Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1901-06-02
WMLIlg
(cop>arcnr>. 1901 /,

IN the avenue, a0out a mile below
The park, Blaisdell overlook a particu-
LARRY elegant victoria, In which sat Miss
Caroline Stamford. Blaisdell had not
the pleasure OF the young lady's ac-
nuaintance. and the chance that ever
would have it was as good as that he
would one day wi the moon and car
~ It in his pocket. The two persons
lived in different worlds. Nevertheless
Blaisdell recognized the occupant Of
the victoria, for he had seen her pic
&ure IN the newspapers, n besides,
he remembered -aving seen the horses
exhibited in the show.
Miss Stanford is descended on her
fathers side from one Of the Oldest
New York banking institutions. and her
mother is the daughter or many blocks
ut city real estate. You will find both
families in the elite directory. Blais-
hells father, now deceased. was never
a hundred dollars ahead OF his debts,
but he was always expecting to be rich.
Wis mothers family had no social pre-
tensions, and the good lady has long
since gone where such things are not
dn the least degree necessary to our
happiness.
The young man himself has not made
p success In life. He is impractical. He
Fan see the top OF the ladder, but he
cannot see the rounds" In his day
dreams he always ascends at a bound.
~treading upon nothing. There have
been brief periods in his career when 1t
has seemed al if he would actually get
mp In that sensational way, for he is
capable OF exhibiting a remarkable
spasmodic energy that achieves results
from which he is afterward entirely
Incapable Of taking the profit.
At the time OF the passage in his life
which is now under consideration he
was In the depths of dependency. He
had Just accomplished his customary
feat Of turning success into failure. He
WAS out of employment and without
enough money to see him to the weeks
end. Therefore 1t was very IMPROVE
dent for him to go out bicycle rading
at 3 O'Clock in the afternoon instead of
devoting himself to the immediate
needs of his situation. The bicycle that
he rode had not been paid for, and Inc
very becoming suit that he wore had
cost only $3.50, but he looked like a
gentleman of leisure.
AS he passed the Stamford equipage
The near horse was behaving badly.
The brute danced as if the asphalt I'M
der his feet had been red hot, and the
expression of the coachman's counte-
nance was not quite so wooden as a
well bred coachman's should be.
A singular notion came in Blaisdells
head. He wished that the horses would
run away. Being singularly gifted
with imagination, he pictured himself
stopping them and receiving a large
armful of money from the grateful Mr..
Stamford, whose ouly daughter would
have been preserved from direful dis
Aster. On second thought Blaisdell
added the only daughter to the armful
OF money and thus completed the ro-
nance according to all the best tradi-
lions.
The avenue was so crowded that the
horses could not have run ten yards-in
fact, they were presently brought to a
standstill by a blockade, through which
Blaisdell succeeded in squirming. So
he passed on, and the chances were
that he would not set eyes upon Miss
Stamford again in this life.
He continued to think of her. how
There are men who are driven from the
nnvarying monotony of %disappoint-
ment. Only those who lack magma
tion need to employ drugs, and 1t is al
most a question whether a man might
not better be a slave to an opiate than
Ito the more subtle poison which per-
sistent dissatisfaction distills from the
brain itself.
Blaisdell rode around the park for an
hour, while black reality and brightly
gilded impossibility alternated in his
consciousness. Finally he rode up into
the little circle just south OF the lake
and sat down upon a bench.
In the middle of the circle. which is
upon a low hill, there Is a fountain, with
a water trough for horses. The two
driveways are on the southern side. one
curving gently to tho east Z, the other
to the west. Blaisdell saw the equip
nges of many m%illionaires pause beside
the fountain and pass on, and at last