Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1916-08-04
A Tactless
Wooing
By EDWARD J. STEWART

AO
taken place, and the fleet was ready to
sail. The surgeon In charge of the hos
pital approached the medical director
to report that all invalids had been re-
moved.
There's a man." said the former,
"'who, / think, must have died without
his death getting on to the list. He
was dying yesterday afternoon.
haven't seen him since and presume
hts body was removed. Conover should
have seen to It that the record was
made"
"well, there's no time now," said the
medical director, ito investigate the
case. We must go aboard"
So It was that when the ships reach
ed the United States the name of Hor-
ace Morton, petty officer, was reported,
"Dfed in hospital
Now, 1t happened that the elimtna-
ton of Horace Morton was very ac-
ceptable to Mrs. Martha Jones, the
mother Of Ethel Jones, who had been
betrothed to the sailor before he de-
pdTIeu IOT vera STuE. Ilc Ado hOLhiuS
to marry on, while Philip Thompson, a
plumber, who also wanted Ethel, had
made considerable funds In his busi-
ness and was able to take care OF her
In good style. Mrs. Jones had set her
face against her daughters marrying
Morton, and to quiet the old lady Ethel
promised that If her lover lost bis life
in Mexico she would marry Thompson.
After this promise there was peace in
the Jones family, Mrs. Jones hoping
that the man who she considered stood
In the way of her daughters welfare
would be snuffed out by a Mexican bull
let.
But there was only a small scrap at
the landing at Vera Cruz, and greatly
to Mrs. Jones' disappointment, Morton
was not among the killed. Then came
the evacuation, and with 1t the mother
made preparations to renew the fight
in the matter of a son-in-law. But
when she read In a morning paper that
Morton had died at Vera Cruz she NUT
tered silent thanks and with every ap-
p~earance of heartfelt sympathy broke
the sad news to her daughter. all the
while laying plans for a wedding witt
the plumber.
Ethel shut herself up in her room FOL
a week, then came out with a surren
der, telling her mother that since hel
8 lover was dead she cared not whom sh'
y married and was perfectly willing t
8 take the. plumber or any one else. Sucl
being the case, Mrs. Jones sent MI
Thompson word that the way was opel
for him to win her daughter, but sh
, advised him to be very circumspec
, and proceed slowly. She believed tina
Ethel thought she loved another, bu
that the girl was deceiving herself
Q few weeks courtship &GY do tn
business
Mr.. Thompson, who was not an adep
in wooing a woman who had just los
> the man she loved, began by send1n
> Ethel an invitation to a plumbers bal
Fortunately, he sent it through Mrs
Jones, who threw 1t in the fire with a
haste and wrote her daughters nor
acceptance ON account of i~ndispositioI
Mr.. Thompson's next move was send
ing a bouquet of flowers. Mrs. Jone
intercepted them, separated the posy
put them In a box and gave them {
Ethel as an offering of sympathy froI
the donor.
This was a beginning, and Mrs
Jones hoped that by carefully headinI
off the indicate attentions of MI
Thompson to bring the affair to a sue
cessfuI termination In due time. VIII,
she took so much pains to prevent he
daughters being ruffled by the plumb
er's want Of tact is not plain, becaus
Ethel was not In a state of mind T.
care whom she married. Perhaps he
motive was looking to the future. 1t i
also a question as to why Mr.. fhomp
son was anxious to marry a girl who's,
heart was in the grave. He explained
this to Mrs. Jones by saying that a live
man was better any day than a deaC
one and Ethel was sure to find 1t out
1t must be admitted that there is more
wisdom In the explanation than senti
ment in the statement.
All things have an end, and the
plumbers courtship was no exception
The wedding day came round, and
with 1t came a coincidence. When the
wedding party was assembling In walk
ed Horace Morton, who had failed tt
get on the dead list In accordance with
the navy regulations. And there was
no time for an investigation. He
had walked out of the hospital In deli
rum, and the party responsible for him
had been looking for him up to the
very moment of the sailing of the fleet
homeward.
Upon his appearance as a wedding
guest, pale and emaciated, there was a
scattering of those present. The bride
alone seemed to consider him flesh and
blood and, rushing toward him, fell
into his arms. He had been aware OF
Mrs. Jones' opposition to him and heI
preference for the plumber; conse-
quently he took in the situation with
out its being explained to him.