The Rich Hill tribune. (Rich Hill, Mo.) 1903-1911, 1905-02-02

AZ e IN apology, = always raa utuI
girls
But he stan held my hand. and ri
Entirely bad ! been won that woull
gladly haya stayed BY him the res
Of the evening. Il vas a comfort
when J was drawn reluctantly away
20 feel that my new friend was no
too busy with the mon who wcr
eagerly crowdinR about him to romem
Der 70 give the little cllnring hand
parting squeeze.
I was allowed no moro public 40
pcarauces. n had only Rllmpaca o
my president no longer said "our'
until the night OF the Inauguration
ball. ! dont know how Il happened
that ! was allowed to attend thai
function; bat 80 | did. and had ths
~uEspeakable delight Of hearing n,
kind voice. which did not sound harsh
70 mg ears. say. why. this Is my lt
ito friendl" while the lank form bow
cd as II on hinges above my curls. II
Difference. as I thought. to the splen
uors OF my party dress.
Mrs. lincoln wore a low.necked
shOrt-sleeved gown, and seemed less
attractive perhaps because, standing
near her. SO beautiful that she drew
ali eyes, was Mrs. stephen A. Doug
las. / gazed al that lovely oval face
with deep d~evotion-she was the im
age % my favorite Madonna-and was
rewarded by a beamlng smile Of rec
ognition.
Another lady. who seemed to me .
sort OF fairy floating about the ball
o on her wave OF crinoline crested
with tulle. and wearing by way OF a
crown a wreath Of full-blown roses
was Nine. B~ouligny.
! remember vaguely my interest IL
finding a little girl like myself at this
grown-up functiOn-the daughter Of.
Mr.. Charles Francis Adams-and owl
peering at each other curiously around
the white satin and amethysts Of hei
mother. But the real joy OF the even
ing lay in the fact that my president
remembered me; that was somethine
not to be forgotten.
A few weeks later my grandfather
came 10 visit us, and prevailed upor
my mother to let him take not only
myself. but my two little brothers. tc
n Of the presidents ieyees. There
was a great crowd. As | was with nv
aunt In the ladies' dressing room. ]
escaped the worst Of il, and Lionel
was 50 smsll-only 5 years old-thail
grandfather could easily carry him
but poor Oliver was half s~ufocated
and might have been seriously injured
II a quick-witted man in the crowd had
not lifted him up above his head an6l
given the word to hand him on to the
ladies' dressing room. Standing neaI
the door Of that room. l watched his
progress down the long hall over the
heads of the closely packed men. now
head first, now feet, but always smil
ing. however he was tossed about. Htl
told me that in spite Of himself he
gave more than one epauletted and
soldiaced general a rousing kick. but
when his victim found who his assail
ant was he was greeted with a CHEEKY
"oh, it's you, is it?" and good.natured
" passed along.
despaired OF seeing my president
that day, but after a while / did. IL
seemed to me that he looked very
tired-child as ] was. / noticed it.
but he did not forget to smile on his
little friend.
We children were passed behind the
receiving line into the Blue Room
where we found Mr.. Douglas. who
tempted us 10 a frolic. calling nv
beautiful Mrs. Douglas In to see us
That delightful old gentleman. Mr.
Francis p. Blair. who was an old
friend and had dubbed my younger
brother Puck. was there also. and
we enjoyed our new experience great.
~. Finally Lionel was tired, and spy.
ing grandfather beyond the moving
line Of people. he started 10 reach him
and. taking advantage Of the first open
ing that offered in the closely packed
ranks. emerged on hands and knees
between the feet OF the president
whose long legs might easily have
seemed 10 50 small a boy these OF the
Colossus OF Rhodes. Mr.. Lincoln, who
had been shaking hands for two long
hours. must have been very tired, but
be laughed. picked Lionel up and set
him on his feet. crying. We'll. done
while grandfather made haste
10 the rescue. and, gathering the rest
Of as together. took US safely home.
Shortly after this We left washing
ton. and ! never again saw my dear
president.
EzxRGNzwun