The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1919-08-15


pers thus described Mrs. Foster when
she founded the Women's Tennyson
club; and her word upon art, letters
and the drama was accepted more as
law than as opinion. Naturally when
"Hazel Kirke" finally reached town,
after its long triumph in larger places,
many people waited to hear what
Mrs. Henry Franklin Foster thought
of it before they felt warranted in ex-
pressing any estimate of the play. In
fact, some of them waited in the lobby
of the theater as they came out and
formed an inquiring group about her.
81 didn't see the play" she in
formed them.
what! Why, we saw you, right In
the middle of the fourth rowl"
"Yes," she said, smiling "but I was
sitting just behind Isabel Anderson.
I couldn't look at anything except her
wavy brown hair and the wonderful
back of her neck"
The ineligible young men of the
town (they were all ineligible) were
unable to content themselves with the
view that had so charmed Mrs. Henry
Franklin Foster; they spent their time
struggling to keep Miss Amberson's
face turned toward them. She turned
1t most often, observers said, toward
two: one excelling in the general
struggle by his sparkle, and the other
by that winning If not winsome old
trait, persistence. The sparkling gen
tleman lied germans" with her, and
tA har xtrit
quets-sonnets lacking neither music
nor wit. He was generous, poor, we'll
dressed, and his amazing persuasive
ness was one reason why he was al
ways in debt. No one doubted that
he would be able to persuade Isabel,
but he unfortunately joined too merry
party one night, and during a moon
| light serenade upon the lawn before
| the ANDERSON mansion, was easily
| identified from the windows as the
person who stepped through the bass
viol and had to be assisted to wait
ing carriage. One of Miss Amberson's
brothers was among the serenadeYs,
and when the party had dispersed re-
mained propped against the front
door in a state Of helpless liveliness ;
the Major going down in dressing
gown and slippers to bring him in, and
scolding mildly, while imperfectly con
cealing strong impulses to laughter
Miss ANDERSON also laughed at this
brother the next day, but for the
suitor it was a different matter: she
refused to see him when he called to
apologize. "You seem to care a great
deal about bass viols |" he wrote her
81 promise never to break another u
She made no response TO the note, un-
less it was an answer, two weeks
later, when her engagement was an
nounced. She took the persistent one,
Wilbur Minafer, no breaker of bass
viols or of hearts, no serenader at all.
few people, who always foresaw
everything. claimed that they were not
surprised, because though Wilbur Min
afer might not be an Apollo, as it
WERE" he was "a steady young busi-
ness man and a good church goer, )"
and Isabel Anderson was "pretty SEN
sible-for such a snowy girl" But
the engagement astounded the young
people, and most of their fathers and
mothers too; and as a topic it sup
planted literature at the next meet
ing of the "Women's Tennyson club
"Wilbur Minaferi" member cried,
her infection seeming to imply that
Wlbur's crime was explained by his
surname. 'Wilbur Minaferi It's the
queerest thing l ever heard To think
of her taking Wilbur Minafer, just
. because "a man any woman would like
thousand times better was a little
wild one night at a serenadel"
mo, that wasn't her reason" said
wise Mrs. Henry Franklin Foster. "If
} men only knew it-and it's a good
really care much about whether a
mans wild or not, if it doesn't affect
herself, and Isabel Anderson doesn't
care n thingW
Mrs Foster"
mo. she doesn't What she minds
Is his making clown of himself In
her front yardi It made her think he
didn't care much about her. She's
probably mistaken, but that's what
she thinks, and it's too late for her
to think anything else now because
| SleS going 10 De LIdIiltu ilShl away
the invitations will be out next
week. It'll be a big Amberson-style
thing, raw oysters floating In scooped-
out blocks of ice and band from out
of town-champagne, snowy presents /;
colossal present from the Major.
Then Wilbur will take Isabel on the
carefulest little wedding trip he can
manage, and she'll be a good wife to
him, but they'll have the worst spoiled
lot of children this town will ever
see."
"How on earth do you make that
out, Mrs. Fosterf"
"She couldn't love Wilbur, could
she?" Mrs. Foster demanded, with no
challengers. ''Well, it will all go to
her children, and she'll ruin 'em ~
The prophecies proved to be mis-
taken In a single detail merely: except
for that her foresight was accurate.