The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1903-07-02
BATTERED TRUNK WAS HIS FORTUNE
Minnesota Editor Tells How He Won
Bride Away From His Rivals.


Minnesota Editor Tells How He Won a
Bride Away From His Rivals.
A crowd of the jolly Minnesota edi-
tors who swoopedtdown upon Washing.
ton last week were checking their bag
gage at the station upon the eve OF
their departure from the city, when the
dilapidated, tattered, age-worn appear
ance of the trunk Of one of the editors
came in for the guying of most of the
outfit. 1t was small, old-fashioned
trunk of the steamer variety, and it
had seen so much service that it re-
quired four heavy trunk straps to hold
it together. The guying members OF
the party were ironically talking OF
taking up collection for the purpose
of stalking the owner of the old trunk
to new one, when the editor, who
took the joshing all in good part, came
back at them with:
"That's all right about the box-it's
getting pretty old and moth-chewed,
I'll admit, but I'm not going to give it
the shake until it falls apart, and then
I'm going to put it's old bones away and
keep 'em busted. That old trunk won
me my wife,"
Of course they demanded the story
of him, then, and the owner Of the bat
tered trunk gave it to them.
"When I first took hold of the little
weekly in my town." he said, my per-
sonal effects didn't much more than
half fill that dinky little trunk, and
when I went away for any little trip I
had to resort to all sorts of film ex-
pedients to pack the trunk to the top,
so that the few things I owned wouldn't
joggle around in the vacant space and
get knocked out of shape. But, for all
the slend erness of my means and my
wardrobe, the prettiest girl in the
town, and the daughter of a well-to-do
citizen of the place, wasn't any too good
for me to pay attention to. used to
call upon her two or three times week,
but was only one of about half dozen
chaps in the town who were also calling
upon her right regularly, and all of
them we're heap better off in this
worlds goods, or, at any rate, in pros
poets, than then was at that
81 didn't know where I stood with
the girl on this account, but I wasn't
going to be frozen out until I got the
direct word from the girl that that was
the program in contemplation. She
was pretty cordial to me, and when I
happened to find other fellows calling
upon her when visited her home, she
generally let it appear, through the
crafty little ways that women pick up
as soon as they quit wearing their hair
in braids, that she'd just as lief I out
stay the other fellows as not. seemed
to be making about as much, if not
more, progress than any of the others,
but as. 1 wasn't making much more
than living out of my paper, I wasn't
in any shape to propose, especially as
the girls father was extremely CON-
Portable financially, and I couldn't en-
terrain the idea Of the girl imagining
that it was dowry I was seeking.
"Anyhow, the frequency of my visits
and the cordial welcome I got from the
girl aroused the jealousy Of some of the
other suitors, and one evening, after
I'd been a caller at the house for about
a year, they put up job on me- I was
seated on lawn bench in front of the
house with the girl-it was during the
summer-when the wagon Of the town.
ship grocer drove up, and the driver
jumped from his seat, went to the rear
OF the wagon, loaded my trunk that
little battered trunk that you see there
onto his shoulders, and walked into
the yard with it, ust as my young lady's
father came down the front steps on the
way to his lodge meeting. My rivals
had kidnapped the trunk from my room
and sent it to the home of the young
lady, with the idea of putting me in a
foolish light before her and her father.
Whats this?' inquired the old
gentleman as the driver of the wagon,
at my command dropped the trunk on
the lawn.
II asked the driver how he had hap.
pened to fetch my trunk to that place,
and he confirmed my suspicious by tell.
ing me that he had been SO instructed
to deliver it by number of my rivals
The old gentleman cooked up his cal
at this.
It's not my fault, you see, sir
said to him, for felt pretty silly, ever
under the circumstances. 4 hope you
fully understand that I wouldn't take ;
hand in anything so idiotic as this.
" That's all right, son-that's al
right, said the old gentleman. eyeine