Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1902-03-12
TURNED DOWN
tcopyright, 1901, by c. B. Lewis. ]

"
self whenever there was woman in
the case, and it was this guiding prin-
ciple that made me take hand in an
occurrence in boulevard shop In Par
u.s. A lady had lost her purse and
claimed that another lady had picked
1t up. The latter was young woman
Of twenty-five, fashionably attired and
more than good looking, and l saw at
once that she was English. At first
she stood on her dignity and contented
herself with denying that she had seen
the purse. Later on, as the loser press
ed the charge, the English lady made
indignant protestations and could not
control her tears. 1t was very embar-
RAISING for the manager of the store.
but at length he suggested that the ac-
cused submit to search. 1t was then
that I stepped forward and declared
the whole thing an outrage and broad
~ limited at a suit for damages.
gave my name and address, shouldered
the whole matter as IL l had legal
right and pulled the English girl out
of what looked like very bad scrape.
When l left the store in company
with the strange young lady. we rode
away in a carriage and later brought
up at a restaurant, ard she was pro-
fuse in her thanks for my assistance.
She really was English and was in
Paris with her aunt for the winter.
That she belonged to the upper class
was plain enough. and when l found
that she was heart free it didn't take
me five minutes to fall in love with
her. That I was old enough to be her
least from my standpoint. I contend
that a man Of forty-five can see twice
! the romance in an adventure that a
callow youth of twenty-five can and
| that his love is not like the shifting
sands. Miss Mellicent Harrington was
the name, and, though she was thou
sand times obliged to me and could
never, never forget my kindness, she
| could not ask me to call on her.
didn't press her for reasons. That
would have been foolish, and, while
am an ass, am not boor. Later on
| she would be, oh, so pleased to have
me call, but not just then. / must not
even try to find out her address.
sent her home i'm a carriage with my
heart singing a song. l was to meet
her in the Bots next day, and she was
to tell me more of herself and increase
the number of her thanks. 1t would
have been long twenty-four hours to
me and l might not have slept wink
all night but for singular circum-
stance. AS / returned to my hotel !
found lady's purse in the pocket of
my light overcoat.
The purse contained 500 francs and
exactly answered the description of the
1t could have found its way into my
pocket was stumper, though finally
made up my mind that either the man.
ager or the woman claiming to have
lost it placed it there to effect the So
cial ruin of the dearest girl had ever
met. was almost minded to return to
the store and take that base manager
by the neck, but l managed to hang
on to myself. Next day I found the
English girl prompt to her appoint
ment, and as we sat on rustic bench
beneath the shade of a chestnut tree
she made everything plain to me. She
was an orphan and rolling In gold
Her old aunt was her guardian and
wanted to force her to marry lord
with depleted wallet and shattered
reputation. The dear Mellicent would
| never, never do it, not after having
met me. AS soon as she could get hei
carload of stocks and bonds and coin
me to the uttermost ends of the earth
and we would live for each other all
the rest of our days. She didn't say
this in so many words, Of course, fol
she was coy and shy, but an ass of q
man can take hint as well as kick
I said nothing to her about the lost
and found purse. She had so much
trouble on her mind that I did not
want to add to her burdens.
For the next two weeks 1 lived in a
sort of paradise and let the cab drivers
and walters swindle me right and left
met the dear Mellicent every day and
drove or wandered with her, and she
gave me to understand that her heart
was mine. She also gave me to under
stand that she was temporarily hard
up for oof, and 1t was a pleasure fol
me to count out notes of the Bank OF
France and toss them into her lap and
observe that there were more waiting
for the asking. Then came an awful
day. She failed to keep an appoint
ment. and after suffering untold misery
got a carriage and drove madly about
to look for her mangled corpse.
didn't find it, but at police station
where | called to ask IL any one with
golden hair and pearly teeth bad been
found dead on the street | met her
She was the same beautiful girl, with
the same tears In her big blue eyes
She would have precipitated herself
| into my arms, but the hard hearted In
spector wouldn't permit 1t. He read
me the charge against her instead. My
dear Mellicent was an adventures, $
pickpocket and a stool pigeon. She
was the wife of gambler and black
leg. All this was told to me in the
most brutal way as my dear love sal
and wept and sobbed, and when the