Evening star., 1903-08-29

Young Chalmers had spent just three
weeks at the home of his iance, MISS
Bangs. to whom he had become engaged
at one of the resorts along the Maine coast
the previous summer, when 1t suooeniy
occurred to him that they were about the
queerest engaged couple there ever Was-or
certainly that he had ever seen. rms I'M
preston grew rapidly until it assumed an
the proportions of an uncomfortable GER
tainty. They got up about as much emo
ton over each other as might be expected
in a brother and sister.
That Danger Miss Bangs polo pony, was
the cause Of it all he had little doubt. He
knew that quite clearly-quite. He never
thought that he would become jealous OF
a dumb animal, but now he had 10 confess
that it was even so. 1t cut him TO the
soul when she laviShed her careSSes on the
vicious little beast, and he had grown so
tired of hearing her relate the numerous
times that the pony had taken barriers
which most of the hunters refused, OF now
he had once run fifteen miles for a cele-
brated surgeon and back again OF MS sa-
sacjty and endearng qualities and the IKE
that he felt like running away 10 some
country like Venice, where ne peheFeu
horses were quite unknown.
The trouble was that young Chalmers
life and environment had been ABOUT as
city is different from the average New Eng
land suburb. She lived in a town not SO lar
from Boston which as thoroughly an
sIacized as a Massachusetts town could
well be which is to say very mucn IneIe
were estates. including miles of land pouhd-
ed by box hedges or stone walls gate Keep
ers in rustic lodges, pretty lanes manor
houses cold white churches, ana ABOVE al:
the dearest of rivers, with sketches OF
meadow land on either side and drooplng
trees along the banks. Visiting English
men exclaimed when they saw It, saying
how very like and this was inwardly re
garded as the highest compliment that
could be bestowed. Every one kept open
house and every one went in for the ac,
cepted sports. They had a rafting good
polo team and a hunt club ana ooauhs
club and many other things. All the young
women were fairly proficient in these
sports-excepting, of course, polo and In
deed some of them had exhibited some
little skill in the management OF ponies
when they welded the mallet in scrub
games But ii must be confessed that they
did all this not only because they liked TO,
but because it brought them more frequent
" in contact with a bully lot of distinctly
eligible young men than would otherwise
have been the case. which is nothing
against them, to be sure.
Now, Miss Bangs, to go back little
loved these sports absolutely for them
selves, and on two occasions Danger landed
her first among the hounds yelplng ABOUT
the end of the aniSe seed trail She always
insisted on padding her own canoe along
the river and she had so many golf trophies
that she stored number of them in the at
tie. She had broken the polo pony to har-
ness Just for the fun of 1t, and was the only
person who could drive him. The young
men declared her to be the iolliest good fel-
low ina ginable, and she had never lacked
for all sorts of attention-even the dances
She not a good dancer.
But when they fell in love it was always
with some other girl, which seemed quite
natural to Miss Bangs who congratulated
them heartily and sincerely and thought no
more about it,
Her friends said this was too bad for she
was dear. sweet girl with no end of good
looks 1t really did seem too bad that she
would rather put on the gloves With her
at Harvard she knew by heart-than dance
all night; or that she would rather don
corduroy suit and plug across country with
a fellow than idle under the trees in
tilmy gown with him. When she was twen-
ty-fve there were several doubts that she
would ever marry; four years later they
said she was absolutely hopeless. Then she
announced her engagements to Chalmers
and every one gasped with astonishment
and wondered what sort of a chap he was.
Chalmers was a young lawyer who had
Identified himself strongly with the latest
of the great reform movements which occa-
sionally agitate the metropolis, and had
gained some little reputation for eloquence
which, If it had no other result tended to
increase his practice. He worked too hard
to go in for sports to any extent, but not 50
many years ago he had been swift and
sandy end at certain university in lit
tie town not far from New York. But after
his graduation Chalmers, if you except an