St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1908-10-10
Cupid as Jockey
By Anna Mcclure ShoU
Copyright, by shortstory Pub. Coz

NAOpyElSHlg DJ
Rich and eccentric Mr.. Sears had
always delighted in setting the little
town Of Upwater by the ears, but no
one dreamed of a postmortem chuckle
from the old gentleman. 1t came in
the form of a. bequest 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 hubbub was instantaneous, and
Of nature to warm the heart of a
cynic. Mothers spoke jealousy of the
charms of their daughters. The min
listers prepared sermons against the
sin of vanity thus flagrantly encour-
| aged by the late Mr.. Sears. The "best
people" signalized their intention of
standing aloof from the contest. But
at last reaction set in, started by
someone's saving sense of humor, and
1t was almost unanimously decided
that the terms of the will must be
complied with. An appointed commit
tee fixed upon 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 disputings."
The contest was to be held out of
| doors, in the sunny garden of one of
the grandees of the town, that the
searching light of day might add to
the impartiality of the decision. The
affair was thus turned into a lawn
party, and, the first families agreeing
to be 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 invalidism had been
a professor in the college town from
which Gordon's family also came.
Richard, waiting for Mary in the dim
parlor with it's steel engravings of
famous pictures, felt that the girls
life was somehow like them, beautiful
in line and form, but lacking the
color that selfishness, rather than self
denial, seems to impart to human ex-
fstence. She had always sacrificed
herself to the demands and needs of
others, until she was like white
flower brought out of the sunshine
to cheer a sick-room.
He was absorbed in his thoughts
Of her when she entered, a welcome
glowing in her eyes. Though she
rxyoc foil ctr oirrhf
to look upon, 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 a few moments conVersa-
ton, he showed her a 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 see that you have headed it with
Bertha Klendenning. That is easy to
understand"
But my grounds are different from
most peoples" he said, with the ear
nestness that he always brought to
any subject which interested him.
Her blue eyes and yellow hair and
story book complexion count very lit
tie. It's her lovely figure and her
charm of manner-her more subtle
advantages, so to speak-that make
her what she is, graceful and wom-
Rnly."
Il quite agree with you. Who is
next on the list?''
katherine More-it's the curve of
her upper lip" he added, confiden-
TALLY.
And next?''
Dora"
Because"
He laughed.
'It 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
be called pretty. You see my scorn
of them places them last"
Poor things! Well, I think it will
be Bertha. You must tell me all about
it afterWards!%
But, my ear, you're surely going!"
he said. earnestly, knitting his boyish
brows.
II can't unless father Is better"
ooh, you must-it will amuse you
80! I'll call for you to make sure!"
We'll! don't forbid your calling!"
she answered, with a smile.
She spent a troubled week, trying
to come to terms with herself. In
her dark moments she had perversely
wished to make herself look as plain
as possible, taking kind of pride in
being utterly out 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 it with all the
art that she could command. She put
on soft, white summer gown and a
picture hat with roses. She was
drawing on her long gloves when
Richard arrived. He seemed in the
highest spirits.
Il was prepared to use force, If
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-"
Her heart sank. Was he going to
tell her of his engagement to Bertha?
She turned pale face to him.
Cant you guess, Mary?'
But she was dumb. He leaned