Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-12-14
FAIR CON-
SPIRATORS
By SADIE oLcoTT=

The new In1ng IN the shape Oh u uihl-
riageable man in ~Pentonville was Nc
Donnell. He was a young lawyer,
Who went to the city every day, Pen
tonville being a suburban town, and
did not know that in the consideration
of the manageable girls of the place
he was not only a new thing, but a
very desirable thing.
''This Mcdonnell fellow" said Emily
Chandler to a number of young Pen
tonville girls who were discussing the
eligibles, or, rather, the want of Nigi-
bles of the town, deserves to be taken
down from his high horse"
"What high horse?' asked Phoebe
Brooks.
"Why, he has refused to be intro
duced to n of u.s."
81 doubt it," said Phoebe.
"Why do you doubt itT'
Because there's no authority for it,
it's mere talk. Anyway If it's true
Mr.. Mcdonnell probably has his W.
reason for not making our %acquaint-
ance.''
For my part" chirped Lucy Ellison
IF he were to ask to be introduced to
me | would decline the honor"
THAT'S a good idea, Lucy" said Miss
Chandler. Suppose WI all take that
stand. If IN one proposes to intro
duce him well decline"
An agreement was entered into by
the girls to this effect, but they had
no opportunity to show their spleen tc
Mcdonnell, because he did not ask to
be introduced to any of them. Az
aunt of his lived in ~Pentonville, ana
Mcdonnell spent such hours as hung
heavy on his hands at her house, where
he was very much at home. This lady.
Mrs. M~eriweather, very soon heard of
this conspiracy and got the names of
the conspirators.
One morning Miss Chandler received
"a note from Mrs. Meriweather stating
that her nephew, Ralph Mcdonnell,
had seen the young lady at church and
had expressed a desire to be introduced
to her. Would Miss Chandler dine
with Mrs. Meriweather for the purpose
Of enabling the nephew to make Miss
Chambers acquaintance?
Miss Chandler dispatched an accept
ance In hot haste. Mcdonnell show
ed her the attention he felt called upon
to show his aunt's guest, and Miss
Chandler was delighted. But she did
not speak of the meeting to any of her
girl friends.
Soon after this Miss Lucy Ellison
received an invitation by telephone
from Mrs. Meriweather to come over
for cards In the evening. Mrs. Meri-
weather's nephew had seen Miss Eli
son at the Turner club and had ex-
pressed a desire to know her.
The young lady accepted.
During a period of several weeks ey-
cry one of the ~conspirators had been
informed by Mrs. Meriweather thai
her nephew had expressed a desire to
be introduced to her, all receiving in
vitations for the purpose. Every girl
accepted the invitation, but not one of
them said a word to any OF the others
about the acceptance. Nor did either
Mrs. Meriweather or Mr.. Mcdonnell
say anything either. Phoebe Brooks.
who had doubted the report that had
led to Mr.. McDonnell's ostracization,
was one who was invited to Mrs. Meri-
weather's house to meet the ostracized
gentleman, but was disinclined to act
contrary to her friends. She hadsnei-
ther acquiesced nor declined to take
part in the o~stracization, but, not lik-
ing to place herself in opposition to her
friends, found 1t convenient to have an
engagement.
Mrs. M~eriweather's next move was
to invite the gifls whom her nephew
had expressed a desire to know to an
informal dance at her house, partners,
of course, being provided. The girls
were invited at 8, the men at half
past s.
The first girl to arrive was Lucy FL
lison. The second was Emily Chan
dler. They arrived almost simultane-
ously and met in the ladies' robing
room. They. started on seeing each
other, and each staDamered an apol-
ogy for being there. When they went
down into the drawing room McDoll-
nell greeted each as If he had known
her for years. As each girl came in
anu bIOOu vi Jut LuIcohOlu cJdIluS Ut
the conspirators who had already ar
rived the host advanced and greeted
her cordially, indicating by some well
timed remark a previous acquaintance
The last girlto arrive was Miss Brooks.
When she entered Mrs. Meriweather
with unusual formality introduced,
my nephew, Mr.. Mcdonnell"
The girls already arrived looked at
one another. Some colored, some gave
an embarrassed giggle, some were an
gered, but one feeling pertaiRed to all.
To use IN expression common among
them and the young fellows they knew,
they had been "stung."
Nevertheless the hostess and the host,
her nephew, manifested no knowledge
of the real situation, but set about en-