Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-10-08

gomery. Lily West kept his picture in
q satin case hidden among her party
clothes for ever so long, And DO you
know, when Laura Burnet heard ABOUT
Johnny's arrest last night, she tainted
fiat on the floor"
Hallie's, bolt upright impressiveness
seemed to demand some comment, but
/ could not manage sound; for at
her words there rushed back to me.
with humiliating clearness, my own
Mysteries Of the night before. Was It
possible that Halle thought was IN
love with him, too? My cheeks burned
and burned.
"Were you ever introduced to him,
Ellie?' Estrella asked, looking at me
curiously.
.'No, she has never met him." Halle
promptly took the response out OF my
mouth: "but she saw him once-don't
you remember, Ellie, at my sister Ade-
ladies contingent ball?"
said, yes, remembered it.
s "He danced most of that evening
with Laura Burnett" Halle pursued.
"and she was perfectly wild about him.
NV brother Tom saw him kiss her IN
the conservatory" Halle chuckled at
that memory. land for while 1t was
said that they were engaged, though
she was three years older than ne was.
But he was terribly in debt then. and OF
course she had lots of money" Halle
sighed and added, Isn't it awful ne
should have ended in this way? Adc'
laide always said there was no one
who could put your shawl around you
SO beautifully as he"
It seemed terrible to me that they
could sit there talking of how badly
he had been thought of by society, and
how beautifully he had put women's
shawls around them, when he was IN
nrison waiting to be tried for his life.
was glad when the girls went ana !
could think about 1t by myself.
lions that Halle had innocently let fall
put such ali ugly face upon his actions:
didn't want to believe that hateful
gossip. His smile had been so charming
and kind. There was something aDout
him that made him seem OF so much
greater Importance than any one else
had known; that made every little
look and motion of his memorable and
eloquent. And when he had looked
straight into my eyes had felt the
warm flowing of the blood In my veins.
Had 1t been these strange qualities OF
his that had made nice girls fall in love
with him? I peeped into the mirror to
see II my face looked as queer as my
feelings felt whispered the words
again. ITO fall in love-" What could
that be like? To make Laura Buraet
faint away at just the news Of his ar
|rest-wi,at a great and terrible feeling
it must be! When I thought of him as
a person who could inspire such emo
tons he gathered halo of mystery
and power; but when l remembered
Halile's saying how he had been en-
gagged to Laura for the sake of her
money, he seemed to me the merest
wretch. / tod myself there was no
need of my worrying about II, as he
was in prison and my part was done
1t couldn't possibly interest me any
further. All the same couldn'. get it
out of my head.
Father came home to luncheon that
day, bringing Sonora Mendez with
him. He looked worried and tired, but
I had never seen her sO,sWeet, and so
very gay.
She said / had been in the house too
much, looked pale, and that she was
going to take me shopping. AS we got
up from the table she fingered mo-
ment, saying something to father
about taking some ones mind on
something. And father said, yes until
we can tell which way to go. so sup
posed they were talking business.
Sonora Mendez is such great grand
sort of lady that usually one is a little
in awe of her; but today she made me
feel very much at home, as we drove
down the street in her big open car
riage. She never once mentioned the
shooting, and didn't have courage TO
speak of it myself But we heard OF It
all around us. In the first shop we went
into woman just behind me said IN
a loud voice, do the rebeds think
they can shoot us all down as Wilkes
Booth shot the presidents" And then,
again, at another shop where we were
looking at lace, the clerk said, This
is a terrible thing for the city, madam,
the loss of such valuable citizen"
But Sonora Mendez seemed not to
hear him, and went on explaining to
me the difference between honiton and
thread, and showing me how beautiful
embroidered net looked over pale blue
silk, untileI felt quite cheerful just
through listening to her and looking
at the pretty things. She wound up by
buying me lovely pair of thread lace
sleeves, and swept me out in the wake
Of her train feeling almost happy
again.
Just as we had got into the carriage
two gentlemen with silk hats, very ele-
CANT indeed, came UP and talked over
the carriage door with her. The one
with yellow gloves said, This is bad
business. It's a good thing poor old
lady Montgomery never lived to see
this day. And the other said, Il won
der what the effect on the city will
be-"
Sonora Mendez said she hoped the
effect would be law requiring our
young men to settle disputes with
their fists instead of firearms, and that
it was shame nice boys would brawl
in gambling houses. She smiled and
looked most easy and pleasant over
it, and all the way up the street she