Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1906-03-29
. "
AN AUTO
COURTSHIP

MARTHA M'FUDGE probably would
W not have been eligible to mem
! bership in a comic opera sextette-cer-
tainly not in a season when lack of
flesh was a mark of beauty, for Martha
was not a maid diyinely tall, whose
charm Of figure lay in the long-drawn-
out lines of the dachshund or grey
hound. Her style of beauty might even
| have provoked a smile had II been ex-
| posed as literally as a comic opera
stars. But beauty is often a question
| of geography A queen in London or
Paris may be a drawing card in the
, Yokohama dime museum or an onion
! in New York may be a peach in Cole
| rain township, where old man McFudge
had a ,200-acre farm, principally bot
tom land And no matter what Martha
| McFudge may have been in other or
chards she was a peach in those of
Colerain township, a peach by the
| unanimous vote of all its male popula-
ton excepting Jasper Seymour, who
| declined 10 express any opinion. But
Seymour had two cataracts and in spite
of his name couldn't have seen
searchlights rays if they had been
thrown upon his face, so he didn't.
count
Being a peach, Martha McFudge was
naturally much sought. From the time
of her first long dress there had been
train of suitors who had kept the
Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons
from hanging heavily on her hands
Some had grown discouraged; some
had paused to gaze upon another peach
and, gazing, had sought the other;
some had grown wise and had sat down
by the wayside and looked on. And
at last, year before the historic event
that is to be set forth herein, there
remained only two, Perkins Bostwick,
who as a matter of course, was known
in Colerain township as Perk, and
Alonzo Bendell, who had not heard his
full name since he was honorably dis
charged at the close of the war with
Spain.
Perk and Lon were not of the mate
rial that weakens under a strain and
they were we'll endowed with the sin
ews of love, which oft are the same as
those of war, and they hung on like
two hounds with the fox in sight. II
was chase that contributed to the
gayety of Colerain township and made
the world a merry go-round for Martha
McFudge. She missed nothing. sum
min hn
and concerts at the schoolhouse to the
Decoration day exercises and Fourth
of July picnics in the country; from
the circuses and county fairs to the Ne
Plus Ultra clubs dances and the per-
formances OF East Lynne" in town.
She was there every time, with either
Perk or Lon.
When the giddy, fitting girls of town
wore coral beads Martha McFudge was
not more than half a length behind
with as long string and as red beads
as any that encircled the neck of an
urban sister. When some new belt or
buckle or handbag. or anything else
dear to the time burning maiden Of the
city appeared on the store counters
Martha McFudge was there with il in
the lanes and on the pike And in the
pursuit Perk and Lon were neck and
neck, until the county paper contained
this announcement in the Colerain
correspondence. contributed by More
Anon"
"Perk Bostwick, Of Walnut creek
showed up last Saturday with a genu-
inc, brand new rubber tire Now. girls
for a ride. There's nothing like a rub
Der tire"
The day after Perk Bostwick showed
up" he was in the lead so long that
Lon Bendell didn't even see the dust
tt was early Sunday afternoon that
Perk drove mp TO be McFudge home in
the rubber tire and after 10 had been
inspected by the McFudEs family he
helped Martha TO the seat and away
they sped. as noiselessly as the day
breaks or the uIEht falls.
An hour later Lon Bendeu drove upI
and hitghed his horse. There was no
admiring and curious group to greet
him and he walked 10 the front door
with a bunch that there was bad news
Lon Bendell was a man Of business. a
man of action. and he did not wait for
anybody 10 volunteer information re-
garding the Whereabouts OF the family
peach. but asked Immediately Nor
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