Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1912-12-13
AN
INTERRUPTION.
By ANNABEL BRlNSMADE

funeral in the Margot family. The
body of Betty Margot. aged eighteen.
'as to he buried at II O'Clock aud it
WAS now 10. n great deal of sympathy
WAS shown the family. for there were
very sad circumstances attending the
Young girls death. In fact. it was con.
sidpred II case of suicide.
About year before Betty began to
show signs of dependency. She had
left school and was ready to take
social position among the young people
Of the town in which she lived. Her
mother. partly to divert her from her
condition of mind. did what she could
to induce her to do SO. Betty did
not refuse to 20 among those Of her
own age. but when with them. instead
Of being the bright. CHEEKY girl Of a
year before. she was listless. The young
men and maidens who had grown up
with her endeavOred for awhile to
draw her from her lethargv. but. find.
ing their efforts futile, at last gave up
trying
The family physician was. of course.
ed her a great many questions. pre-
scribed Il tonic to be taken three times
a day before meals" but told her moth
err that he could find no organic dis
ease He thought that change of scene
might be beneficial but the Margots
could not afford to take the patient
away. Besides. she said she didn't care
t.x. n 1h.xI tod hot
there might be young man in the
case. but Mrs. Margot declared that
her daughter had never shown any pref
erences for any of her male acquaint.
ances. To this the doctor replied that
first love on the part Of young girl
from sixteen to twenty was apt to as
sumo very singular forms. He had
treated cases of supposed physical NAL.
ady which eventually had turned out
to be simply lovesickness. One Of his
patients had shown signs Of q break.
ing down IN health simply because she
could not make up her mind between
two suitors and had finally eloped with
a third. to whom her parent had no OBJ
lection whatever.
One morning when the good lady
went into her daughters room with
the usual toast and cOffee-she would
not permit Betty to arise before IL
o'clock-the room was empty. The bed
had not been slept In. The frightened
matron rushed from the room. calling
her daughter wildly. The household.
Betty excepted. responded. and even
tually the whole town was r0tlsed.
The day passed with no word from
the missing girl She must have de-
parted In the night. for no one had
seen her 20. Every village In the
neighborhood received telephone mes.
sages describing Betty's personal APP
pearance and inquiring II she had been
seen. All her relatives far and near
were notified. Not hopeful word
came from any point.
Mrs. Margot. after she became ~
far Gained as to express an opinion on
the cause of her daughters departure.
said she believed that Betty's mind
had been affected through some dis
ease which ''that stupid doctor" had
failed to discover. The people Of the
town had many and diverse opinions.
Mrs. Griffin. across the street. who had
heard Mrs. Margot-an impatient. 81.
citable woman-scold her daughter.
averred that the latter had been driven
away by cruelty. Some of the neigh.
bors-old maids or married women
who Ind adopted dogs In lien Of chill
dren-said that Betty had not been
properly brought up and had gone to
the bad.
One day a fresh impetus was given
to these conjectures by the discovery
of body Of woman In the river. II
was bloated beyond recognition. but 1t
was about Betty's height. and the hair
was about the same color as hers. The
consensus of opinion was that It was
her remains; that in at Of temporary
insanity she had escaped from home
and drowned herself. The sight was
SO awful that the parents were per-
suaded not to look at It. An under
taker prepared 1t for burial. and this
brings lis to the beginning of our story.
which Ia also the end.
Persons were assembling at the Mar
got home to pay their last respects to
the dead. The clergyman had arrived.
the undertaken was going about with
soft tread giving directions In mOdu-
lated voice. when young man ana
woman turned corner and caught
view Of the hearse and carriages
standing before the door. The lady
sank on the mans bosom with gasp:
but. recovering. the two pursued their
way to the house Of the funeral. The
clergyman was mentioning some lovely
traits OF the deceased when the chief
mourDers uttered an excIama ton of
surprise and made a bolt for the hall.
where stood the newcomers.
"Oh. Betty" exclaimed both father
and mother In a breath
The obsequies We're discontinued on
account of the appearance of the oh
ject for which they were held. and a
great relief. a great JOY. reigned In
their stead. This was Betty's expiaDa-
ton: