The Bottineau courant., 1912-06-21
From behind the first mass Of pack.

You DlaCk nOunQ! ABOUT lace
forward march! Section number one. :"
The porter retreated down the aisle,
apologizing glibly. "scuse me for
questioning you, but you-all's baggage
looked kind o. eccentric at first"
The two young men dumped their
parcels on the seats and began to un-
wrap them hastily.
III Mallory catches us. he'll kill vi" :"
said Lieutenant Shaw. Lieutenant
Hudson only laughed and drew out q
long streamer Of white satin ribbon.
It's glimmer, and the glimmering eyes
Of the young man excited Mrs. Whit
comb 80 much that after a little hesi'
tance she moved forward. followed by
the jealous Ashton. .........
"Oh, what's up?" she ventured. 1T
looks like something bridal"
Talk about womanly intuition!"
! said Lieutenant Hudson, with an In.
gratiating salaam.
And then they explained to her that
their classmate at West Point, being
ordered suddenly to the Philippines.
had arranged to elope 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 recounted this plan In the
full belief that it was even at that mo,
ment being carried out successfully,
Lieutenant Hudson, with q ghoullsh
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. Whitcomb;
"But you ought to have some rice and
old Shoes"
Heres the rice," said Hudson.
Here's the old Shoes" said Shaw.
"Lovely!" cried Mrs. Whitcomb, but
then she grew soberer. II should think,
though, that they-the young couple
would have preferred a stateroom."
"Of course" said Hudson, almost
blushing, "but it was taken. This waa
the best we could do for them"
"That's why we want to make II
nice and bride-like," said Shaw. per
haps you could help us-a woman'a
| touch"
"Oh, 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 looh
of authority:
"Scuse me, but wha-what's all
this?"
"Vanish-get out" said Hudson
poking a coin at him. As he turned
to obey, Mrs. Whitcomb checked him
with: "Oh, Porter, could you got Ut
| hammer and some nails?"
The porter almost blanched: "Good
Lawd, Miss, you amt allowin' to drive
nails in that woodwork. is you?" That
woodwork was to him what the altar
Is to the priest.
But Hudson, resorting to heroic
measures, hypnotized him with two
dollar bill: "Here, take this and see
nothing, hear nothing, say nothing.
The porter caressed it and chuckled:
I'm blind, deaf and speechless:" He
turned away, only to come back al
! once with a timid "scuse mel"
"You here YETI" growled Hudson.
Anxiously the porter pleaded: u
; just want to ast one question. Is you
all fixin' up for a bridal coupler"
Foolish question, number eight
million, forty-three," said Shaw. AN
! swer. no, we are"
The porter's face glistened like
| fresh stove polish as he gloated ovel
the prospect. II tell you, It'll be mahty
| refreshin' to have bridal couple on
bode! This dog-on Reno train don1
carry nothin' much but divoroses. I'm
Just nachally hongry for q bridal cou'
| ple."
"Brile coup-hic.le" came a voice
like an echo that had somehow be-
come intoxicated III transit. It wat
Little Jimmie Wellington looking fo1
more sympathy. 'Whass xis about
brile couple7"
why, here's Little Buttercupla
sang out young Hudson, looking Al
him in amazed amusement.
did un'stan' somebody say you're
preparing for brile coupr?"
Lieutenant Shaw grinned. II don1
know what you understood, but that'd
what we're doing"
Immediately Wellington's great fac>
began to churn and work like BID
eddy in river. Suddenly he wal
weeping. Excuse these tears, zhent,
tlemen, but I once-I was once 4
b-b-bride myself"
HE looks like q whole wedding pan
IT," was Ashton's only comment on
the copious grief. It was poor Welling
toms fate to hunt as vainly for SYM
pathy as Diogenes for honesty. Tho
decorators either ignored him OF
shunted him aside. They were inter-
ested in strange contrivance Of rib.
bons and box that Shaw produced.
That" Hudson explained. rs q Nt
tie rice trap. We hang that up there
and when tho bridal couple sit down