The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1919-04-11
THE DAILY
SHORT STORY
The Man in the Photo.
" r. RAY BAKER.


~ r. RAY BAKER.
Copyright 1919, by the Mcclure News
paper Syndicate)
II I3PE SHELDON was not a i,eathen
yet she worshipped an idol. The
: IDOL was the photographic like
ness 81 man. She had the picture.
but 30 Tar as she knew she never had
seen the original; he might be dead
for al her knowledge concerning him.
Yet to her he embodied all that q man
ought to be.
This idol, or ideal, worshipped in
secret prevented Hope from saying the
onesyllable word that would have
made Henry wadsworth walk on air,
save money, pay an installment on fur
iiiture and hunt a fiat
Hope was fond of Henry. She would
have uttered that ionged-for word il it
Z had not been for the photograph. She
admitted this to herself, but to him she
said:
II can't do It. Please don't ask me
again. / have secret that prevents
my accepting you.'
That was all the satisfaction be
could obtain. Every time he proposed,
which was once a week regularly, he
got the same story in different words
fut with the same meaning. Only on:e
DID he fai, to get in his weekly propos-
nj Tina. was because railroad wreck
DELAYED his special delivery letter
while he was out Of the city on bust.
ness.
But Henry was persistence itseI.
Nothing daunted him. not even the rel
erence To the Secret At first he
conceived wild thoughts concerning it,
and los: many hours Of sleep on ac-
count of il. but it failed to vanGulsh
him. Instead, he came Da2k STRONGER,
with a determination to override ner
mysterious objections, whatever they
might be. mt,
she was = little girl she got decided no
tons about the princes AMI resolved 20
marry one when she grew up. In ner
more mature years she still had anoi7
tons to wed prince. Not the Kind
fhev had In Europe before the war; OF,
no. they we're not for Hops. She
vsnted an American husband, but ne
n,,st he q "prince OF a fellow" and inc
,irtnrA showed her ideal to be the ono
fi,at filled the bill. She would Walt LOT
tf,is prince to put in an appearance
come what may, she decided, ana IL ne
was dead she would never marry.
The picture came into her poss sssson
IN somewhat peculiar manner. Waen
Tinne arrived in the city to "stehos
ahe was obliged to rent room tna'
was a long ways from being desirable,
mi which was in respectable mousse
Il, an equally respectable neighboraool
In the tim dresser drawer was the pno-
tarraph. She pounced upon 1t with
6een satisfaction, for she recognizes
the face hooking up at her Us becoming
TO the prince Of her dreams. ,,,
The man in the picture was nllau Nv
ayea. hnr that did not deter Hc9e. he
had heavy mustache, but that was no
harreIr. It was the kindly eyes anu
the benevolent forehead that cangns
her fancy. Just what kind OF forenead
d ~ the Benevolent variety canno.
tail YOU: but Hope could. She nao
read up on such things.
Every night that photograph Wen.
under her pillow after she had worship
ned it with her eyes and perhaps talkee
II a a little. Yes, she was foolsn
littla~sdrl, was Hope-foolish along
.those lines but otherwise very sensible:
ghe did not consider that man Oh
nn;ddie.axe. with kindly eyes and q be-
.,ssoient forehead. might be married
already. He simply couldn't be, &C.
4 enrS,ne 10 her mind, because he was
made Just for her.
As time passed and the ideal persist
Cd In refusing to present himself IN
fiesh AMI blood her determination did
sot wane: instead, it became stronger.
Then q better job permitted her TO
move into more comfortable room IN
less poverty stricken part Of the city
and that Is where the trouble began.
That IA where she began fight with
herself to avoid fat.hfulness to her
ideal. For across the hall from her
lived Henry Wadsworth who held
some kind of a job in a theatre. He
ct once fell In love with Hope and then
launched himself on program OF per-
astAnt wocing. She occasionally ac-
csnted an invitation to dance or din-
rer but dn the main she declined his
special attention which was theN only
nfoper cori SO in line with her refusal
q his matrimonial offers.
But Hope wavered several times, in
priyate Of course. The urge was very
strong and she had to fight to keep
from yielding to Henry's persuasions.
he never knew this, though. All the
battles took place in the privacy of her
room, where she could stand the pic
tufe against the wash bowl and stare
g Il fifteen minutes at time, assert.
Tx time and time again that she was
tf1e. We are all deranged more or less
On some subject ESQ the experts say
md that ideal notion was Hopes.
Determination will win almost any
thing. aud at least Henry broke down
the big barrier, or. rather, he broke
down tho barrier Guarding the secret,
which was the big barrier. 1t was Just
Altar his nineteenth proposal. He kept
sf1ck of them on a calendar, so he
knew Just which one 1t was.
While he was uttering the same
Mns6s that he had given voice TO the
6eek previous, and the week before
thak etc, Hope sat in deep thought
end heard HIM through. That was
something, for usually she broke into
pretty speech and did not allow
I'M % reach the end Of it. This time