Smyrna times., 1910-12-28
,aHt announcement mottars n

FIX weeks had passed since that mis- |
erable night. and he had scarcely
caught a glimpse of her face. save at a
great distance. until that morning
when she came into his news store
Two weeks dragged slowly by. and
the morning of St Patrick's day found
Matthew Golden arraying himself in
the splendid uniform of the Faithful
Sons of st. Patrick He dWelt wretch
edly on the same anniversary year
ago. when Margaret had stood on the
curbSt0ne and waved green and gold
flag as he passed by. 1t had been the
happiest day of his life for that very
evening he had asked Margaret to
marry him. and she had consented. BY
contrast today would be the bitterest
he would ever know.
He strOde down the street. admired
by many feminine eyes and quite un-
conscious of anything except the event
| that would occur at . o'clock. A little
past that hour the parade would march
down the avenue past the very portals
whence Margaret would emerge chang
ed in uame forever
Trumpets blared. drums ratified. flies
| r1rpled as the several bands Of music
fell into place. There were hoarSe
commands, the shuttle of countless feet
on the pavements; shrill cries from the
throDgs gathered about. and the pa
rade started
As they neared/St Francis granite
bulk Matthew's heart almost stood
St!H He prayed hard that he might
be spared the sight of Margarpt'S wed
ding party emerging from the church.
The uniforms of the men. white and
| green and gold. with splendid sasheS
Of emerald satin frinGed with gold
made ribbon of color down the broad
avenue. Matthew was in the outer
column, his face like ashes. his mouth
set in grim line Of despair and his
feet mechanically moving to the
strains of the "Wearin' of the Green
Then. just before they reached the
church, he saw them-saw Conners'
red head ard Il girls figure beside him.
saw them run down the steps and en-
ter Il carriage on the cross street and
roll away. while Tom Devln waved
a jovial farewell before he turned to
watch the paradcre
Matthew's face hAd turned TO watch
the bridal pair enter the carriage.
When he f1"ed front orce more his
startled. L ''pving eyes saw Mar
garet Devliu herself MArga.et in green
broadcloth with Il great bunch of
shamrock at her waist waving green
satin flag at-hm!
Tom Devlin and his daughter follow
ed close in the wake of the Faithful
Sons. of st. Patrick That day. Mat
thew saw them ut tha most unexpect-
ed corners, always sl2i.in@ and waving
their flags at him. lie began to feel
like one of the family again and to
realize that there was Il biunder some
Where-a mistake for which he might
be devoutly thankful. for it was evil
dent that Conners had married some
body, and Matthew did not care who it
was so long as it was not Margaret
Devlin.
When the parade was over Tom and
Margaret were on hand to escort Mat
thew home. He entered the big tour
ing car that spran@ from somewhere
and found himself between Margaret
and her father. The girls cheeks were
flushed, and her blue eyes evadPd Mat
thew's questioning glance
Once ut the familiar house in Sev-
enty-frth street Tom DPvlin disappear
ed ard left the two together
: Margaret dear" r"-Natthpw was be-
| cd hoV 10,
Gus fool. Tell me the mystery. Did
you marry Corners or what?"
of course | married Tom ConnerS.
,, That's why | let another girl 80 of
with him. mocked Margaret. and then
suddenly her blue eres flied with tears
and her head found its place on his
broad shoulder. IF you'd had little
more faith in me. Matthew" she said,
you would have been happier your
/, self and made it easer for me to do Il
good deed"
You'll have to explain. dear I'm
all at sea-" he pleaded.
"Conners has been engaged to Agnes
Lee for Il year. and he hasn't had Il
chance. to show what he can do IIg
needed to get cut one successful dra -
ing and then he could have all the
orders he wanted. Till then he had
to starve. and Agnes had to wait and
wait for the home she wanted. You
know Agnes is skin and bone and
homely. and I'm not. SO | went tC
COnners and suggested the picture
you saw on. the magazine cover.
wanted to help them. that's all. He
, sold the drawing. got another and lar
ger order. and when the magazine
came out father and | bought up all
the copies we could. and they got out
a second edition. What do you think
Of that? OF course Tom Conners is
fixed now-they've recognized what
:. he could do. didn't really want my
face on a magazine cover. Mat. but
l had to help them out. They love
each other just as we do. Father and
/ got them married and off on theiI
honeymoon. and now. Matthew Gold
y en-, were you ever happier than you