Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1915-10-14
CHADWICK, CHAUFFEUR
ANOMALOUS


Aunt Betty, who 10 not really an
aunt g ell. but only . very dear
friend Of mothers, has made her
home with ~ for over twenty years.
She has been with us ever since she
lost her little boy and her husband I'm
. forest IRE In Canada. We were very
fond Of her In spite Of her queer ways.
One q her IDEAS was that some day
her son wcnld come hack. alive and
strong. and that he woald marry Doro-
thy. She kept ne half OF coin that
had been 'hers since her courtship
days The other half had been tied
round the neck Of her husband. who
had vanished In the smoke. She would
fetch Il out Of tn hiding place every
Little while and fondle IL, saying: my
husband shall never see again, but
my son win come and bring the other
half Of this coin 70 Dorothy. Just as
has father brought IL 20 me-"
Dorothy. who In my sister. took Il
al in good part. and never let Aunt
Betty catch her smiling at me when
her future husband was mentioned. i
certainly was surprised when she took
it into her head-but 7 am going too
fast
One would have thought that Chad
wick was the last Of people to cause
any disturbance In cur quiet, well-or.
dered life. He was an ideal chauf.
feur. Until he came we were always
atSthe mercy Of our chauffeur When
Chadwick came, however. everything
went smoothly. especially the car
Chadwick was q clean, outstanding
American Of far above the average
Intelligence. Dorothy liked him. she
said. because he had = perfectly
straight nose.
Either the nose or the fascination
for motoring made Dorothy sadly
neglect her horses for the sake OF the
automobile. None Of us thought any
thing Of it until one day Dorothy said
she was going 20 see the Johnsons.
who lived about twenty miles away.
and went on with Chadwick in the
automobile. About half an hour later
Aunt Betty made up her mind that she
would Ike 20 so % the Johnsons' also.
! borrowed Tony Spencer's machine
and took her along. About ten miles
from home We came up with our own
car standing empty I'm the road.
pulled MP and Jumped ont to find
what Yves the matter and came on Q
scene shall never forget until my dy.
ing day. Dorothy and Chadwick were
both seated on the ground. He had
his arm around her waist, and she had
q luncheon basket In her lap. She
into his mouth. and they were laugh
ing about t. Think Of iti A daugh-
ter Of the American republic; my own
little sister Dorothy, feeding her
chauffeur on chicken IN the public
highway-or nearly
Good heavensl" I cried.
They both looked up. and then, see
ing who Il was. they scrambled 10
their feet.
Mercy sakes!" cried Aunt Betty,
who had followed me. After that
there was q silence which Dorothy
was the first 10 break. Il don't care"
she said. 81 love him" And with
that she fell sobbing on Aunt Betty's
motheriy breast. was wild with
rage.
"what right have you 10 touch
her. 20 30 much an look at her?"
asked Chadwick. "You-a greasy me-
chanic. with your hands and clothes
shiny with the oil Of machines. What
sort Of home could you give herr
A stucco dwelling In q back street,
with the neighbors' children Chamber.
Ing over the front porch-the neigh
bors' weekly wash tapping In the
Backyard" He heard me out without
ninching. though I could see every
word uttered hurt. When I stopped
for breath, he began to speak.
MY God. Miss Henderson! You
don't have 90 ten me that. But what
are we 20 do? We love each other.
swear to you ! meant no harm.
swear to you on the thing I hold mos:
sacred" He was tugging at his neck
an he spoke. and then he drew from
under his shirt the half Of O coin en-
actly like Aunt Betty's.
Where did you get that?" screamed
Aunt Betty. Dorothy and / stood
open-mouthed.
I've had It since ! was q boy. NJ
father put 1t round my neck just be-
fore he died. ] remember his saying.
Go. take the old token to your moth.
er. lad have been trying to find
my mother ever since"
Ny son. my soni" cried Aunt Bet
e. and she tainted In his arms.
shall never forget the expression
ON my mothers face when / brought
Chadwick down 90 dinner with me
and introduced him az Aunt Betty's
con. and Dorothy's fiance.