The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1913-05-22
AN
INTERRUPTION
,Ry ANNAbEl. BRiNSMADE Y, +

Preparations were being made Tor 9
funeral in the Margot family. The
body OF Betty Margot. aged eighteen
was to be buried ut II o'clock, aud Il
Was now 10. A great deal Of sympathy
was shown the family. for there were
very sad circumstances attending the
Young girls death. In fact, 1t was con
sldered case Of suicide.
About u year before Betty began ia
show signs Of dcspondeucy. She had
left school aud was ready to take 4
social position amoug tue young people
OF the town in which she lived. Her
mother. parity to divert her from he1
condition OF mind. did what she could
to induce her to do 10. Betty did
not refuse to 90 among those Of her
own aye. but when will, them, instead
Of beiux the bright. CHEEKY girl Of q
year before. she was tistless. The young
neu and nnsidea.ssf who: had grown, ",
with her endeav0reh for awhile to
draw her from her iethargy. but. And
iax their efforts futile, at last gave up
trying. :,
The family physician was. Of course.
consulted He talked with BETTY, ask
ed her great many questions. pre-.
scrihcl i tonic to be taken three tunes
4 day before mea!s." but told her moth
or that he conid find no Organic dis.
ease. He thought that change Of scene
might he beneficial. but the Marsots
could not afford to take the patient
away. Besides. sue said she didn't care
to 70 away. The doctor suggested that
there mixht be young man III the
case, but Mrs. Alargot 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 loyesickness. One Of his
patients had shown signs Of q break
ing down in health simply because she
could not make up her MUD between
two suitors and had finally el0ped with
4 third, to whom her parent had no OBJ
lection whatever.
Que morning when the good lady
went Into her daughters room with
the usual toast and coffee-she would
not permit Betty to arise before II
,o'clock-the room WAS empty. The bed
had not been slept in. The frightened
matron rushed from tile room. calling
her daughter wildly. The household,
Betty excepted. responded. and even
tually the whole town was reused.
The day passed with no word from
the missing girl. She must have de-
parted In the night. for no one had
seen her 70. Every village In the
neiehborhood received telephone mes
sages describing Betty's personal ap'
pearance and inqutring II she had been
seen. All her relatives far and near
were notified Not a hopeful word
came from any point.
Mrs. Margot. after she became Nc
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. ex,
citable woman-scold her daughter,
averred that the latter had been driven
away by cruelty. Some Of the neigh
bors-oid maids or married women
who had adopted dogs in lieu Of chill.
dren-said that BETTY had not been
properly brought up and had gone to
the bad
One day fresh impetus was given
to these conjectures by the discovery
Of 4 body Of woman in the liver. II
was bloated beyond recognition, but 1t
was about Betty's height. and the hair
was about the same color ~ hers. The
consensus Of opinion was that 1t was
her remains; that In a 1T Of temporary
insanity she had escaped from home
and drowned herself The sight! was
80 awful that. the parents were per::
shaded not TO look At it. An under
taker prepared it for burial. and this
brings us to the beginning Of our story,
which Is 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 ~ss going about with
soft tread giving directions in modu-
lated voice, when a young man and
woman turned corner and caught
view Of the hearse and carriages
standing before the door. The lady
sank on the mans bosom with a 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
mOurners uttered an exclamation OF
surprise and made a bolt for the hall,
where stood the newcomers.
"Oh, Betty" exclaimed both father
and mother in a breath.
The 0bsequies were discontinued on
account Of the appearance of the OBJ
ject for which they were held, and
great relief. great Joy. reigned in
their stead. This was Betty's explana-
ton: