The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1912-09-26
BETTY
REPENTS
by DOROTHY DOUGLAS

Stsy h1u bhOWu biBub Ol ToUolliuu
STAGE the moment the nurse had plung-
ed her into her first small tub; at the
age Of ten she was pretty but self
willed; at eighteen she threatened to
elope with a second-rate actor because
she was refused a racing motor car.
Arriving at tweAty-one, beautiful and
headstrong, Betty considered herself
q very much abused person.
But with all her faults Betty was
adorable and adored. Her parents
loved her with devotion that spoke
we'll for her ultimate good; they knew
that her perversity would one day
melt before the light Of reason. In
many small instances Betty had al
ready succumbed to their tactful
methods, but In big things she was OBJ
durate; she disliked giving in to the
will Of another.
The crisis came when Betty's par
ents fatty refused to let her take a
trip to Paris with Matilda Davis.
Matilda had a husband somewhere
on the globe but she preferred to
study painting in the Latin quarter to
living in domestic bliss. So wildly
had she painted the joys Of student
life to the untutored Betty that the
latter felt life no longer possible with
out some of those joys After trying
every vile at her command in order
to gain her parents consent and fail
Ing, Betty defied parental authority
and skipped on with Matilda to Paris.
Before taking her leave Betty's faith
er had looked long and steadily into
his hayward daughters half-shamed
eyes.
Remember" he said with stern
visage, you are leaving my house for
the last time. In accepting the chap
eronage Of that woman you are no
longer daughter of mine! We have
given you every comfort in life, and
now If you prefer to galavant through
the streets Of Paris with woman Of
that caliber to living respectfully with
your parents you are at liberty to do
30" Peter Girard turned from his
daughter without SO much as second
glance
By force Of will Betty swallowed the
great lump in her throat. Had her
father taken her In his arms she
would probably never have sailed for
Paris, but he did not and Betty's eyes
flashed.
Very well!" she cried back defiant
ly, 81 will not come back" And for
fear lest the threatened tears fall
Betty went hurriedly from her fathers
house and into the waiting village ON
nibus. Once inside its musty depths
Betty had a good cry. Through her
tears she could Sc her mothers calm,
beautiful face when she had said Il
hope you are going to be happy in
your new life, Betty"
And when the rumble of departing
carriage wheels died away Peter Gi-
rard turned to his wife and there was
twinkle in his eyes. He took his
wife in his arms.
Cheer up, dear" he told her, "our
daughter has merely gone on trip OF
establishment and she will come fly
ing back to her little mother and her
daddy before another two moons have
waned."
Two months is a long time without
Betty" smiled the mother.
II two months seemed long to her
parents In Long Island. they proved
endless to Betty in Paris.
She had enjoyed the ocean trip to
the utmost. The newness Of It all and
the pleasure of meeting so many inter-
esting persons cast out all homesick-
ness for the time being But try as
she might to retard 1t, Betty felt her
self drawing within her shell as far as
Matilda Davis was concerned. The
intimacy brought about by sharing one
cabin had not enhanced the woman's
charm.
Betty had been led to expect that
those persons on the boat who had
seemed such good friends would prove
the same on land 1t would take a
third or even fourth trip to convince
Betty that the friendship of shipboard
is only a passing fancy. So Betty
met her first establishment In Paris
she saw two of the men who had been
charmed by her presence on ship
board but things we're not the same
and after a dinner at a cafe or an
evening at the opera they, too, drop
ped out of her life. At the end Of a
fortnight Betty found herself a stran-
ger in a strange land.
That she was paying the greater
half OF the expenses did not bother
her, but the type of men who fire.
quented their studio disguised her.
Betty found herself longing for big
clean-minded Tom Hillary, who
thought all women pure and beautiful
and sweet.
She realized that Paris and many
things Partisan would have been beau.
tiful to her had she not been so lone.
ly, It stole over Betty's consciousness
gradually that happiness did not come
with having ones own way.
After a few weary days Of trying for
the nrst time in her twenty-on years
to plan her own life, Betty decided to
20 to London. where she would al
least be among her own people. II
was relief to walk along the London
streets and fnd herself unmolested By
/ Aannar iittIa man With hiaob ....-