The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1906-06-15

beautiful houses in Brooklyn that
bear For Sale" signs in their win
~dows. There are three disconsolate
young architects who built these
houses, but who never go near them.
And in little three-room fat in the
Flatbush district Mr.. and Mrs. Give
Stevenson are happy.
1t was for Mrs. Give Stevenson that
the three homes were built-or rather
for Miss Helen Strain. Or rather, to
be exact, one was built for Mrs. Hell
ry L. Ryder, another for Mrs. Noble
T. Shaw, and yet another for Mrs. M.
l.. Pettingill. But then Mrs. Steven
son, Miss Strain, Mrs. Ryder, Mrs.
Shaw and Mrs. Pettingill are all the
same person. She was Miss Strain,
she became Mrs. Stevenson, and the
three architects who built the three
houses expected her to become Mrs.
Ryder, Mrs. Shaw and Mrs. Pettingnl.
Was Spoiled Beauty.
Miss Strain was a beauty, and Mrs.
Stevenson is beauty, and she would
have been beauty if she had become
Mrs. Ryder, Mrs. Shaw or Mrs. Pet
tingill. And, being beauty, she was
spoiled, although a few months ago
it would have been hard to convince
Stevenson, Ryder. Shaw or Pettingill
that she was spoiled-or anything else
than the personifcation Of perfection
in femininity-and Stevenson still be-
lieves she is perfect. She is now %
years old, tall, slender, graceful, and
as pretty as girl may be.
She was the daughter of BENJAMIN
Strain-he signs it Benj.-wno is
contractor and builder living on East
,ern parkway. Her mother died when
the girl was small. She was raised
by her father, assisted by housekeep-
>ers, who bowed down before Miss
Strain, and the father granted her
every desire. She was a sweet tenn
pered, good natured, merry, lovable
.girl-especially lovable-as is proved
by the experiences of Stevenson, Ry-
der, Shaw and Pettingill, but, having
had her own way all her life, she con-
tinued to have it.
"Bossed the Ranch"
She was sent, when II years of age.
to an exclusive school in New York.
and two years later she returned to
her fathers house finished" as far
as education was concerned. She
knew but few of the girls Of the neigh
borhood, and her friends were chief
ly among her fathers friends and
business associates whom she met at
the house. She presided over her ia
theirs establishment, -lavished her al
lowance on dress, and :"bossed the
RANCH" as she expressed it.
It happened that one of her chief
delights was to ride with her father
In his light runabout while he visited
the houses he was building, and in
this way she impressed - her: image
upon scores of hearts in many: parts
of Brooklyn. Her father, who still re-
garded her as chs baby and forgot
that she had grown up AID become a
beautiful young woman, was puzzled
because SO many OF the young archi-
tects and builders that he met in a
business way came dropping into his
house In the evenings to talk over I'M
Important matters of business with
him, and then promptly forgot why
they had come and turned the music
at the piano while Miss Strain played.
And among those that came were
Noble t. Shaw, Henry L. Ryder and
Myron L. Pettingill-all fair to good
looking, and all young contractors
who were getting a foottold, and who;
through their business dealings with
Benz. Strain, had met and fallen in
love with his daughter. 3,ss4 EsE$. .=-ss
It wasn't long before even BENJAMIN
Strain realized that the young men
did not come to talk business. and