Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1915-10-12
A Halloween
Scheme
Il Was Well Planned and
Worked Well
BY F. A. Mitchell

0Sststsfsfstststststsfststs
II WISH" said Mrs. Edgarton to her
friend, MS. Tisdale, that your Alice
would fall in love with my Frank. A
young bachelor Is SO beset by tempta-
tons. II Frank were married should
not have to keep worrying about him
all the time. lie is out every evening,
sometimes till morning. | don't know
where he goes or what he Is doing l
never 60 to sleep till be comes In, and
thus spend hours worrying"
"You have no need 20 worry about
your boy said the other. Frank Is
simply doing what most young men of
fortune do ut his age-he Is enjoying
the novelty of things. When that nov
city wears Off he will become engrossed
In more serious matters"
would you object to match be-
tween him and Alice|
ION the contrary, should welcome
It We have little or nothing to leave
Alice, and l should be glad to see her
married to man whose income would
preclude the probability Of her coming
to want"
Suppose" rejoined Mrs. Edgarton
thoughtfully. I'VE lay a trap to bring
them together. 1t would be useless for
me to say to Frank that | wished him
to marry Alice. and even If he acceded
to my desire It would be equally use
less for you 70 try to force Alice to ac-
cept him. II we could contrive to
throw them together | would have
great hopes Of Frank falling In love
with her, she is SO attractive In every
way. But | have my doubts about
Alice. II seems to me that she Is too
serious, too thoughtful. too good for q
man of the world like Frank"
my daughter Is very impress.onable
There is also good deal of romance
in her nature. If we could bring about
some episode by which Frank would
appear to be a hero in her eyes we
would win our point or If 1t could be
made to appear that fate intends him
for her husband that would have the
same effect"
II have itr' exclaimed the other,
speaking suddenly a thought that
flashed upon her. Halloween will be
here in another week. l will give
Halloween party. will invite Alice
and you must come too. We will con.
coct some scheme to make 1t appear
that fate intends her and Frank FOL
each other"
Mrs. Tisdale made no objection to
this, though she would have preferred
that the scheme be worked out at her
own home, since It would be more be
coming that the man should come to
the woman rather than the woman to
the man. But Mrs. Edgarton pos
sessed q country place especially suit
able to q house party. 1t had been
closed for the season. but could be re.
opened.
Mrs. Edgarton and Mrs. Tisdale were
especially adapted to carry out such
scheme - they had In mind. Botf
had been married very young and hac
Jumped almost from girlhood into
gay world. Neither had yet passed
out of the forties, nor had either los
her adaptation for playing part
Mamma" said Alice Tisdale, look
ing at her mother through q pair OF
eyes to remind one Of deep poo
darkened by surrounding rocks and
overhanging verdure. do you really
think there Is anything in Halloween
"Why do you ask, Alice"
well, we are going to Mrs. Edgar
toms country place for a Halloween
party, and l would like to know before
we 20 whether the belief or fancy OF
whatever 1t is that one may see fu
ture husband or wife Is all rubbish ol
whether there is anything In It."
1--WE don't know, dear, where super
stition ends and legitimate faith be
gins. There are certainly many won
derful things In the world that we cal
supernatural. Some Of them may be
referable to natural laws OF which VIC
have no knowledge"
Mrs. Tisdale was well satisfied Will
herself at this method Of answering
her daughters question She woult
not Intentionally deceive her child. anC
she felt that in her reply she hal
spoken nothing that was not true
What she said made marked impres
sion on Alice. She went to the librar.
and. taking down a book on strang'
customs, turned to Halloween ant
read Of girls seeing the faces Of thei
future husbands in looking glasses, th'
setting afoat of candles on river ant
other such methods Of determining
their future. II she did not believe II
their efficacy she certainly did not dis
believe.
The house party ut Mrs. Edgarton'i
country place assembled In the after
noon preceding Halloween. They dinet
and after dinner sat before the grea
fireplace in the hall telling ghost sto
ries. At 10 o'clock the hostess an
nounced to them that they were e1
pected to scatter themselves over th'
large domain. There was room enough
for all, she told them, and If 1t wa!
! fated that they should meet with an!
adventure to show them their futur'
mates there was no reason why i
should not be done on this Halloween.
| The girls all obeyed the hostess, bu
some of the young men preferred
game of bridge or billiards and de
/ INJURED to going out into a cool nig'
under the stars to participate in whs'
they considered childish perform
ance. But Mrs. Edoarton told thN
that they had not been invited to
bridge or billiard party, but to
Halloween party. and they must &C
cept the situation. With this they sal
lied forth. some to sit In q summel
J house and smoke, while others. respect
/ ing their hostess wishes. wandered
over the place. Lights were seen OF
the bosom Of the river. indicating tha'
some of the girls had brought candles
and set them iaoat.
Frank Edgarton had been requested
by his mother to set an example to th'
other men guests by entering into th'
spirit of the affair and 90 forth II
search of adventure. He strolled alon,