The Glasgow courier., 1916-07-14


be crime for her to-but what's the
use Of talking about it? She'll be
here. and she'll lead the grand march
with the prince. I've got it ALL
"Well. you'll have to talk to her.
I've done all that l can do. She
swears she won't marry a man she's
never seen."
In order to get on with the narra-
tive, shall be as brief as possible in
the matter of the Blitherwood bali.
In the first place. mere words wouls
prove to be. not only feeble. but az
tually out of place. Any attempt to
define the sensation of awe by re-
course to a dictionary would put one
in the ridiculous position of seeking
the unattainable. The word has its
meaning. Of course. but the sensation
itself is quite another thing. As ev-
cry one who attended the ball was
filled with awe. which he tried to put
forward as admiration. the attitude
Of the guest was no more limp than
that Of the chronicler. In the second
place. am not qualified by expert
ence or Imagination to describe ball
that stood its promoter not penny
short Of one hundred thousand dol
lars. believe could 60 as high as
fifteen or even twenty thousand dol.
lar affair with some sort Of intelli-
gence. but anything beyond those hg-
ures renders me void and useless.
Mr.. Blithers not only ran a special
train de luxe from New York city,
but another from Washington and
still another from Newport. for it ap-
pears that the Newporters at the last
minute couldn't bear the idea of go
ing to the metropolis out Of season.
He actually had to take them around
the city in such way that they were
not even obliged to submit to a
glimpse of the remotest outskirts of
the Bronx.
From Washington came an amazing
company of fc::--ign ladies and gentle
men. ranging from the most exalted
Europeans to the lowliest of the yell
low races. They came with gold all
over them; they tinkled with the
clash of million cymbals. The pres
ident of the United States almost
came. Having no spangles of his own.
he delegated a major general and
rear admiral to represent Old Glory.
and no doubt sulKed In the White
House because parsimonious nation
refuses to buy braid and buttons for
its chief executive.
In order to deliver his guests at the
doors of Blitherwood. so to speak. the
incomprehensible Mr.. Blithers had a
temporary spur Of track laid from
the station two miles away. employ
ing no fewer than thousand men to
do the work in forty-eight hours.
Work on terminal extension in New
York was delayed for a week or more
in order that he might borrow the
rails. ties and work trains.
Two hundred and fifty precious and
dred and hfty gargantuan dinners
and twice as many suppers; drank
barrels Of the rarest of wines: smoked
countless two dollar perfectos and
stuffed their pockets with enough to
last them for days to come.
A great many mothers inspected
Prince Robin with interest and con-
fessed to really genuine enthusi-
asm. The ruler of Graustark -four
ffths Of the guests asked where in
the world it was!) was the lion of
the day. Mr.. Blithers was annoyed
because he did not wear his crown.
but was somewhat Modified by the
information that he had neglected to
bring it along with him in his trav-
els
Exercising potentate's preroga-
tive, Prince Robin left the scene Of
festivity somewhat earlier than was
expected. AS a matter of fact. he de-
parted shortly after l. Moreover,
being prince, it did not occur to
him to offer any excuse for leaving so
early, but gracefully thanked his
+ host and hostess and took himself off
without the customary assertion that
he had had a splendid time. Strange
! to say, he did not offer a single COM
ment on the sumptuousness Of the
affair that had been given in his
honor. Mr.. Blithers couldn't get over
that.
| Except for one heartrending Incl
dent, the Blitherwood ball was the
most satisfying event in the lives of
Mr.. and Mrs. William w. Blithers.
That incident. however. happened to
be the hasty and we'll managed flight
of Maud Applegate Blithers at an
hour indefinitely placed somewhere
between 4 and o'clock on the morn
ng Of the great day.
Miss Blithers was not at the ball.
She was In New York city serenely
enjoying one of the big summer
shows. accompanied by young Sco-
Vile and her one time governess.
middle aged gentlewoman who had
seen even better days than those
spent in the employ Of William w.
Blithers. The resolute young lady
had done precisely what she said she
would do. and for the first time in his
| ljfo Mr. P1jthorS roalizod that his