The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1914-10-02
WHAT CAME
OF A LARK
By OSCAR o

IF were to lose my fortune" said
Frank Atwood to his friend, Ned Col
by. at the Athenaeum club. do you
know what I'd dO?"
"What?"
I'D hire ont for n cOachman."
You'd have to make it a chauffeur
There are no coacbmen any more"
There are a few. ! have no fancy
for a machine. but | love n horse"
"If there were any young women in
the family there'd be u OF these Sc
cret marriages that we e so ofteE
mentioned In the newspapers. follow
ed by the customary annulment or d.
vorce."
"Oh, no. there wOuldn't!"
"Ill bet you there would"
How could we settle such a bet?'
by putting the matter to practice.
Advertise for n position and when yoc
find one with Il pretty girl In the fam
lily take it. I'll bet you q hundred thT,
within three months you marry the
girl"
THAT would be interesting, wouldn't.
ity' said Atwood thoughtfully.
The upshot of this bit of dialogue
was that Atwood advertised as sug-
gested and. after answering several In
vitations to call and present creder-
tails, at last found n place where there
was the required pretty girl. His ere
dentials were wanting, but fortunately
he was able t initiate the Irish brogue
and claimed to have just come over
from the green isle. where he had beeE
chief hostIer for Sir Charles O'Malley.
Since his employer was not versed IT,
literature he did not appreciate the att
surdity.
The bet stood $500 even that witbin
three months Atwood would be al.
least engaged to Miss Bertha Fosdick,
daughter OF his employer: $500 more
that he would marry her, and 500
more that he would run away With
her.
1t would seem that Colby should have
received odds on such a wager. and tx
he had been Il real councilman twenty
to one would not have been enough
But Frank Atwood was a very 1T
tractive young fellow and had a smiie
that no girl could resist. Miss Eos
dick was but seventeen. and 1t was
predicted that when the G year her
introduction to society should take
place she would prove a heart smashef.
Why parents will allow their daugh-
tiers to pass under the influence of theit
drivers is Il mystery. From fifteen to
twenty is an irresponsible age for d
| girl. and in nine cases out of ten where
the sexes are thrown together without
restraint. especially where they are
young. a match will be the result. AZ
any rate, Miss Fosdicli. being permit
ted to go out alone driven by the han&-
some coachman, ut once fell under her
influence. Atwood, being full Of the
Old Nick. told her that he was a young.
err son of an Irish barOnet: that the
family had been impoverished by the
obliged to shift for himself. He had
come to America. got stranded and.
having always been used to horses, had
taken up their handling as a vocation.
Quite likely some of the low born
drivers who steal the daughters OF
their employers tell some such yarn as
this. Atwood's conscience did not trou-
gentleman with II future. and III his
own propria persona an excellent match
for the young lady. But it served to
enlist her sympathies for him, and
sympathy is akin to love. She wisk.
ed to inform her father Of what the
cabman had told her, but Colby. know.
ing that such u story going to-, his
employer would result in his being i'm
mediately fred, refused permission.
And so the game went on. the hand
some coachman driving the pretty Mise
Fosdick every pleasant afternoon. and
since it was not as pleasant for her to
have him perchel ON the box so far
above her she soon came to select Il
cart to ride in. so that he might sit
beside her. Occasionally they would
meet some of Atwood's friends. whe
would stare at him, wondering how
any two men could so closely resemble
each other as the handsome clubman
and this liveried coachman. But Frank
would keep his eyes on his horses and
brazen it out. On one occasion they
met Colby driving with q party OF
friends. and although Ned. according
to agreement. did not give the coach
man away. the ordeal was trying.
The outcome of the wager was q
compromise. One day Frank Atwood
appeared at the club mot in livery,
| and sat down to lunch with his friend
Colby,
Ned be said. what was intended
for a lark has turned u seriously.
am going to propose for the hand Of
| Miss Bertha Fosdick and ] don't wish
the girl love to be the subject of a
bet. propose that we call the wager
| Off"
Atwood never went back to the Eos
dicks in livery. lie wrote a long let
ter to Mr.. Fosdick in which he told
as much of the truth as it would do
to tell. gave him references and asked
permission to apply to his daughter
| for her hand.