The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-11-30
THE MATCHMAKER

think it's very hard lines, for when
Sney profit by your advice and Live
happily ever afterward" they never
think of thanking you, while il every
thing turns out wrong you may be
pretty sure they will let you know; in
1acG you'll have very little chance of
forgetting it for a long time to come.
In the case of Edith Chester's mar
rage, I'm sure / advised everything
for the best as well as I could and lay
awake at nights and wasted any num-
Der OF cigarettes in my unseIfsh anx-
iety for their welfare, and I'm sure it
was not my fault that things turned
out as they did 1t was in India that
IT happened-at Poonpoor. Poonpoor
as every one knows, or ought TO know
Is the place to go to in the rains. 1t
is situated on a high plateau. and the
EalncloudS being attracted by the
neighboring mountains, Poonpoor has
the advantage of being comparatively
dry. Ny regiment had just been sent
there at the time I speak Of The
rains were beginning, so people were
= arriving and the place filling up every
day Mrs MeArdle had arrived,
among others. 1 met her at the band
one evening, and she told me her
troubles, and that was the beginning
of all the rest. $50 announcement" she
observed. II am obliged-yes, act
-ually Obliged-to have a niece to live
with me, because, as il happens, there
IS nowhere else for her to go. She's
on her way out at this moment. Now,
don't you call that hard lines ?" Hard
lines, indeedi' 1 repeated, sympathiz-
ing. even before 1 had seen the niece
whom circumstances had forced to
take up her abode with Mrs. McArdle.
What is she like % 1 added as an
afterthought
Some people think her pretty-I
don't, was the reply.
She is only nineteen-a most I'M
Interesting age, I think-and what to
do with her 1 really don't know"
Get her married. 1 advised, with
the brilliant originality for which 1 am
noted.
Unfortunately, she hasn't a penny
so that may not be so easy, and you
can think what an expense it will be
10 me to have her out here. But it's
really very good of you to be so SYM
pathetic, Capt. Kilroy. Do come to tea
with me on Tuesday and you can see
Edith yourself and tell me what you
think of her. She will have arrived
by then
I accepted the invitation and walked
across the common to my bungalow.
Ardle would be like. Her chief char
acteristic was hardness. Her face was
hard, her voice was hard, even her
clothes had a sort of hardness, and
never fell into soft, flowing folds like
other women's. What could have in
duced the late McArdle to marry her?
l wondered. He had not enjoyed his
married happiness very long, poor
chap. for he had died at the end of
a year. leaving his widow in possession
of comfortable fortune She resort
in search of health. she said but some
people believed that il was really
amusement she was seeking, and 9TH
ers iIl-naturedly limited that she was
on the lookout for a successor to Nc
Ardle.
I went to tea and met Edith Chester
Inevitably she confided in me, too. Il
know I'm in the way here" she OBJ
served. clasping her hands appealingly |
and gazing at me with blue eyes full |
Of tears: II need not bore you with
my family history, but, it happens, |
there is no one else can go to just at
present" Then she talked of herself |
as a nuisance, and told me she was |
alone in the world, and l. of course !
sympathiZed deeply; in fact, I narrowly
escaped being late for mess that night. |
rs being really sympathetic. especially
to girl as lovely as Edith Chester, |
runs away with a good deal of time.
Edith's adorers came next on the list |
Even before had seen the girl I SEEM
ed to have somehow pledged myself to
be her friend, and Mrs. McArdle ap-
parently considered that / was inpli-
Gated in her matrimonial schemes, |
therefore 1t seemed natural that after
a little judicious encouragement Sey-
mour and Bingley should have talked
things over with me, too. Miss Chester
was admired by most of the men she
met but they were the first to actually
come to the point. Seymour of ours
was a remarkably handsome chap, tall
and fair, with a brown mustache- He
was the man Edith seemed to fancy
from the first, but her aunt discour-
aged him. he was extraVagant and had |
little to live on besides his pay. Sey-
mour would talk to me about Edith by |
the hour Would it be right to propose |
for her when he had little to offer but |
himself and his debts? But then. would |
not anything be better than life with |
Mrs. McArdle? Having paid her so I
much attention, could he honorably /
draw back now? He felt sure Edith |
liked him; what on earth did advise |
him to do?
At the same time, Bingley adiutant |
of the Eleventh. who had come up on /
leave, was equally devoted to the girl /
and equally anxious for my opinion. /
Would Edith be likely to accept him? /
What did I think? It's hard on a fell |
low to propose simply to be refused; |
should he risk it or should he not?
Bingley was tall, gaunt and taciturn |
TO degree. but not a bad fellow in /
of money he had Mrs. McArdle's APP |
proval all through-and so the matter |
was difficult to decide. There were |
days when felt sure that Seymour |
to his bungalow and tell him so. and he |
would be prepared to go and throw /
himself at Ediths feet. but then a sud- /
den doubt would seize me- and 1 would !
beg him not to be too hasty and per
haps that very same evening Bingley /
would turn up and sit for a couple of |
hours gloomily smoking on my veran-
da- fOur bungalows were situated in
line on one side of the common facing
the mems barracks at the opposite
side.)
Bingley seemed to feel most conf
Dental in the evening. and we would
sit there together while the air was
heavy with the scent of roses" Poon-
poor is celebrated for them: there are
any quantity, climbing about every-
where, and in the evening the scent is
delicious. This is why roses remind I
me of Bingley. There were times when |
I could not bear to think of Edith mar
rying Bingley, and there were others |