The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1910-12-15
SHE WAS
SUPERIOR

IN Il
s......................
Az Ethel Lingler said, OF course
their house was the biggest and 4fin.
est in town. and they certainly had
lot Of money. taking all the family
connections together; still, they did
not pride themselves on these quail.
hcations...,
1T isn't that" Ethel said once in .
burst Of confidence to a friend. "It's
simply that we are the most interest.
ing family in town. really! We are
not humdrum!"
Ethel was girl with a certain
amount of lank, posterish style about
her, an Ethel Barrymorish face and a
college degree. When she had re.
turned home after her graduation
Ethel Immediately inquired for list
Of the poor families of town, insisted
on starting boys club and announc.
ed that. the vacant lots were to be
beautified.
1t was thus she interpreted her
duties and opportunities in the town
of her birth. She said Millersville
needed a reviving influence and an
original mind behind it to develop its
possibilities, and she refused to join
the Longfeltow Literary society as an.
other way Of being interesting. The
sooner Millersville got over that sort
Of thing the better it would be, she
said.
The young people were decidedly
uncomfortable about Ethel. Her faith.
er was the president of the biggest
bank In town and owned stock in
nearly every important enterprise, to
say nothing of his farm lands through.
out the state. You can't sniff and pass
by the daughter of man like that,
soothing your wounds by calling her
stuck up and silly. The. others suf-
fered in her presence, wondering II
she accounted them Interesting or
mentally herded them among the
goats.
There was no doubt about the Ling.
lers as family were out of the ordi.
nary. They had meals when the fam.
lily happened to want them, not at set
and regulated times, and they had a
tennis court in the grassiest part OF
their front lawn, instead of row OF
stiff flower beds.
Also If they felt like sitting up all
night and making US sleep in the day.
time, they did SO, and t"sy did not
put OH winter fiannels Oct. Is, regard.
less of the temperature. They didn't
believe In flannels at all.
OF course. Ethel was asked every.
where. II she was at a party 1t was
known as social success and II she
wasn't the daily paper merely ran q
two-line item with no headlines. Peo.
pie suffered from her presence and
also from her absence and could never
quite make up their minds which Of
the two evils was the worse.
None of the young men of Millers'
Vile dared to single Ethel out. be.
cause they were afraid Of her. They
called on other girls who had also
been away to school and lived in com.
Portable mansions, but Ethel was diff.
ferent. Always they writhed when
they converted with her, under the
sense that she did not find them inter
esting. She had way of sweetly
making them sensible of their own
limitations. Naturally, she was an OBJ.
ject Of despairing admiration to them
There certainly was a fascination
about her looks and the way she wore
her clothes. and in spite Of her top
loftical air she had a distracting dim.
pie in each cheek. Everybody knew
there wasn't man in town good
enough for Ethel Linglers notice.
When Oscar Farwell went there tc
enter the leading law firm the girls
Of course. talked him over. They
asked Ethel what she thought of him
She raised her eyebrows a mere trifis
and smiled gently.
"Mr. Farwell,' she said, rs absolute
ly impossible. These breezy, self-sura
individuals always proove to be oil
common stock. He strikes mo az an
exceedingly conceited, ordinary young
man and not in the least interesting. y
Whereupon the listening girl rejoic
ed greatly for they secretly admired
this same young Farwell and had beer
afraid Of Ethel's fancyins him.
She snnhhed him serenelv and CON,