The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1912-04-16


for7s Il ) inafch Section number one.
The pofterfetg down The aisle.
tspolUei ztng glIbly scuse me for
Quest oning ycn, but ycufalI Z
locked kind q ece entfie d ihrst- 4 &
The two young men dumped their
parcels on the seats and bsgan TO m N
wrap them haStily,
III Mallory catches us, he'll kill us,
said Lieutenant Shaw. Lieutenant
Hudson only laughed and drew out q
llong stresmer Of white satin ribbon.
Its glimmer, and the glimmertng, eyes
Of the young man excited Mrs, Whit;
comb so much that after q little hesi-
lance she moved forward. followed BY
| the Jealous Ashton. ID
"0h, what's upr' she yentured. 1T
looks like something bridal ~,
Talk about womanly intuition!"
said Lieutenant Hudson, with an In
4 gratiating salsam. i,s.sa,
And then they explained to her that
their classmate at West Point, being
ordered suddenly to the Philippines,
had arranged to. e1ope with his beloved
Marjorie Newton; had asked them to
get the tickets and check the baggage
while he stopped at minister's to
get spliced and hike for Manila by
this train"
Having reconnted this plan in the
full belief that 1t was even at that mo-
nent being carried out successfully,
Lieutenant Hudson, with . ghoulish
smile, explained:
Being old friends Of the bride and
groom, we want to fix their section up
in style and make them truly comfort
able
"Delicious!" gushed Mrs. Whttcomh.
'"Bnt you ought to have some rice and
old shoes"
Here's the rice" said Hudson.
Here's the old Shoes. said Shaw.
'"aLovely!'fgcEgd Mrs. Whitcoplb, but
then she oberer. Il shohl asthink,
though, TIT ghey-the young Qliple-
would thaveSssferred 3 statsgosm."
"Ot COURSE said idson almost
biushlng, "bdfit wasaaken, Tiiis was
the best We could do for then.e
';.That's why we want to make 1t
nice and bride.llke," said Shaw. ,"Per-
haps you could help us-a woman's
touch" II
ooh, I'd love to-" she glowed, has
tening into the section among the
young men and the bundles. The un.
usual stir attracted the porter's sus-
picions. He came forward with a look
Of authority:
"scuse me, but wha-what's all
this?"
"vanish-get out" said Hudson,
poking coin at him. AS he turned
to obey, Mrs. Whitcomb checked him
with: "oh, Porter. could you get US
hammer and some nails?
The porter almost bIahshed: "Good
Lawd, Miss, you ami iIoRta' to drive
nails in that WOODWORK tB;s0u ?is5 hat
| woodwork was to him what the altar
Is to the priest. XIX IL,
But Hudson, resoFting to heroic
measures, hypnotized him with a two
dollar bill: Here, take this and see
nothing, hear nothing, say nothing"
The porter caressed 1t and chuckled:
I'm blind, deaf and speeohIeSs." He
turned away, only to come back at
once with timid "Scuse mel"
"You here yet% growled Hudsot:s
Anxiously the porter pleaded;s 81
just want to asst one question. IsEgou
Hall fixin' up for a bridal coupler?
Foolish question, number eight
mtlIlon, fortythree," said Shaw. "An'
swer, no, weaare." l
The porter's face glisteAed like
fresh stove polish, as he glosted oyer
the prospect. Il tell you, it'll be mahty
fefreshin' to have bridal couple on
bode! This dog-on Reno train don't
carry nothin' much but divorces. I'm
just nachally hongry for q bridal cou'
pie" a.
"Brile couphic-le?" came O. voice
like an echo that had somehow be
come intoxicated in transit. It was
Little Jimmie Wellington looking for
more sympathy. ",Whass as about
brile couple?" @.4
why, here's Little Buttercup!
sang out young Hudson looking 81 al
him in amazed amusement
did un'stan' somebody say you're
preparing for brile coupr?"
Lieutenant Shaw grinned. Il dont
know what you understood, but that's
what we're doing"
Immediately Wellington's great faee
began to churn and work like a big
eddy in river, Suddenly he was
weeping. Excuse these tears, zhent
tlemen, but l once-I was once 6
b.b.bride myself"
"He looks like . whole wedding par
ty," was Ashton's only comment or
the copious grief. It was poor Yelling
toms fate to hunt as yainly for sym
pathy as DIogenes for, honesty. The
decorators either ignored him oil
shunted him aside. They were inter
ested in strange contriyance of rib
bons and box that Shaw produced.
That" Hudson explained, "is a lit
lie rice trap. We hang that up there