Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1910-02-25

NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
There is no doubt that Horatio
King Vantine took himself seriously.
He was a Boston youth, well edu-
Gated, well hammered, his family was
one of the Oldest, and his prospects
were excellent. When he left Har-
ward he was called to New York and
given a fine opening in his Uncle John
Steele Arlington's importing house.
There he was making the most of the
opportunity.
Into this regular and well ordered
life bombshell suddenly dropped. 1t
took the form of letter that was
laid on his desk by the Office mes
sengsr.
Horatio read the letter through,
and then read it through again.
aOur dear cousin,' it began, "we
want to know you and know you right
away. Aunt Emiline Glover wrote to
us that you were in New York. and
we've been looking for you ever since.
We are your second cousins, you
know, Jane and Ann and Susan Wal
lace. Your father and our mother
were first cousins, and that's what
gives us a claim on you. At first we
thought we would come down and
storm your office, and while Jane
grappled your uncle, Ann and Susan
would kidnap you. But then we re-
membered that while that might do
in wild and woolly Oregon--that's
where we hail 'front.' wouldn't be
strictly proper in Moo Yawk, don't
you know. So We are going to be
painfully formal and awfully prim,
and give you the high handshake in
the most easterly fashion If you
please. cousin, we want you to come
up to our present abiding place and
take tea with us tomorrow evening,
and afterward you are to escort us
to little reception to which we are
privileged to bring a young man
friend. We are visiting with a dear
friend and neighbor from Oregon who
moved to New York several years
ago. She joins us in the invitation,
as you will find when you read her
note. AS you are quite sure to know
nothing about us, perhaps It would |
be well to relieve your anxiety by
explaining that we are neither maiden |
ladies nor kindergartners. Jane ad- |
mits she is twenty-two, Ann is twenty |
and Susan is eighteen. Other par
ticulars will be furnished on applica- |
tion. And now, our dear and only |
cousin, we are just perishing to meet
youl They tell us you are awfully |
nice-so you may rest assured that
we are strongly prejudiced in your
favor. Till tomorrow evening, then.
Affectionately, Jane, Ann, Susan"
Horatio picked up the note that had |
slipped from between the pages. 1t |
was an endorsement of his cousins
invitation, penned by their hostess
a nicely worded note, that came from |
a home in an excellent residence sec
tion.
Horatio drew long breath. Here
was something he never before had
encountered. His relatives were few |
in number and most of them were |
residents of the old home town in
New England. He dimly remembered |
to have heard of the cousin of his
fathers who had gone West when |
only boy, but he had fancied that
this spirit of adventure was looked |
upon as out of harmony with the |
staid and dignified traditions of the |
family. He was sure he had not
heard his fathers cousin mentioned |
since he himself was boy. And now
these wild Western girls had swooped |
down on him from the Oregonian |
wilds and claimed relationship with |
him in the most familiar terms. and |
forcibly taken possession of him, leav-
ing no chance for escape.
Jane and Ann and Susan,
What would his aristocratic old !
uncle, his mothers only brother
think Of these hoydens! But he
mustn't be permitted to see them. |
There was no reason why he should |
know of their presence. II he learned |
they were in New York he would in
sist upon having them to luncheon.
Jane and Ann and Susanl
Well. he would accept the invita-
tion. There was no way out of that
At least. it would be better to meet |
them than to offer trumped up ex-
cuse and stay away If he didn't go
to the tea they would be sure to hunt
him up at the counting room. He
would meet them and if they proved
positively insupportabIe he would
have his uncle send him on a trade |
extension trip to Rio de Janeiro.
Jane and Ann and Susanl
He opened a drawer and drew out
sheet of paper.
wonder why Western people ever
were created?n he softly growled.
1t was frigid little note that he
sent the three girls. Correctly
phrased and neatly penned, it was as
lacking in cordiality as Vermont
snowbank. 1t was polite and tame
and distant. He was pleased to learn
that his cousins we're in the city, and
he was pleased to accept their invita-
tion to tea on the twenty fourth, and
equally pleased to accompany them
to the subsequent reception. And he
closed the conventional misslvs With,