The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1907-08-27
Seeing "
veSuviuS.
..... By JAMES LEWIS.
Copyrighted. 1907. by Mary McKeon.

~OAAA1SA oNAfC way liz WAC oAOO q
patron Of the theater, but not of
actresses. Now and then he made
bet on a horse race or an election, but
he did not ride to the hounds or par
ticipate in wild revelry. He was
bachelor of good character, and why
he did not marry was something no
fellow could find out.
Nothing is a mystery to one who
knows. Mr.. CASTOR knew that he was
simply waiting for the right woman
to come along and arouse the ro-
nance in his nature. That he had
romance he felt quite sure, but that
the right woman would come he had
begun to doubt He had prevented
girl In financial distress from leaping
into the river, but she was older than
he and did not appeal to him. He had
stopped a runaway cab horse and saw
ed the woman inside the vehicle, but
she turned out to be a bachelor girl,
who coldly thanked him and said that
she was about to vault on to the
horses back and stop him herself
At a theater panic one night he had
seized pretty girl in his arms and
hustled her out, but she had told him
that she was already engaged and had
offered him a dollar in cash for his
exertions.
Between the ages of twenty-five and
thirty-eight Mr.. CASTOR had had at
least fifteen narrow escapes from CALI
ing up that slumbering romance that
would lead to admiration and love, and
he had finally come to the conclusion
that 1t would have to be something
out of the beaten track and might
never happen at all.
How little do we know what a day
may bring forth! On a certain Sun
day Mr. CASTOR sat in the smoking
room of his club and read the six vol
ume Sunday papers and was satisfied
and content. On Monday he decided
to sail for Italy and see the volcano OF
Vesuvius in operation. No one had
ever suspected him of a partially for
volcanoes. He had not rushed off to
the Johnstown food or the Galveston
disaster or the Baltimore fire. He had
never been known to attend prize
fight or pay a visit to the morgue, and
he had once turned pale at sight of
bleeding finger on the hand of club
waiter, but now he wanted to sail far
away and see volcano belching de-
struction for twenty miles around.
Such Is man!
Five days from the date of making
his decision Mr.. CASTOR sailed for
Naples. His steamer was not over
crowded. He would find plenty of
standing room at the deck rail when
he reached port This would be one Of
the occasions when the front seats
were not reserved for ladies'. 1t was
two days before the old bachelor sud-
denly discovered that there was an
extremely good looking young woman
aboard in charge of the captain. His
heart gave one jump, and then he
turned away. He was off to see vol
canoes and not to look after comely
women. Besides, the captain whis-
pered to him that Miss Dawson did
not care to make acquaintance on the
voyage By way of revenge Mr.. Gas
ton did not stare at her at the table,
as did all the other passengers.
Four days had passed, and he had
met Miss Dawson face to face dozen
times, and neither had seemed to see
the other. Then he passed her vacant
ing where she had carelessly left 1t.
Finding a lady's purse, whether on
land or sea, calls for immediate action.
Mr. CASTOR was in search of the cap
tain to hand it over, with contents UNI
touched, when he met the young lacy
face to face and had the hardihood to
address her She at once responded
smilingly. Yes, it was her purse, and
she was under a thousand obligations,
and so they introduced themselves to
each other and sat down for a chat
She had told the captain that she
didn't care for introductions, but she
was willing to make an exception in
Mr. Gaston's case. Mr.. CASTOR was on
board for the express purpose of going
to Naples to see a volcano humping
itself and hadn't expected to speak to
woman en- route, but he was also
willing to make a solitary exception.
There were many other chats, but
It was not until the last day out that
Miss Dawson solved a problem that
was puzziing the bachelor. She was
going to Italy to claim a large estate
eft by her grandmother. She had the
papers with her. She was an orphan
and had no relative to come with her,
and her New York lawyer and her
maid had accidentally been left behind
when the steamer sailed. She must go
to hotel in Naples and wait for them,
though she would be in consultation
with an Italian lawyer meanwhile, and
some preliminary steps could be taken.
The romance that had been buried
deep In the heart of the old bachelor
dubbed and rose to the surface.
1t begot admiration. Mr.. CASTOR
wouldn't have made q wager that it
wouldn't end in begetting love. The
thing that was needed had come to
him at last. On arrival at Naples the
captain took Miss Dawson to a GER
tain hotel, and Mr. CASTOR went to an
other, but of course Mr.. CASTOR could
call at any proper hour. He did call.
There was old vesuv belching away
and scattering ashes and fireworks all
around, and hundreds feared that Ma
pies must be destroyed, but he was
not among them. He was falling In
love with Miss Dawson, and Naples
must stand. Together the two saw the
old hill doing her stunt, but their talk
was mostly in regard to that grand
mothers fortune. 1t amounted to mil
lions of dollars, and Miss Dawson was
the only heir. 1t would be a great
responsibility for her, and she almost
dreaded getting the money. Alone In
the world and immensely wealthy, how
could she tell whether a man sought
her hand for love or the long greenf
At this point Mr.. CASTOR reached
out and took her hand and said some
thing in reply, but as there happened
to be an eruption Just then-a sound
like ten thousand mad bulls believing
at once-the young lady never caught
the words. She took them to mean
something at least brotherly, however,
and hung to his arm a little more
tightly. Mr.. CASTOR was now in love.
He was ready to bet new hat on
it. He was ready to propose marriage.
He was willing to bet two hats on
that He must go little slow, be-
cause he was no fortune hunter and
wanted the girl to satisfy herself on
that point.
A week passed, and then Miss Davi-
son received a cablegram from her
lawyer stating that he would be de-
tanned two weeks longer and that she