Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1910-02-09
HUNTING AN IDEAL,
By M. QUAD.

Press.]
The main reason why Phillip Hutch
inson found himself bachelor still
at the age of forty was because Ia. had
an ideal and because be had never
found her He had looked and longed
and hoped. but she had not crossed his
path. She did not until after his for
tieth birthday. Then fate or fortune
or something else smiled on him.
Mr.. Hutchinson was strolling up
Fifth avenue, New York, when his eye
caught a photo in a showcase. There
she was-the counterfeit of the woman
he had carried in his mind for thou
sands Of days! Her hair was down.
and she was draped as an angel How
the photographers get on to the angel
business without going to heaven is
none Of the public's business. You can
take their angels or leave them. This
particular angel. as near us the old
bachelor could figure out. had blond
hair, blue eyes. ruby lips. and her voice
was the trill of bird.
The ideal hunter stood long before
the picture and made up his mind to
hunt the earth over to find the original
He did not go upstairs to find the
artist. He waited down below for the
artists boy, and that rising young man
replied to him:
'"That gal? She came in a carriage
and had poodle. Took away our
breath in a minute If l growed up
and had the scads-gee!"
But her name, boy-her name and
address," demanded the man with the
beating heart.
"YOu can search me. The boss has
got it in a book. and he keeps the book
in a SAFE She must be Fifth avenue
flier, though. and if you walk up and
down long huff you'll be sure to meet
her"
If it hadn't been for the dreams that
Mr. Hutchinson dreamed his legs and
his perseverance would have given
out. He had various dreams of the
angel in the show case, and they al
ways heartened him up for the next
days hunt. In those dreams he was
always saving her from going over
Niagara falls, from d mad bull, from
a joy ride auto going ninety miles an
hour and from other things.
March gave way to April, and still
the search went on. Sometimes it
rained on the searcher and sometimes
it didn't. Sometimes he caught sight
of face in carriage and hope eter-
nal dubbed up in his breast, and some
times he simply saw females and drag
ged his weary legs along. One must
even give credit to the rat that gnaws
through a two inch plank. Clubmen
wondered and talked, but they didn't
get hold Of the truth. They took it
that Mr. Hutchinson was haunting
Fifth avenue in search of a site to
erect an old mans home, If they had
any other idea he was man not to
be questioned.
April dragged away and May came
in. Up one side of the avenue and
down the other, just the same. The
and it was scrutiniZed regularly at
least twice a day. The photographers
boy still remained, and gradually a
feeling of pity came into his young
heart for the persevering searcher. He
always encouraged him with nod
when they met, but it was we'll along
in May when he waited at the show
case with smile on his face to say:
"Say, I've got news. That angel was
in the gallery agin yesterday"
"You don't tell mel! gasped Mr..
Hutchinson.
"Sure as shootin', and she ordered
the boss to send fifty Of her photos
to Coney Island. Said she was going
down there today"
But what for?"
'Dunno. That's what she said. Meb
be her dad has rented Dreamland fol
a bungalow. You orter find her down
there in day."
''You are sure it was the same!'
"Sure Mike! Can't any one tell an
angel after seeing her onccst? You &c
right down there tomorrow and you'll
find her."
What was money to the searchel
when the search was so near ended
Another five changed hands, and al
the club that evening they noticed the
great change in Mr.. Hutchinson. Eli
was joyous and ioquacious. and they
said he had finally bought the site. HI
was down at Coney by 10 O'Clock mex
forenoon. By noon be had made sure
that no angels were registered ut any
Of the hotels. By 2 o'clock he had ex
hausted the bungalow idea. Then :
feeling of despair crept into his heart
and he entered concert hall to brace
up on a sandwich and glass of beer
He didn't brace. He wouldn't have
got into the place if he hadn't falle1
In. At the door, in a big, cheap frame
were q dozen photos of the actresses
then doing the high kicking on thu
stage, and that of the angel of thu
showcase led all the rest. Mr.. Hutch
inson fell into the hall and on to
chair, and for five minutes things
buzzed in his head. and he couldn'
give his order to the waiter, who wa
wondering if he was dead beat. The1
he saw the stage and his angel Sh'
was warbling and distinguishing a
the roof. Stunned, paralyzed and dun
founded. he watched her until the cur
tain was rung down. Then she de
scended from the clouds to him. an>
In her birllike trilI she asked:
well, poppy. do you buy your girl,
a beer"
Two blocks away Mr.. Hutchinson