The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1908-09-25


one dreamed of postmortem chucklo
from tho old gentleman. 1t came in
the form Of bcqucst in his will
1000 TO the prettiest woman in the
place. the judges to be chosen from
the elderly married men OF the com.
munity.
The huhbub was instantaneous, and
of II nature 20 warm the heart of a
cynic. Mothers spoke icalously Of the
charms Of their daughters. The min.
listers prepared sermons against the
sin Of vanity thus ilagrnntly cncour.
aged by the late Mr., Sears. The best
people" signali2cd their intention Of
standing ulouf from the contest hut
Mt last a reaction set in, started by
someone's saving sense Of humOT, and
t was almost unanimously decided
that The terms of the will must be
complied with. An appointed commit.
tee fixed upon n day In June for the
assembling Of The contestants. They
were to come In their best apparel
and TO abide by the vote Of the Judges
, without murmUrings or disputiugs"
The contest WIS TO be held out Of
doors, in the sunny garden Of one Of
the grandcos OF The town. that the
searching light Of day might add to
the impartialIty of the decision. The
affair was thus turned into n lawn.
party and, the first families agreeing
to DO present, the rest of the town
followed suit
A week before the day appointed,
Richard Gordon. Young lawyer. went
to call upon Mary Bennett whose
father before his invdldism had been
professor In the college town from
which Gordons family also came
Richard waiting for Mary in the dim
parlor with fits steel cngravings Of
famous pictures, felt that the girls
life was somehow like them, beautiful
in line and form but lacking the
color that sclfishncss. rather than self
denial, seems to impart to human cX.
istencc She had always sacrificed
herself to tho demands and needs of
others, until she was like Il white
flower brought ont OF the sunshine
to cheer q sick-room.
He was absorbed In his thoughts
Of her when she entered, welcome
glowing in her eyes Though she
was tall and straight and wholesome
TO look uron, no one had ever called
her pretty. Her chief asset was her
abundant dark hair. Richard had
never thought OF her being In the con.
test, so he did not even apologize
when. after few moments converse.
tion, he showed her n list he had made
of the women who. In his opinion. had
the best chance of winning-a list
from which her name was omitted.
Il sec that you have headed II with
Bertha klendenuing. That is easy TO
understand"
Put my grounds are different from
most peoples" he said, with the ear.
nestncss that he always brought to
any subject which interested him
Her blue eyes and yellow hair and
story hook complexion count very lit.
tie. It's her lovely figure and her
charm Of manncr-her more subtle
advantages. so to speak-that make
her what she is, graceful and WON
AMY"
u quite agree with you. Who is
next on the list?"
Katherine More-it's the curve Of
her upper Hip he added, confdcn-
italy
And next"
Dora"
"Because--?"
He laughed
1T has something to do with the
tip of her nose"
Il quite understand. Dora's nose
will keep her young when she's so"
And then come the ladies' who
have only to put on a pink ribbon to
DO called pretty. You see my scorn
of them places them last"
Poor things, Well, | think II will
be Bertha. You must tell me all about
# afterwards"
But my dear, you're surely golngl"
he said, earnestly, knitting his boylsh
bTOws.
Il can't unless father is better"
"Oh, you must--it will amuse you
sol I'll call for you TO make sure"
We'll! l don't forbid your calling!"
she answered. with n smile
She spent a troubled week. trying
TO come to terms with herself In
her dark moments she had perverseIy
wished TO make herself look as plain
as possible, taking kind of pride In
being utterly ont OF the running; but
with the first dawn OF gentler feeling
came the desire to look her best, and
to enter into the spirit of the occasion.
So when the time came she curled
her hair and arranged II with all the
art that she could command. She put
on n soft, white summer gown and
picture hat with roses. She was
drawing on her long gloves when
Richard arrived He seemed in the
highest spirits.
II was prepared to use force, II /
found you backing out. have some
news to tell you about myself-some-
thing that's made me very glad. and !
want YOU to be glad with me-"