The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-04-03
LLOYD VANDERBILT was

hard grub had no terrors for him.
When he held in check half thousand
starving men, as he once did, it was
remarked that no cooler eye ever took
the CLINT of sunshine on a sight
He had but one weakness, and even
that, rising from his strength, was a
negative sort. His parts were strong,
but they lacked coordination.
Now it happened that While his cen
ter of amativeneSs was pronounced, 1t
had lain mute and passive during the
years he lived on moose and salmon
and chased glowing Eldorados over
chill divides. But when he finally blaz-
ed the cOrner-pOsts and center stake
on one of the richest Klondike claims,
it began to quicken; and when he took
his place in society, a full fledged bo-
nanZa king, it awOke and took charge
of him. He suddenly recollected a girl
in the States, and it came to him quite
fOrcibly not only that she might be
waiting for him, but that a wife was
very pleasant acquisition for a man
who lived some several degrees north
of So So he wrote an appropriate
note, inclosed a letter of credit gener-
Gus enough to cover all expenses, in
Guiding rousseau and chaperon, and
addressed it to one Flossie.
FlOssie? One could imagine the rest.
However, after that he built q COM
Portable cabin on his claim, bought
another in Dawson, and broke the
news to his friends.
And just here is where the lack of
coordination came into play. The
waiting was tedious, and having been
long denied the amattve element could
not brook further delay. Flossie was
coming; but Lorraine Lisznayi was
here. And not only was Lorraine Lisz-
nayi here, but her cosmopolitan repu-
tatiOn was somewhat the worse for
wear, and she was not exactly so
young as when she posed in the studios
of artist queens and received at her
door the cards of cardinals and princes.
Also, her finances were unhealthy.
Having run the gamut in her time,
she was not averse to trying conclu-
siOns with a bonanza king, whose
wealth was such that he could not
guess it within six figures. Like a wise
soldier casting about after years of
service for a comfortable billet, she
had come into the NOrthland to be
married. So, one day, her eyes flashed
up into Floyd Vanderlip's as he was
buying table linen for Flossie in the
P. c. company's store, and the thing
was settled out of hand.
When a man is free much may go
unquestioned, which, should he be rash
enough to cumber himself with do
nestle ties, society will instantly chal-
lenge. Thus it was with Floyd Van
derlip. Flossie was coming, and a low
buzz went up when Lorraine Lisznayi
rode down the main street behind his
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royalty in FlOssie's cabin, on FIossies
table linen, which caused the men to
say sharp things and the women to be
spiteful. Only Mrs. Eppingwell, the
captains wife, did not hear.
Not so with Freda, the Greek dancing
girl. She had no cause to love men,
but, by some strange alchemy of her
nature, her heart went out to women
to women whom she had less cause to
love. And her heart went out to Flos-
sic, even then travelling the Long Trail
and facing into the bitter North to
meet a man who might not wait for
her. A shrinking, clinging sort of q
girl Freda pictured her, with weak
mouth and pretty, pouting lips, sun
kissed hair and eyes full of the merry
shadows and the lesser joys Of life.
Wherefore. she smiled, dancing one
night, upon Floyd Vanderlip.
Few men are so constituted that they
may receive the smile Of F'reda I'M
moved; nor among them can Floyd
Vanderlip be accounted. The grace he
had found with the model woman had
caused him to remeasure himself, and
by the favor in which he now stood
with the Greek dancer he felt himself
dOubly a man. And thin little
thought began to lift itself, and he fell
to wondering whatever under the sun
he had seen in FlOsSie, and to regret
exceedingly that he had sent for her.
Of course, Freda was out of the run
ming. But Lorraine Lisznayi-she was
just the woman. Her life had been
large; she could do the honors of his
establishment and give tone to his
dollars.
But Freda smiled and continued to
smile, till he came to spend much time
with her. When she, too, rode down
the street behind his wolf-dOgs, the
model woman found food for thought,
and the next time they were together
daZZled him with her princes and car
dinals and personal little anecdotes of
courts and kings. She also showed
him dainty miSSiVeS SuperScribed MY
Dear Lorraine" and ended, Most af-
fectiOnately yours and signed by the
given names of real live queen on
throne And he marveled in his heart
that the great woman should deign to
waste so much as a moment upon him.
She played him cleverly till he went
away dizzy with self-delight and sor-
rowing for the world which had been
denied him so long. Freda was more
masterful woman. If she fiattered no
one knew it. Should she stoop, the
stoOp were unObserved. If a man felt
she thought we'll of him, so subtly was
the feeling conveyed that he could not
for the life of him say why or how. So
she frightened her grip upon Floyd
Vanderlip and rode daily behind his
dogs.
And just here is where the mistake
occurred. The buzz rose loudly and
more definitely, coupled now with the
name of the dancer, and Mrs. Epping-
we'll heard. She, too, thought of Flos-
sic lifting her moccasined feet through
the endless hours, and Floyd Vanderlip
was invited up the hillside to tea, and
invited often. This quite took his
breath away and he became drunken
with appreciation Of himself. Never
was man so maltreated. His soul had
become a thing for which three women
struggled, while a fourth was on the
way to claim it. And three such wom-
en-!
But Mrs. Eppingwell- the mistake
she made. She spoke of the affair, ten
tatively, to Sitka Charley, who had
sold dogs to the Greek girl But no
names were mentioned. The nearest
approach to it was when Mrs. Epping-
we'll said, "This-er-horrid woman"
and Sitka Charley, with the model
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