Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1902-03-14

a HE is no daughter of mine;
~ a madcap, ehangeling, an
| unbroken colt who threatens
to kick over the traces at any moment.
| What have | done that such a mlsfor-
tune should befall me-"
| Thus lamented Mrs. Gainsborough
| over her coffee one sunny winters
morning, to her husband Immersed in
the daily news.
Eli what's the matter now, Moille!
with easy good nature.
Laura was Il model she sighed,
"she never gave me II moment of un-
easiness from first to last. The belle
of her set, she married advantage
ouSly in her first season; and as for
Dorothy, she could be led by silken
thread. But Theodora-" and she
threw up her hands in horror, as
| though the subject beggared descrip-
| tion.
Come, come, Mollie'-he pleaded;
"let the child grow up in her own way;
they can't all be alike it stands to rea-
son. There was a good boy spoiled
in Teddy, frank, fearless and honest as
the sunlight; it would be sin and a
shame to cut, prune and pare her down
into a doll of fashion like the rest of
| them"
"Oh, you men" in accents of pa
| thos. what can you know of the
heart of n mother, the awful responsi-
bility resting upon her shoulders; the
sacred charge entrusted to her hands.
All depends upon her coming out; by
| that she stands or falls; the verdict is
final. And when l think how i'll pre-
| pared she Is for the occasion; how Will
| full, unframed and careless of the con
| sequences, | tremble for her future"
| and, with an air of tragedy she re-
turned to her breakfast with renewed
| appetite.
At that moment the door burst open,
and young girl, in rough skating cos
tune, with name of red-gold hair like
shaggy pony, entered in whirlwind
fashion, rosy, painting, radiant with
| health spirit and abundant vitality, IA
sight to make an old man young"
Just in time for breakfast, and hun
| CRY as hunter, too, | promise your
| in clear, ringing tones, and without
| ceremony she seated herself at the ta-
BILE.
Skating at such an hour, Theodore 2"
protested her mother, In reproving
| tones, "when you should be abed get
ting your beauty sleep, in preparation
| for the great event before you"
MY beauty must care for itself"
| was the careless retort. ''Must | cod
die myself all day because I'm to come
out tonight? Come outn'-in scOrnful
| tones. what does it mean, anyway,
daddy?" and she turned to her father
with look of hearty comradeship and
affection.
"Well Teddy, with most of you it
means beaux and clothes, so far as
| understand 1t; vanity and vexation of
spirit, and ultimately marriage, when
the right fellow comes along"
"Then III have none of it," and with
an air of decision she turned to her
breakfast with the yigor of seventeen.
No mother hen was ever more dis
| mayed at the duckling in her brood
| than this punctilious leader of fashion
at the daughter now on her hands to
pilot through the shoals and quick
| sands of society, and at last anchor
safely In the harbor of matrmony
| Yet she was but n frank, high-spirited
girl, who despised forms and conven-
| tions with all her heart; rebelled at
maternal counsel and discipline, turned
! sentiment to ridicule with the careless
| mockery of extreme youth. But she
proved pretty handful to the proud,
scheming mother, whose aspirations
| scared high in the matrimonial line; a
knotty problem to solve, which would
tax her wits, temper and endurance
| beyond their limit.
Yet her debut promised well, and
| maternal criticism could find no flaw
In the radiant vision presented to her
view In all the costly simplicity of Il
| Worth gown, imported to grace the oc-
casion. She had never realized her
loyellness before; the piquant charm Of
Titan coloring and laughing dark eyes,
the sylph-like grace of her buoyant
| figure, the childlike ease of her bear
] ing, which sustained her well through
out the trying ordeal
| And Teddy-though she might rebel
In advance at maternal authority, was
she proof against the pleasure of the
moment? the dangerous knowledge of
her own beauty borne in upon her for
the first time, the incense of masculine
homage, the gay inspiriting music, the
novel charm of the occasion?
| Though Mrs. Gainsborough trembled
| for her perllous franliness, originality
and possible gaucheries, 1t might be
! that an odd bizarre character, such
as this, would go down, in social par
| lance, even create n sensation, for a
time. Beyond this she dared not look
or scheme; one hint of matrimonial in
tentions, such as she cherished, would