The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-01-01

indeed . decisive factor In tho situa-
ton and had shed q rosy, II somewhat
fictitious light Of romance over the
past three weeks. Perhaps even the
kiss. had 1t never been repeated, might
have lapsed into its true perspective
in due ourse Of time had it not been
for the sudden appearance of the stran-
ger In the Wilson pew. The moment
that Patty's gaze fell upon that fash
ionably dressed, instantaneously dis
liked girl, Marquis Wilson's stock rose
twenty points in the market. She
ceased in a jihy to weigh and consider
and criticise the young man, but re-
garded him with wholly new eyes.
His figure al better than she had
realized, his smile more interesting.
his manner more attractive. his eye
lashes longer; in a word, he had sud-
denly grown desirable. A month ago
she could have observed with idle and
alien curiosity the spectacle Of his
thumb drawing nearer to another fem
inine) thumb on the page of the Watts
and Select Hymn Book" Now. at the
morning service, she had wished moth
ing so much as to put Marks thumb
back into his pocket where it be,on-cd
and slap the girls thumb smurt'y and
soundly as it deserved.
The ignorant of Pntty's dis
tresS was a certain Annahel Franklin,
the daughter of a cousin of Mrs. viii
sons. Mark had stayed at the Frank
lin house during his three weeks visit
in Boston. where he had gone on bust
ness for his father. The young people
had naturally seen much of each other
and Marks in1ammable fancy had
been so kindled by Annabel's doll-like
charms that he had persuaded her to
accompany him to his home and get a
taste Of country life in Maine. Such
is man. such is human nature and such
is life, that Mark had no sooner got the
whilom object Of his affections under.
his own roof than she began to pail.
Annabel was twenty-three. and, to
tell the truth, she had palled before
more than once. She was so amiable.
SO we'll finished-with her smooth fax
en- hair, her neat nose. her %buttonhole
of a mouth and her trig shape-that
she appealed to the opposite sex quite
generally and irresistibly as a worthy
helpmate. The only trouble was that
she began to bore her suitors somewhat
too early In the game, and they new
er got far enough to propose marriage.
Flaws in her apparent perfection ap-
peared from day to day and chilled
the growth of the various young loves
that had budded SO a~uspiciously. She
always agreed with everybody and ev-
erything in sight. even to the point Of
changing her mind OF the instant II
circumstances seemed to make it ad-
visable. Her instructive point Of view.
when she went so far as to hold n
was somewhat cut and dried-in a
word. p1ggish. Her father had an
ample fortune. and some one would in
evitably turn up who would regard
Annabel as an altogether worthy and
desirable spouse. That was what she
had seemed to Mark Wilson for a full
week before he left the Franklin
house in Boston. but there were mo-
ments now when he regretted, fugi-
lively. that he had ever removed her
from her proper sphere. She did not
seem to fit into the conditions of life
in Edgewood. and it may even be that
her most glaring fault had been to de-
scribe Patty Bakers hair at this very
Sunday dinner as "carroty," her dress
altogether "dreadful' and her style Of
beauty "~unladylike." Ellen Wilson's
feelings were somewhat injured by
these criticisms of her intimate friend.
and, in discussing the matter privately
with her brother. he was inclined to
agree with her.
And thus. so little do we know of the
prankishness of the blind god, thus
was Annabel Franklin working for her
rivals best interests. and. instead of
reviling her in secret and treating her
with disdain in public. Patty should
have welcomed her cordially to all the
delights Of Riverboro society.