Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1908-09-23
The Fortune Hunters,
[Orjginal.1

c.
He found there a bevy of girls, the
most of whom. having worn themselves
out during the gay social season in
town, were endeavoring to put the
roses back into their cheeks under the
influence of ocean breezes. Neverthe-
less there was not one of them but
could spare the time to secure IAN es-
adjustment"
Raymond Riggs was a key to the
wealth he possessed. All a girl had to
do to unlock the door to it was to snare
him. He had fought off regiment of
them during the previous season and
had hoped for rest at the seashore
He was doomed to disappointment.
They attacked him by platoons and
companies. To get rid of them he
went off one day several miles up the
beach and sat down on the sand. The
waves rolled laZily in, broke on a bar
and slid up Oh the sand with an effer-
vescing sound. The sky was blue and
cloudless. The ships out at sea sailed
on as silently as if they were painted
instead of real. It was all very restful
and in marked contrast with being
hunted down by a flock of-women, he
should have said, but he preferred the
word harpies
A glass bottle was thrown up by the
waves. rolled about on the sand a1d
carried out When it came up again
Raymond noticed that it was corkc d
He seized it, took out the cork and
with the blade of his knife managed
to extricate through the narrow neck d
card. On it was written in pale ink
"Aline Eliot" The address was given
at town a hundred miles down the
coast, then followed, "Dear finder, ]
am lonely"
"For heavens sake" exclaimed Ray.
mond, ''are all the women in the world
hunting lovers? l escape from flock
OF them back on the shore only to be
met by an advance from the ocean"
But as he gaZed at this singular con.
trivance for m2ting. as he regarded it.
it seemed far different to him from
the advances he had received from the
fortune hunters. lie fancied the
writer to be some innocent girl who
craved only to obey the instincts
mother nature had planted in her pure
bosom. Perhaps She had sat alone by
the ocean as he was sitting. yielding
10 natural inclination to mate
and had sent out her message with
blind confidence that it would fall
into the hands of the man who was
destined to be all in all to her. Was
this the explanation, or was she, too
hunting for a fortune? He would open
correspondence with her In this
way he could find out what he wished
to know
He Enclosed the card with his OWE
name and address and the words, 81
too, am lonely" In a few days he re
ceived letter: There was nothing il
1t about love or marriage. 1t was III
unsophisticatcd epistle from young
girl about nothing. Raymond read be
tween the lines, Perhaps you are he
for whom I intended my MESA &C.
But it did not say, You may be some
rascal who will take Il mean advan
tage of what have DONE" What re-
freshing innocence! Fancy one of the
fortune hunters reposing such conf
dence III the average man. Raymond
was an imaginative fellow and would
sit long on the dunes or on the beach
mentally contemplating this innocence
If he could see her likeness he coulC
judge of her motive with more cer
tainty.
He thought he would send picture
OF some man about his own age anI
ask hers i'll return, but the girls guile
lessness had affected him. and he shrank
from such deception. Then, confident
that he could not be mistaken. he in
closed his photograph. AS soon as he
had done SO the thought occurred tc
him that he was a fool The danger
Of a society fortune hunter was moth
ing beside one he had never seen pos
sessing letters from him and his photo
graph.
However, in exchange came a like
ness. It was the likeness Of one q
painter would seize upon as model
for a Madonna. There was innocence
personiied. \ pair Of soft eyes looked
out from an oval face. The lips were
sensitive. and Raymond considered
them especially kissable. He thought
OF the faces of the fortune hunters
restored to- their natural appearance
by cosmetics. There was none of
them who would not consider herself
fagrantly immodest to thus advertise
for a husband Yet here was the
Madonna-like face looking at him with
a modesty that none of these could
have assumed
One day Raymond was missed at the
seashore, There was a flutter among
the fortune hunters. for. though none
Of them had secured a footholl every
one hoped for herself, not for the 9th
ers. Had he returned to the city? No.
Inquiries elected the fact that his bag
gage, like our flag, was "still there. -
So they waited and watched and
hoped. But Raymond did not return.
In time he directed that his baggage
be sent to the city. and neither the
waves nor the gulls nor the ships nor
the fortune hunters saw him more-at
least not that summer
/ But the next summer all these saw
him again and saw very different
man. He was no longer pursued by
the harpies, for his estate had been
pre-empted. A slender, oval faced wife
was with him. whose presence kept
them all at distance. They We're
willing to admit there was a certain
Mo a;d lasa MT oh e.l>.