Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1902-09-24
A PRINCE IN PLAIN CLOTHING.
al: q: :; IT,: ',: &C. 81: I:
@N got bis Ole
n World ideas OIL
ARE honor, loyalty
D~ and truth that

Oils In Wnlcn ne HVeu. DbS gave
him q romantic strain, too, and
when she died she left aim with
the belief that simple faith was
better than Norman blood or all
of the money on earth. his hard
headed engineering iather be-
Queathed to him a taste for me-
chanics and 50, 900, 600 in stocks,
bonds and cash.
At the age Of % Carlos Blake
had encountered and escaped
from numerous matchmaking
mammas; he had picked his way
through society mares as gingerly
as if walking on egg shells; once
on a yacht, a large red checked
girl with a small shsrp-featured
mother had nearly got him; once
again, in the moonlight at New
port, he had come free almost by
a miracle; once again, sitting on
the stairs in a New York mansion
while a woman's ball dress "'hOw-
ed round him in ripples of white, y
a passionate declaration had got
as far as his teeth, but a man full
of champagne had stumbled upon
him and rescued him. In the Ian
guage of his friend, Jack Endicott,
of Arizona, he had been "chased
like a jack rabbit and only his
phenomenal speed and adroitness
had saved him. Now he was pos,
sessed by disgust.
GA good wife," he was say
ing to Jack, sis a good thing and
1 would give a good deal for a
good wife, but l want a woman to
marry me because / am /, not be.
cause Pve got a load of money"
"Well," Jack answered '1Ots of
New York girls make. good wives
and you could have one for the
asking. You could never be GER
tain that she loved you for your
self, however, because everybody
knows that you are brutally rich"
"That's true" Blake replied.
GA burned child breads the fire,
and I've come near being landed
so often that my nerve is all gone.
/ believe that / shall take refuge
in eight"
Next day it was said about his
clubs that he had gone to Africa
to shoot the big game; in case he
escaped the horns of the rhinOs-
ceri and the tusks Of the elephant,
he would return in two years.
1t has been said that Blake had
a turn for mechanics. A month
afterward he stood in the shops of
the Electric Light and Power Com
pany of Fairview, Pa. He had on
a wOrkman's ~Overalls, coarse shirt
and blouse; there was an oil-smear
across his forehead; he held a
monkey-wrench with a hand that
was black and hardened; he was
a member in good standing Of
Electrical Workers Union No.
278; he got $3.50 for eight hours
work; he was happy. he was
one of the most industrious and
capable workmen in the shop.
His class had been betrayed in
only one thing:
'Hiring a place to sleep and eat
in, he had insisted upon having a
room with bath attached. For
this unheard of luxury he paid
half what he earned. His food
he found, though plain, was pal.
atable and devOured with remark.
able appetite. He had never
drained a bumper of wine in Del
mOnicO's that had the fine flavor
of heer drunk from a sweaty tin
bucket. He rose at 6 in the morn.
ing; went to bed at s, was al
strong as a horse and bis assOci,
ates voted him a good fellow,
though a little precise in his Ian,
guage. His name to them was
John Rodney and he played sec
ond base on their ball team.
1t occurred to John Rodney one
Sabbath morning that a little
church would not hurt him, so be
put on a black coat and rather
gaudy tie and took a place in a
pew toward the rear of the First
Anglican Catholic cathedral. Sit.
ting idly and following the sermon
duly, his eye was caught by the
form and face Of a young woman
to the left. Light Though a stain.
ed window fell upon her dull gold
hair and a face that vas beautiful
with the beauty Of healthy maid
enhOOd. The fOrhead was low and
broad, the eyes serene and gray,
the lips red like q rosebud, the
chin firm, the skin Of clear deli.
cate pallor, the form rounded,
erect and strong. The church was
not specially 'rhigh," there was
congregational singing and her