The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-03-02
7HE EVENING STORY
Aunt Pardon's scheme.

tBy Lawrence Alfred Clay.)
! When Aunt Pardon arrived at the
home of her sister in a New England
vluage on certain date she was met
at the depot by her niece, Miss Jean
Iravers, who had tears in her ewes.
Wnen she reached the house she was
Kissed by her sister. who had tears in
her eyes. A title later she was well
coined by Mr.. Travers. who looked
glum and determined.
II o1o not take the little old woman
that something in the family was
OUT OF Joint. and to demand an ex-
pldHdtlon. she was told to get ready
10 M near something awful
| IN Boston. she knew that, because.
being rich. and because Miss lean
was ner favorite, she was paying the
pllIs. What mad the girl done, on
ner ,tnlrd term of schooling, and lust
as she had arrived at that point
Where she could almost ask for gum
drops at the store in French, but fall
She had not only fallen in love with
young man, but she had failed to
notlfy her parents by special delivery
letter. Further, she had broken a
RUE OF the school. On her arrival
there she had been told. in the plainest
or plain English that under no cir
cumstances must she fall in love with
man, either old or young, while to
write or receive a note was an offense
so heinous that it could not possib1v he
overlooked. All this was as nothing
TO what was to come. Aunt Pardon
must square herself in her chair and
keep from fainting away if she could
Miss Jean had written notes-little
pink notes. She had received notes
little robins egg notes And some of
those notes had got into the hands of
Miss Boneset the president of the
hxy ha <Oi
Miss jeans 1arents. And now the
earth was shout to tremble. Aunt
Pardon would tremble with the earth
Miss Jean had been caught when on
the verge of clipping with the young
man aforesaid. She had her window
up and was about to descend a rope
ladder when she was seized and
hauled back. She was talked to for
the rest of tie night and sent home
next morning. 1t was the most fla
grant case Miss Boneset had encoun-
tered In her fifty years of maidenhood,
and she must make shining example
of the guilty party.
There it was, and what had Aunt
PARDON to say about it? Had she
ever, in her whole life. heard Of such
thing? She replied that she had
just one case. and she knew exactly
the remedy for it. Then, in turn, she
asked what was the matter with the
mother could exactly tell, and Miss
Jean had locked herself in her room.
The fact Of the matter was that
Mr.. Travers had been specializing and
to keep on specializing and making
more, and for the homer of the family
he wanted the daughter to make a
good match. There was no reason
why she shouldn't marry a lord in
stead of an adventurer. Other girls
had done it and why shouldn't Jean?
The girls story, told amid tears
and in the privacy of her room, diff
fered somewhat. Yes; she had writ
ten and received notes, but he was
such lovely young man! There was
a rope ladder, but one of the girls had
dared her to descend it. Perhaps she
told him to go away, but she certain
ly had no thought Of clipping.
do you know what I'm going to
do?'' asked Aunt Pardon of the heads
of the family after a day or two. I'm
going to take Jean and go down to
Atlantic City for a month. 1 need
the sea air and she needs to forget
this young man. I've read that there
are always from ten to fifteen lords
hanging around there, and I'll bet
my old shoes she captures one of them.
There'H be your money and my money
behind her, and she'll go off like hot
cakes. The biggest relative we've got
is only a member of the legislature,
and I believe they are investigating
him for grating. I'd kind of like to
be aunt or something to a lord and see
how it seems.
Miss Jean was ordered to make
ready for the trip. She demurred a
little and shed few tears. She wasn't
told in so many words that it was
an excuse to further separate her
from the young man. but she figured
out things pretty well for herself.
She might have Jumped off the barn
or down the well and made her
parents lots of trouble, but when the
time came she went along as humble |
as Mary's little lamb.
Aunt Pardon was a hustler. If |
her sex had had the right to vote she |
years before. Four hours after reach |
ing Atlantic City she was promenading |
the board walk looking for lord. Miss |
Jean wasn't. She was still demurely |
unpacking. She had been chastened, |
and it was not for her to go gallop- |
ing around like young colt.
For three days Aunt Pardon looked |
for her lord. She got all the papers
and scanned he hotel arrivals. She
didn't find one, but she was not dis
couraged.
On the fourth day, after consider
able argument, she persuaded Miss
the girls health. It was also to show
her off to the sight of any stray lord.
At one point of the walk the railing
had been carried away by the waves
kicked up by a heavy storm. The
drop down was twelve feet and pedes-
TRANS Rugged the far side in passing.
Aunt PARDON can remember 10 IHlS
day just how the thing came about.
OF a sudden, Miss Jean was seized
with a vertigo and went staggering
toward the gap. Severa. persons
screamed. The aunt was petrified. An
old man waved his cane. She must
have taken the drop but for the young
man who rushed forward and caught
her and swung her to safety. He didn't
wait for thanks He thrust his card
into Aunt Pardon's hand and modestly
The vertigo disappeared
at the same time, and Miss Jean did
not require the ambulance to get back
to the hotel.