later an elderly man, with very grave,
dignifed manner. entered Rollit left
the two men together whilst she went
into the sick room. The young Duke
timidly said something obviously truth
ful about the weather-the other agreed
then anxiously he asked: rs she
very IN? What is really the matter?"
Il presume you are a friend Of the
family"
"Oh. yess certainly"
She Is very Ill., We have had two
consultations, and" He merely shrug-
ged his shoulders again.
But what is the illness?'
Technically ny7-Charle could not
catch the long Latin actually,
suppose, the public would call it
broken heart Some young fellow, a
Duke or someone Of the family know
little OF such social matters-jllted her
She made great effort TO fight against
her feelings. and so overtaxed her
strength; a heavy reaction SCI in. Then
when eshe was In a most vulnerable
state, OF course She caught a chill which