The Press., 1916-08-17
Dorothy's
 Guardian She Wanted Him All
 to Herself.
By CLARISSA MACKIE

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 When Dick Merwin graduated from college his classmates predicted that he would take high rank among men in the worlds battles. While he was delivering his commencement oration there was one person in the audience who listened to his youthful effort without thinking or caring for its mer- 1t. She was wrapped in the speaker himself.
 From the moment he made his ap- pearance on the platform this young woman appeared as though she were under spell, fascinated by the very presence of the man, from whom her eyes never wandered.
 Linda Barton. an undergraduate of the woman's college of the same uni versity, had met him, and there was something in that pair of gray eyes through which he looked at her that seemed to penetrate her very soul. From the moment of her meeting him she worshiped him.
 On the evening of commencement day the president held his usual re- ception for the graduating class. Lin da, whose tastes ran to music, was in- vited to add to the eclat of the occa- sion by the performance of a selection on the piano. She chose her piece from Beethoven's sonatas and while v,ro vii ,~ooatuad nt attention Tn rising from her instrument she looked into the face of Merwin.
 The campus was illuminated, and a throng passed from the presidents resi- dence out among the elms; some of which had been planted a century be- fore. There on a bench in a secluded spot Merwin told his companion his story, a story which she listened to with delight.
 But the course of true love did not run smooth. Merwin went from the university to the law school, and it was a year before Linda was graduat- ed. A misdirected letter is quite enough between youthful lovers to change the current of two lives. Whatever was the cause, Linda never told, but there came break. Neither married. Mer- win became a prominent lawyer, and in time Linda, finding it necessary to earn her own living, availed herself of her taste for music to do so. A re- tirtng disposition unfitted her for a public life, and she became a teacher in a young ladies' seminary.
 But the betrothal that occurred on that commencement night, when they were in the first freshness of youth, lived in the hearts of both. Merwin became one of the legislators of the nation; Linda subsided into 8 quiet maiden lady teaching the next genera ton to play the piano. "
 
 Five eager, glowing faces were bent over the large photograph in Dorothy Blake's hands.
 "Isn't he a perfect dear?" cooed Dor othy ecstatically.
 "So distinguished with that touch of gray at the templesv' sighed Maud Banning.
 "Such fine eyes! Are they gray, Dol ly?" asked Eva Temple.
 "M-m-m-m-mr' murmured Dorothy But you must remem- Der. girls, that I haven't seen my guardian since was twelve, that is six years ago, and at that time I wasn't the least bit interested in the color of any one's eyes,"
 Sweet child!' teased Susan Marr "So you are interested now in this guardian who looks like an actor?"
 Dear, I'm in love with himw gushed 
 "So are we all of us," lamented Amy Smith, with & rueful smile. "How old is he, Dolly?'
 "Old as the hills. He must be nearly fifty; forty anyway"
 "Methinks I've seen that face be- fore" murmured Maud.
 Perhaps! Richard Merwin is a very prominent man, a United States sena- tor"
 "No, no," insisted Maud seriously. Listen, girls; believe have it. Do you remember once when Miss Barton was i'll she sent me to her trunk to get a box of papers? We'll, the box was old, and as I carried it to her bedside the pasteboard cover slipped off and some letters and papers fell on the floor.
 '"I gathered them up, and among them was a mans picture. scarcely glanced at it, yet 1t remained wildly in my memory. Girls, 1t was Senator Merwin's picture"
 "Dolly's guardian?" they questioned 
 Maud nodded. q am positive. She acted quite embarrassed and slipped it under the pillow. Isn't it odd"
 Perhaps they were sweethearts once upon time," suggested Amy.
 "Pooh" said Dorothy coolly. "I'm g0- ing to marry him myself, so there"
 Small chance for poor Miss Bar tonw
 "When is he coming, Dollyw
 "I don't know. I'm expecting letter every day. I asked him to come to our dance."
 "Oh, Dolly! Fancy a grave senator dancing the onestepp'
 "Oh, he may dance the old fashioned waltzes with Miss Barton," laughed Dorothy over her shoulder as she placed the picture on her dressing table and blew a kiss toward the grave, hand some face.
 There came a tap at the door, and Maud opened it.
 Come in, Miss Barton," she cried af- as the slim, auburn haired music teacher smiled at her.
 "I can't just now, dear; I've brought Dorothy the new music she asked for. Did tell you that madame has en- gagged the Romany orchestra for the next dancew
 She laughed musically as the girls broke into noisy expressions of joy. Heretofore the school and its invited guests had danced to the tame music of piano and one violin.
 "She is dear," murmured Amy when they were alone once more.
 She would be beautiful if she wore I.a- A. e