The Keota news., 1913-09-12

They DID THEIR BEST
By JANE OSBORN.

specting girl never of her own accord
fell in love till the object Of her
thoughts had openly declared him
self. Did anybody for an instant be-
lieve that Mrs. Van Duesen would
have thought OF Mr.. Van Duesen that
way" until Mr.. Van Duesen had pro-
posed to her? Obviously not! So
when Kate Van Duesen. Mrs Van
Duesen's only daughter. admitted to
her mother shamelessly that she
would marry Harold Vevtn II she
had half a chance and on top Of that
unbecoming statement kept bunch
OF violets that Mr.. Nevin sent her
till they were dried past recognition.
Mrs. Van Duesen decided that Kate
needed to be sent away. She should
be kept away till she had forgotten.
Il don't see why l can't stay and
be sport like any other girl" pro-
tested Kate. You might think I was
dying of broken heart to freight me
OF like this. Besides. am quite sure
Fred Nevin likes me. If / gave him
half chance, and half as much en-
couragement as some Of the other
girls have given him. l am sure he
would come to 1t"
Mrs Van Duesen was shocked by
this shameless frankness. 1t was. Of
course. the result Of Kate's associates.
All the more, she should be sent away
from home to her aunts.
Even II he did ask you to marry
him." Mrs. Var Duesen said. Il could
never reconcile myself to the idea
10 80
a man whom she left-fond OF before
he had proposed. 1t would be very
unsatisfactory arrangement"
So Kate went to her maiden aunts.
her fathers sisters. in Rosley. eighty
miles from home the aunts being In
structed by letter to keep Kates mind
occupied with harmless amusements.
and the aunts did their best They
gave several tea parties for her. they
taught her. or tried to teach her. the
newest stitches in crochet lace, they
spent hours trying to arouse in her
heart some interest in cribbage and
chess: they walked with her and took
her driving in the old family victoria.
and every night at nine they tucked
her into bed like ten-year-old.
Kate had been in Rosley two weeks.
She had heard nothing directly or in
directly from Harold Nevin, when the
day that she had been anticipating
ever since her arrival in Rosley ar
rived. 1t was her twenty-first birth
day. and Kate felt legally and morally
free to go home. Finally. however.
she was not free. She had been
brought to her aunts' house by her
father on his way on business trip.
and left with only a little change in
her purse. She had made up her
mind. however. that when she was
twenty-one she would walk home II
necessary. She was willing to do al
most anything to get away from the
discouraging narrow-mindness OF her
well-meaning aunts.
At five o'clock on this fall afternoon
she left her aunts' house, saying that
she was going to have supper with
a neighbor In Rosley. But Kate's real
plan was otherwise She had taken
in her hand bag the small velvet case
which contained the old cameo pin
given to her as a birthday present
that very morning by her well-mean-
ing aunts. 1t was once the property
Of her grandmother. and was much
priced by the aunts in Rosley. Kate
turned pale as she thought of the
length to which she had been driven.
She was going to take this priced
piece of jewelry to the pawn shop
and thereby raise enough money to
buy her ticket back home, to telegraph