The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-09-23
THE SHUTTLE
BY FRANCES HODGsON BURNETT
Condensation by Miss Elizabeth M. Lee Roxtury

Bettina Vanderpoel was ten years
old when her sister Rosalie married
Sir Nigel Anstruthers, an English
Baronet. Betty hated Nigel with a
child's instructive hatred for a bully,
but in spite of his coarseness, there
was certain fascination about him
which blinded Rosalie to his real char
acter They were married in the whirl
of gayety which befitted the daughter
of a multi-millionaire, and left New
York for England. Long before the
honeymoon ended, Rosy discovered
that Nigel cared only for her money,
and nothing whatever for her pretty,
rather shallow self, and by the time
Stornham Court was reached, Rosy
was desperately homesick and fright
ened. Her life in the little English
village, even while she was the lady of
the manor, was made a nightmare by
Nigel and his mother; and when, be-
wildered and terrified, Rosy sought
spiritual consolation and comfort from
Mr. Folliott, the vicar, Nigel accused
her of having lover. He intercepted
her letters, lied to her about her par
ents, and at last, furious at her re-
fusal to ask her father for money, he
struck her SO that she fell in little
heap against a chair and cried out
with crazy, awful little laugh.
Nigel, be careful! You don't know
how valuable l am! I might might
have-a son!"
Fifteen years passed, and the Shut
tie OF Life, weaving back and forth be-
tween the two countries, weaving
ceaseless web over the ocean, twisted
thread in the life of Betty Wander
poel that stirred her with the spirit of
adventure that had been born in her
Dutch forefathers, and always a voice
cried out to her to go to Rosy, to see
why the letters from England had
been so few and SO unsatisfying. Betty
was lovely woman of twenty-five,
very different from the gawky, long
legged little schoolgirl who had an
g1rly defied Nigel Anstruthers, but she
Kept her determination and her will
power and booked her passage on the
Mauretania" with a party of friends.
AT sea storm came up that threat
ened to send the ship to the bottom of
the ocean, and, rallying the frightened
people who were with her, Betty had
the unexpected assistance of one OF
the second-class passengers, a silent,
|gentlemanly Englishman, who helped
her to keep order among the passen-
gers, and then as suddenly as he came,
unsupported into the second cabin. The
storm abated at last, and England
was reached in safety, but Betty did
not see the man again.
When Betty reached Stornham
Court, her worst fears were confirmed.
Rosy was changed from a dainty, pref
ty, lovable girl into a faded wreck,
t1mid and dowdy, old before her time.
Her son Ughtred, was a hunchback
and with the cringing nature of his
kind, tried to hide himself from the
world. Nigel was on trip to the Ri
vera, and his mother had died, which
left Resale alone in the Court, which
was tumbling down for lack Of repair
| with plenty of money at her call, and
with plenty of courage, Betty set about
her work of Transforming Rosalie and
building up the house, which soon
changed from dingy, gloomy pile, to
the stately English country-house it
should have been. She superintended
the repairing of several of the houses
in the village, and one day, during her
regular drive about Stornham, she
farther and visiter the grounds of the
Mount Dunstan estate
Mount Dunstan was almost as bad
~ need of help as Stornham. There
was superstition which had come
| 'AiA OoSoA ZIG y SdI lu1l luG Ears
OF Mount Dunstan were cursed. and
the last Earl, James Hubert Saltyre
shared the dislike which had been CIV
en- his father. Going through the
grounds, Betty found the man who
mad been the second-class PASSENGER
on the Mauritania, and assuming from
MS dress that he was the keeper. she
talked to him and learned something
OF the family of Mount Dunstan. AS
she was going, she offered him money.
Wnen TO her surprise she learned that
ne was the Earl More annoyed than
confused, Betty forgave him for the
deception, and gradually friendship
sprang up between the two houses.
linen, as If to cement their friend.
ship the Shuttle twisted in the web of
u. Selden, the junior salesman for the
Delkoff Typewriter Company of New
York, who made Mount Dunstan's
acquaintance, and, learning that the
daughter of Reuben S. Vanderpoel was
IN Stornham, went to see her, in the
faint hope Of selling her a typewriter,
and contrived to break his leg in
front OF Stornham Court They car.
RED him into the house and cared for
him, and through his slangy, care-free
manner, he unconsciously broke down
the barrier of prejudice that sur
rounded Mount Dunstan, and went
back to America happy in the DOS.
session of letter to Mr. Vanderpoel,
the establishment of a longed-fo
TERRITORY" and the order for six type.
writer's which were to be sent to
England.
The long summer days found
Rosalie very nearly restored to her
former self, and perfectly contented
to have Betty there; when Nigel tired
OF the Riviera. and, having exhausted
his resources, returned to Stornham,
there to find the place built up and re.
paired. Rosalie almost free of her fear
OF him, and Betty, rich and beautiful,
In full charge. No sooner did he ap-
pear than Rosy fell back into her old
tlmid ways, but, with view to pro-
pitiating Betty, Nigel treated his wife