The daily Alaskan., 1908-08-24
Tie Fortune Hunters.
Iorlglnall

! ing the weather oppressive in the city concluded to run down 10 the seashore. Re, found there a bevy of girli tle most of whom, having worn themselves out during the gay social season in i town, were endeavorlng to put ,hc roses back into their cheeks under the influence of ocean breezes. Ncyerthe- less there was not one of them but could spare the time to secure "an cs- tabllshment"
 Raymond Riggs was key to the wealth he possessed. All girl had to do to unlock the door to It was to snare him. He had fought off a regiment of them during the previous season and had hoped for rest at the seashore, Be was doomed to disappointment. They attacked him by piatoons and companies. To get rid of them he went ofr one day several miles up the beach and sat down on the sand. The waves rolled lazlly In, broke on bar and slid up on the sand with an efter- vesclng sound. The sky was blue and cloudless. The ships out Ut 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 flock of-women, be should have said, but he preferred the word harpies,
 A glass bottle was thrown up by the waves rolled about on the sand and carried out When 1t came up again Raymond noticed that 1t was corked. He seized 1t, took out the cork and with the blade of his knife managed 10 extricate through the narrow neck card. On 1t was written In pale ink, "Aline Eliot" The address was given at a 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? escape from flock of them back on the shore only to be met by an advance from the ocean"
 But as be gazed at this singular con. trlyance for mating, as he regarded 1t, t seemed far different to him from the advances he had received from the fortune hunters. He fancied the writer to be some innocent girl who cravcd 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 lt 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 fortune? He would open correspondence with her, In this way he could find out what he wished 10 know.
 He inclosed the card with his own name and address and the words, "I, too, am lonely" In few days he re. ceived a letter. There was nothing Iu It about love or marriage It was an unsophlsticated eplStle from young girl about nothing. Raymond read be- tween the lines, "Perhaps you are he for whom intended my message" But 1t did not say, You may be some rascal who will take a mean advan tage of what l have done" What re freshlng innocence! Fancy one of the fortune hunters reposing such conf- dence ln the average man. Raymond was an imaginative fellow and would sit long on the dunes or on the beach mentally contemplating thls innocence. If he could see her likeness he could Judge of her motive with more cer- taiuty.
 He thought he would send a picture of some man about his own age and ask hers in 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 to him that he was a fool The danger of society fortune hunter was noth. 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 a painter would seize upon as a model for a Madonna. There was innocence personifed A 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 fiagrantly immodest to thus advertise for a husband. Yet here was the Madonna.llke face looking at him with modesty that none of these could have assumed.
 One day Raymond was missed at the seashore. There was a futter among the fortune hunters, for, though none of them had secured foothold, every one hoped for herself. not for the oth- CTS. Had he returned to the city7 No. Inquiries eliclted the fact that his bag W