Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1910-11-10

JOhn ONelll, erStWhlle newspaper
man and dramatist to be, was one of
the younger celebrities of those
Thursday evening gatherings for
which Mrs. Strathheld de Witt was so
widely and justly famed. Mrs. Strath-
field de Witt was lauded from one end
of town to the other, extolled for sun.
stinted hospitality, admired for gra-
cious tact, and sought out for radiant
beauty. Yet far more than the mag
nificent social affairs in which she
always figured SO conspicuously, the
balls and opera-night triumphs, which
invariably received a lions share of
next mornings social column, did she
revel in her artistic triumphs and her
reputation for unusual ability in gath
ering about her local talent and even
visiting prodigies from far waters,
Even her detractors dared not deny
that Mrs. de Witt was a woman of
power and no mean personality, and,
under the rose, it was safe to whisper
this: None knew 1t better than her
self
Tonight she stood as usual at the
far end of the great reception hall,
velvet-gowned and regal in the ia
nous Strathfeld jewels, giving forth
to her guests, from Won Kreuzer, the
world-famed cellist, to young artistic
Dick Stair, out at elbows and Ill at
ease, the same beneficent smile, the
customary word of encouragement
the unfailing bit Of praise.
TIL % M
I ed favorltes, having just paid his com.
pliments, was passing on into the
crowded music room, free to carry
out his own devices, to follow whittier
inclination might chance to lead. Cor
N1ial greetings encompassed him as he
Numbered unsettled and restless
from group to group, but, in spite Of
the allurements Of flashing eyes and
the encouraging mods from men Of
established repute, O'Neill, with ar
distracted manner and indifference
to mien, passed through the magnifi
Gently furnished rooms out into the
conservatory beyond.
1t was solitude, after all, that he
wanted. He could settle down here
for space, and puzzle out few o.
the many things which had of late
so bothered him. For many days he
had put away the facing Of this prob
lem, the impartial judging twix
heart and mind. But O'Neill was {
man of fine sensibilities, of high ant
honorable ideals, and he knew tina
he could not again accept the fiatter
ing kindness Of his hostess, the over
whelming cordially of her friends
without coming to a true knowledge
of his Utmost self, and, In some sub
tie way, giving her to realize the fina
outcome of the problem which, at last
amid the twining roses and orchids
he must bravely face and settle TO
all time.
John O'Neill, fresh from the oil
country, with great dreams within hi
eyes, was a different person from tn,
well-groomed, self-assured gentlemai
who, save for the frown puckerint
his straight drawn brows, seemed
amid the surfeit of elegance Of thi
uptown mansion so thoroughly a
ease, so completely master of his own
For though O'Neill was gentlemal
at heart, a lover of the right an,
good, he was, in the common accept
ance of the term, self-made man.
He had fought his way, from tn
beginnin, through the humiliatin
trials of advertising agent and CON
mon reporter, step by step along tn
staff positions Of a large newspaper
TIL now he had reached the positioi
of managing editor OF an importan
magazine And still his best power
must go to the earning of bread, an
the dreams of drama and novel ye
unfulfilled And with the rigor c
those dreams another, too, held swa
An old longing, softer visio
which the lionizing of sweet and foo
ish ladies, the surroundings of luxur
and ease, instead of snuffing out an
RELOCATING to the past of dusky men
cries, served only to enflame an
raise on him.
For there are some things which
man may never forget, and anon
them surely is the "Reminiscences {
youth. And that was why job
O'Neil had drawn apart TO see
among the exotic blooms of the pc
fume laden court the healing of hi
doubt.
But, with the facing Of his problem
he must, of course, be logical. Yes
he would be quite frank with himsel
There should be no delicacy nor falls
lnodesty in his open dealing with TIL
question. He was an artist and
gentleman--al as such, he was
pauper. He knew that the realizatio
Of his best efforts could take plaC
but for certain things. These thing
Mrs. Strathfeld de Witt was now
position to offer him. She had n,
N SO many words told him so, but /
knew from covert hint and glance an
from the more open revelation
friends, that Natalie, the younge
daughter, along with the financial an
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