Middletown transcript., 1906-05-05

lal 1OF seven Ctti . Il W 49,
the-way town in Cuba, there IS
nothing like New York for bring,
ING him in touch with the world
again, and / hadn't been ni'fe
than an hour in town before
came across my old chHm, jim
Harcourt.
/ carried him off TO dine with
me at the Sword and ScaboarI
Club, and it was in the COURSE ol
that same dinner that | consented
to the elopement by deputy.
1t was like this jim had made
all the arrangements and was
determined to marry Miss Alice
Barton in spite of opposition
from the relations on both sides
of the house.
AS far as l could make out, the
sole objection brought forward
by the lady's father was the fact
that Jim had not already made a
fortune at the bar.
/ forget The exact figure at
which old Barton set his consent
to the match, but anyway it was
sufficiently high 10 prevent The
lovers marrying for a good ten
years at least.
After trying in vain TO induce
the old boy to relent, they de-
termined to make IL runaway
match of it. The arrangements
were simple enough. The cere-
mony was TO be performed at Il
quiet city church, and as there
seemed some difficulty about
trains, it was determined that i
should go down TO Brightsands
the day before the Wedding and
drive Miss Barton up to town IN
the motor next morning.
Jim had arranged To do this
himself, but as luck would have
it, case in which lie was re-
tanned was down on the courtlis
for the very hour when lie had
intended to meet Miss Barton
That is how I came to be eu-
ployed as his deputy, and though
I had never seen Miss Barton,
Jim undertook to give me such
an elaborate description of the
lady as would make II mistake
impossible.
He did give. me IL description
certainly, but unfortunately il
was so garnished with superla
tives that the most could gather
from it was that Miss Barton was
the loveliest brunette that had
ever walked this earth, and that
she invariably dressed in gray
and wore q posy Of red roses IN
her belt.
You can't make il mistake, Old
man, he assured ne. She viii
be walking on the old stone pier
at five O'Clock in the afternoon,
and you must contrive to give h-r
this note, telling her 10 meet you
at the Ivy Inn on the Ocean road
next morning at nine clock.
That will give you plenty of
time to spin up to town i'll thr
motor by twelve thirty efid
Jim confidently. l will meet y"lI
at the church, and then We can
all go and have some lunch, ami
after
But supposing the irate parent
should elect to accompany Miss
Barton in her walk on the stone
pier, how then?
My dear CLAP, he most prob
ably will be with her; lie seldom
lets Alice out of his sight, but
you can easily contrive 10 slip
the note-into her hand while the
old boy has his eyes glued to his
beloved telescope Besides, Of
course Alice will be on the look
out for you, so it's bound to be all
right.
Thope SO, said |, though | con
fess to feeling bit nervous about
clipping withsomeoneelse's young
woman.
Never mind, old chap-Ill do
the same for you some day,
laughed Jim Harcourt; but as l
took my seat in the motor made
mental resolution that if | ever
did elope with alady I would be
my own deputy.
I reached Brightsands some
where about three O'Clock in the
afternoon, and after an excellent
luncheon, strolled down to the
old stone pier, where | was to
meet Miss Barton.
1t turned out to be more fire.
quented spot than I had imagined
and to my CONSERVATION there
were several ladies' dressed in
gray, though none with bunch
of red roses in her belt.
Than oil af sfnon I caroht Sioltt