Bridgeton pioneer., 1917-06-28
Back to the
Farm
By OSCAR cox

was seventeen years old. She was
sent to boarding school, but found the
life there too confining for one to
whom beautiful world had been sud-
denly opened, and at the end of the
first term she went home.
But in this short time Madge had
picked up various items and had be-
come eager to see the world. She
appeared in Paris under the chaperon-
age of lady she had met ON the out
ward voyage who took pity on her,
considering that she was on the
straight road to perdition.
In Paris at the races which she at
tended with a party of Americans
stopping at the same hotel with her
Madge met Count (or so called count
River, and proposal burst forth as
suddenly as the oil that had made her
rich. To jump from the raising of
cabbages to wealth was pleasant, and
to jump from plain Madge Houghton
to Countess River was another de-
hghtfal rise. Madge accepted the
count at once.
Madge did not consider that there
was any occasion for delay, and the
nuptialS were about to be celebrated
when the Duke D'Alger caught sight
Of Madge at the opera and, hearing
that her income was several hundred
barrels of oil a day, straightway Sc
cured an introduction. Madge inuuir-
ed as to the difference in rank between
a count and duke and was told that
counts were plentiful, while dukes
were few, therefore supply and de-
mand made a duke infinitely more de-
sirable than a count
D'Alger lost no time in proposing to
Nadge and was accepted. How she
was to get out of her affair with the
count she did not know, nor did she
find way. To escape her two fiances
she fed one night by train to Italy.
Her lovers were for some time igno-
rant Of her whereabouts and after
they found out were delayed in going
after her from the want of funds. This
gave Aadge some respite.
Unfortunately for her peace Of mind,
h Rome the Prince Caracolini caught
sight of her and heard the story Of
her wealth. But he got it mixed. He
understood that she was the owner Of
a machine for making barrels; that It
would turn out thousand barrels a
day and each barrel was worth a dol
lar. He at once solicited an introduc-
ton.
Now, in Italy there as many princes
as there are counts or dukes in France.
But Madge was told that prince was
the next highest rank to a king. In
her childhood she had read of princes
and princesses in story books and how
princes had married peasant girls. To
step from garden truck raiser to the
rank OF princess was captivating.
Moreover, she got the idea into her
head that she might rise from prin.
cess to queen. The prince was not
long in proposing to her, and he was
forthwith accepted.
Madge made a solemn resolution
that she would stick to Caracolini
Her ardor, however, was somewhat
dampened by his asking her for a
small loan, and soon after her engage
ment an Indian rajah, who was stop.
ping at the same hotel with her on the
Esquiline hill, broke into her plans.
The rajah saw Madge in the dining
hall Of the hotel one day when he had
taken it into his head to dine there
instead of his rooms. He knew or
rnthinor |, - I'll
but Madge had on her a thousand dol
lar costume and her pretty complexion
could not be spoiled by the cosmatics
she used. The rajah sent one of her
suite to ask for an introduction.
The upshot of this matter was that
the rajah asked Madge to be his wife.
He probably meant one of his wives;
but Madge did not understand it so.
1t was explained to her that the raiah
was a ruler in India, and she would
be what in other countries would be
equivalent to a queen. AS to wealth,
Aadge's fortune would be to the rajah's
as huckleberry to watermelon.
This was the first Of all her pro-
posals that seemed to come from the
heart Of the proposer. Madge might
have been affected by it had it not
been that the rajah looked very much
like picture Of Bluebeard in a story
book Madge had possessed when she
was a Child. To be a queen would
be delightful; but to be the wife Of a
tat black man with piratical whiskers
and an evil eye was a stumbling block
IN her route to happiness.
However, Madge had climbed the
ladder to the top rung and could climb
40 higher. She married the rajah, and
the bride and groom left Rome lust
In time to escape the count and the
duke, who had finally succeeded in
raising the funds necessary for the
Journey to Rome. AS to the prince.
the rajah sent him a gem worth $780,
600, which healed his wound.
One morning several years after this
happened young woman appeared ut
a blown out oil well in PeouSvlvan;o