The daily Alaskan., 1910-10-31

my mlud with regard to himf Yes! No. What shall l dog l have but tn tomorrow at noon.
 She dashed or the words, q have changed my mind" and, placing the message in the hands of her servant, told him to take it at once to NIT. Wmmarsh
 The reply was, to say the least, an. moving To me who have loved you from the first moment l laid eyes on you your message is uninteligible. How can one change ones mind so quickly In a matter of love? Love is not an opinion; it is mingling of souls
 Great heayensr' exclaimed Miss DumbIeton. "Ouly fifteen hours left, and this stupid man will either force me Co marry one l don't wish and whom he doesn't wish me to marry or be win send me to jail.'
 Miss DumbIeton was in despair Could Mir. Whitmarsh have changed his mlndg Were she assured of this, though to marry another would be to blight her life, she could bring herself to do so. But to give up a man she loved and whom she could not con vince that she loved was maddening She execrated the law that had forced her into such a position. After wildly debating what she should do next she sent NIr. Whltmarsh the following mes sage: Have you not heard that there are times when a woman says No meaning YesT"
 The reply that came back to this was. "Does a woman who says Yes mean 'No| "
 Mss Dumbleton stamped her foot; she moancd; she did everything except tear her hair. That she would have done had it not been her crowu!ng beauty. Then when she had recovered b.t of calmness she determined to make one more appeal She wrote:
 "The law cOmpels me to accept by tomorrow one of a number of offers | have received
 To this the reply came: "You dll me with grief. How happy would I be to saye you IT only you loved me, But a marriage of convenience-impossible. To marry one l deyoJedly love merely Co convey upon her a favor would pro- fame my most sacred feelings
 When Miss Dumbleton received this message a suspicion came to her that Mir Whimarsh was not such a fool after all Indeed, 1t occurred to her tbat he was playing with her. Was 1t iu revenge for the treatment he had himself received at her hands, or did be propose Co punish her for what she had inflicted on his seNg At any rate, she could go no further She consld- cred the plan of inviting him to come Co see her with view to determiu- ing by observation what was his real attitude toward her, but she felt that she had already demeaued herself to the utmost, and she could not bring herself Go do SD any further
 On the morning she must accept one of her suit0rs or violate the law a basket of beautiful cut flowers, came to her with Mir. WhiJmarsh's name at tuehed. For a few moments she was oyerjoyed. Could 1t be possible that he would releutg She waited awhile, but received no further word from him and abandoned herself to despair
 
 .The state against Dumbleton" called the clerk of the court
 Miss Dumbleton stepped to the front
 -Irgue Dumbletou," said the judge, ryou are charged by the matrimonial bureau with a violation of the mar rlase laws in thut you have refused to marry Alfred Trimmiugh0m, first of dly four proposers, and you made no claim that he is of bad character or that he cannot support you. Do you plead guilty or not guilty"
 "Guily. your honor.
 "u5w comes it, rejoiued the judge, -tlar with so many sultorS to choose from you cannot find one to please youE
 The lady stood silently looking at the floor
 This. your honor said the prose cutting attorney of the matrimonial bu- reau, "is the most fragrant case we have had. This woman ever since she came of a matrimonial age has drawn su.Jors to her, keeping them from pro posing to other women and refusing to marry any one of them herself. And now We have all these bachelors who claim that they have complied with the law in proposing Co her to encum- ber the calendar with their eases. l trust that your honor will inhict upon her the heaviest penalty the law al lows
 "Ouce more, Irene Dumbleton," said the judge, "I ask you to choose one from among the ffty-four men who are willing to marry you. l would re mind you that the law does not permit a woman to change her mind and be released from the penalty after sen teuce has been imposed, though she may do so before she has received her sentence. The extreme penalty that l can Impose upon woman refusing to marry is ten years imprisonment,