The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1905-01-20
A EilXED MARRIAGE.
By Harriet Monroe.
Copyright. 1904, by w. r. Hearst-)

AhS liSiiH - ~ - vt
lean business man. but that does not
prevent his tracing his lineage back
to a noble knight who crossed the Eng-l
fish hanne with William the Conf
queror. Barsted's grandfather WAS lordl
of one of the most ancient manor
houses in England, and EarSteds
father, being a younger son, came TO
America to seek his fortune. married. I
a charming American girl and present.
ed a large family of children to his
adopted mt The English con-
nection was kept up, however, by cor
~reSpondence and occasional visits, ana
when Barsted crossed the ocean a few
years ago to Ope IL London ONCE ms
cousin. the widow of the late
Barsted, invited him down to Hoopston
Manor to meet his relatives. And, be
Sides SAID Barsted in telling the tale,
she knew l was q successful Amer
lean business man. and she wanted TO
ask me why the income of the estate
had dwindled under her management
to a quarter of what her husband used
to get out of it.
well, l went down for a few days.
and since l knew she had ten or eleven
children, some of whom were girls, |
took with me a tall young American
assistant of mine, named Anderson, TO
show him some genuine English u
try and genuine English girls. We.
were met at the station and driven
a few miles to Hoopston, which proved
to be Il splendid, big, green old do
main. with an immense house on IL
dating from Henry Wits time and
using some thick walls and arches OF
the ancient castle. built four hundred;
years earlier and destroyed, mostly, mi
the civil wars.
MY cousin, the widow, received us I'M
state under the great Norman archway
Of her hall, and presented her three
or four daughters. They were a state,
ly crowd, all six feet tall, more or less,
and as digni1ied as only blue FLOODED,
English WOmen can be. That n
we We're all frozen up stiff. Dinner,
under the high Gothic windows of the,
old dining room was as gay as Il funer-'
al; young Anderson hadn't Il word to-
say and my slangy American Talk was,
about as comprehensive to that crowd,
as Choctaw. And when me and l Werej
shown to grand and gloomy chambers
With walls five feet thick and the chilly
of damp centuries in them. we made upi
our minds to die of pneumonia on the;
spot and be cheerful about it.
But in the morning things began
to look more joyous, though Anderson,
was much alarmed when a man stolel
into his room before dawn and took
away his clothes. He brought them,
back all brushed. though, and with
them a pitcher of water, which he raeElea
out, ice and all-it was early February,
you know-into Il tin armchair of a,
bathtub. Anderson made II show of
%SplaShing some of that water on the!
floor, and got along without a bath that.
morning.
well the girls We're as stiff and
starched us ever while thei" mother.
was around, but when she took me off
to look over the estate Anderson tells
me there vas a sudden and flabbergash.
change. Cornelia, the second of these,
unmarried daughters. dipped over.
turned a fine series of hand-splings-
they We're on IL sheltered bit of lawn,
under some old treeS-and asked her
guest what he thought of that. An
derson almost fainted-was struck
dumb-whereupon the other girls;
laughed II Joined in the capering Xix e.
young colts. Then he caught on.
showed them some American stunts.
and became immensely popular.
"You see. those girls We're simply n
troop of wild young animals. Their
brothers were all off at school, or the
university. or the army. or what not,
but the girls had been kept at home
and educated-so they called it-by
~governesses. | leave you to imagine
the depth and variety of their ignor-
ance. Not 4 magazine. scarcely a
newspaper, ever reached them; they
hadn't q; book in the house later than
G. p. r. James. once | mentioned
Dickens. as Edith had n cold and
wanted something to read. oh. we
have never read Dickens said the wild
Nv. loftily. Why. what's the matter
with Dickens" | inquired. but she sat
down on me hard. You know he
wasn't u gentleman she said.
After that | gave up-there was no
undermining that family. Those girls
had spent their lives running and rid
ing and hunting over that place. and
the great democratic procession of our
time was as remote from them as King
/. Solomon. AT eighteen each one of
them had a season in London with
some rich lord of an uncle and was
+ presented at court. If she went Off
caught Il husband. that is
home she came, to stay the
rest of her days, probably, for husbands
We're scarce around Hoopston. and
bowers were scarcer-~one son-in-lHw
was still complaining because his wife
had brought him only five Thousand
pounds instead of ten.
We'll, you Know, by some hocus-po.
Gus of Cupid. Anderson took a fancy Il
that tall barbarian. Cornelia! Perhap:
. it was her riding that caught him frs
they We're jumping fences all over tn,
. place together, II he showed her al
[ his cowboy tricks. Before I knew i
, he was going down again from London
I1lu NlltI llc mira lI1e came ] toll
+ him to look out, for the widow woul,
:, ask his intentlons-sure. Then he sur
priStd me-he said he didn't mind-h
had intentions. 'Cornelia? - | asked. an,
! he said Coz nelia.'
y | meditated Il minute and then said
Well, look here; I'm responsible 70
+ this. What can you say for your grand
!, fathers? The widow will want to trac
| you back a few centuries. and you'v
: got about as much ancestry as
y mud fence Anderson laughed an,
0 turned on me. I'd like to know h
: said. Isn't my mother a D.. A. r.? II
show the widow Il pedigree that vii
make you Barsteds look like thirt
cents Good for YOU | exclaimed. 'G
in and win. After all, you won't b
wanting a DOVER
We'll, if you please, he had no trou
Bile at all. The widow never asked
question about his family-an Amer
lear. it appears, doesn't have to have
y family. And SO the wedding bells wi
h ring at Hoopston chapel in June, an
Cornelia is going Off without a dover
and I'm wondering what she will thin
: of Chicago"
II