The Washington times., 1910-02-26
CHAPTER |.
a SUBURBAN WEDDING.

! fair Greenville had ever had. The
! 4 local weekly had already described
it as tho most brilliant social
| function of the season"
! When Greenvile is not busy In boast
/ ing Of it's own individual importance as
a borough with a real live mayor, and
some other officers. it calls itself sub
Irb Of the greater city. Its present
/ Hourishing existence as a place big
enough 10 mark on a map in a school
geography dates from some FIVE years
back.
! Previous to that date 1t was two farms
one belonged to Mr.. Hepburn Green.
and the other 10 Mr.. stephen Warren.
| Warren's farm was much the older Of
the two. having descended 10 him from
grcat-srandfather. Green had bought
his ard moved there with a wife and
child.
Both the men. when they reached that
time of life that makes one love rest
more than work, were shrewd enough
TO see the possibilities Of their farms
II turned into suburban town.
So. with the assistance OF a live real
estate concern, they built Greenvilie.
The houses we're stil being paid for on
the same As rent" basis. And The two
farmers, rich as farmers go. had ex-
panded into men OF wealth, even as su-
burbanites go.
The boy that Hepburn Green brought.
a baby, 10 his farm had grown TO man s
estate-nO pun intended on the fact that
he had taken over the management Of
the GreeuviIe real estate. The girl that
had blessed Stephen Warren's family
81. If
woman now.
And that was now 1t came to pass
that Greenviue was 10 have its biggest
affair. its most brilliant function II
was only natural that the two children
who had gone to school and played to-
Cother as children should have decided
to finish I'D the course in the great
school OF life together
After all, there is a certain line that
is drawn more By the refnements that
wealth will buy than by wealth itself.
We may shoot of fireworks and our
mouths on the Fourth Of July about the
equality Of all mankind. But. when il
comes to a show down. we get quite
unhappy about having our daughter run
away and marry the cOaChman-
And, II they did but know II as we'll
I
Of them make pretty fair sized fools Of
themselves in doing IT, They won't
hitch. Ie will not be cheerful about
donning Il dress suit for dinner-and she
will not feel quite satisfied al having
Kim take his ratiOns in his shirt sleeves.
But what's the use of talking about
that sort Of case2 Wallace Green had
been graduated from a hrst-cla-Ss col
lege with hOnOrs, and Elizabeth Warren
had been finished IA one Of the best
schools in the country. They had both
been Weil-tO-do from infancy, and were
both heirs Of no mean wealth now.
All told, they we're about as evenly
matched a pair as ever stood up before
q preacher If eithe Of them had
chosen Ia we'd the son or daughter OF
any of the persons who were paying
iustallments TO their parents-that one
would have been marrying below his
station.
other. and IL was al right every way.
Mind. l said they had chosen. It
WASH ono Of those nice. cut-and-dried
affairs that the parents arrange Both
of the young people had been out or
Greenville enough 70 meet any number
Of other thoroughly eligible young peO-
ple.
They were In love with each other.
just as much so as II they had been
most romsutcallv unfit for each others
society. They had been IN love with
each other ever since. rs boy and girl,
they had qUarreied their way homs
from school.
As heretofore remarked once OF twice
Greenville was pretty we'll stirred UP
with anticipation Of the affair. Almost
the whole town had been invited 10 the
church and was going 10 be there in
its best Sunday suit.
II would have been interesting 10 get
on the inside of some Of those same
as rent homes that morning. One
might have heard some exciting con-
veTsatiOns
conductor, Of No. l56. He was trying
TO get himself into "A frOck coat he
had not worn since his wedding, twelve
years ago He was saying a whole Tot
Of Uncomplimentary things about fat
and fashion and other unmitigated
nuisances.
And Mrs Jones was helping him keep
cheerful by reminding him that he had
not furnished her the price Of a new
hat 20 wear, and insisting that her
Easter bonnet WIS a fright for such
purpose as a wedding.
Mr. Blum, who appears on the stage
as SignOr Piasterelli, master Of legerde-
main, was arguing with Mrs Blum as
pOcketed swaIIow-taiI would come near
est 10 hitting the proprieties-
Mrs. Toomey was resting her plump
figure upon a red plush arm chair In her
tOVti Ndlts ull "a IhA fbSipll ~ ltNTtcStO
agony upon her face. and vowing thai
Sne would wear those shoes If f. killed
her" But she ID not Ueprove Mr..
TOOmey for the language in which he
addressed a runaway collar button. Per-
hapS she really approved.
II is lust possible that the most eX-
cited man in the whole town was Mr.
Frederick Baumeister. He was engaged
in a peculiar manner. Anyone. looking
into HIS room on that morning, might
have seen him standing before the glass,
putting on an abSurdly small top hat,
then taking il Off and examining it in
side, next putting the top Of his bald
dome close to the mirror and straining
his eyes upward in an effort 10 study
ITS shining surface.
"Augoosta, AuEoosta," he shouted
when he had repeated this operation
some fifteen or twenty times-"COme
quick. already-ISs II that my head hat
sVelled big oder the hat that haf
svelled little?"
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