The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1920-07-07
THE BA Ally
HORI STORY
A Special Providence.
BY MANILA MccuLlocH-
WILLIAMS,

frills on folly already quite suffi.
Gent his sister Prue answered
gformiiy. but with a glimmer OF fun
breaking through the storm. I've
wondered all along why you didn't
ask her to adopt you as an older
son instead of 10 marry you. Ever
so much more suitable"
shut up, will you!s Jessup cried
tensely. He was hard put TO It 10
keep from swearing. Prue, his
twin, hts pal from cradle days, was
IN most things wholly privileged.
But not In all. She must not bias
phenie his grand passion for q god
Afiess OF whom no man could be
fnuite worthy any more than he
could be quite insensible to her
charm
The years between? What did
tlis.y ,aattct? Love laughed at Time
cyen more than at locksmiths. Her
soiil was vernal rs the first flowers
Of spfing IN spite OF loutish lad
>somethi1g taller than Jessup him
llf and three daughters all in the
stege OF giggle and suueal. Kip
ifilefs Venus Annodomini over
again, he thought passionately--
only She had not frittered away her
widowed years in endless tllrtai
Instead she had been a model
mother, a close student of deep
fhingsl aud as such the, inspiration
OF sundry iuplift movements upon
The part OF three rectors who had
come under her Influence. Then;
az ,Hghtning from o clear sky had
come the Gufley millions-giyen
in lee, because. said the testator.
he knew they would be put to good
use.
Since she had never known
pinching poverty the money mao
not gone 10 her head, Rather 70
her feet-she admitted openly that
she loved dancing even better than
GOOD works, and now that she was
Mich enough 10 indulge her whims,
nook her It'll of 1t when and how
she chose. 4gt
Thus Jessup had come ir-she
! had found him "a divine partner"
and had not hesitated to dance
with him the newest measuers-a
rivilege refused TO all others.
The dearest, fellow! So hand.
some, so gallant, with-well, 1 don't
know how TO call it better than.
such a way she cooed to disap-
proving dowagers. To the girls
She eclipsed she said blandly here
was Knight of the Round Table,
born out OF time and to be priced
and used accordingly.
That had made Prue foam at the
mouth. Metaphorically, of course
-she was too well bred to say,
sven 10 look, what she felt. The
Joint birthday TO the contrary not.
wtthstanding, she was years be.
yond her brother in .world.wisdo mL;
tirther, she had the 6intpitive fem
mime APPREHENSION Of another
woman a.
Mrs. Vene was giving rein now
% youthful exuberances, suppress
ed by an early marriage, crowdinG
children, and the careful econo-
mics made necessary by their
needs. To speak colloquia1ly, she
was having her, fling having 1t
good and plenty, Prue had been
unwise enough TO voice her under
standing OF the fact to Jessup, say
NJ loftily; She. has had always
y stay outside the toy shop win.
dows, so itpis not strange that now
when she is up front inside, she is
rather greedy
mol Generous-i1 everything"
Jessup had interrupted. Prue had
nodded: That's sol Then | won
der Is she collecting articles OF
bigotry and virtue, such as young
men, TO parcel out later among her
girls?s
Then Jessup had actually sworn
out loud and flung away to stay
over the weekend. Mrs. Vane
had asked him to spand IL at
Brook Burn. He went thither In
Cupid's rosiest atrship, with all the
doves of Venus circling. above. He
came away leadenly, accompanied
by glooms in such legions had they
been ponderable he would have
been heavily mulcted for excess
II haEgage.
They weighed only upon his
spirit, but were plainly visible to
sisterly eyes. Mercifully she wait
ed for the period of the after.din-
ner cigar to let him know she knew
And that by . look, not words,
Something in II melted his hard
resolve OF silence, Brokenly, now
of his discontinue. His goddess
n,yas still q goddess, but there loom.
md between the awful shadow of
another, man almost elderly, fat,
plump, even pudgy, who chucked
the gigglers each under their chIns,
and spoke to Jessup unctuously as
son. The wedding was set for next
month.
Mrs. Nane. smiling and blushiag
beautifully, had asked Jessup TO be
chief uaher, adding that he was the
very first among her friends to
hear the news, Do 1t? OF course
iii II killed him. That is to saw,
II he managed to live so long.
Then he had broken into the plant
tor wasted time, when had set on
Prue's temper like pin wheel. !
She looked at him narrowly--he
vas Shaking like leaf. Some
thing must be done-and at once.
Before Sshe could fix upon the
something, fate took a hand-in
the unromantic guise of a stub.
born cow. The, immediate result
OF her stubbornnes was the ir-
rfaption OF slim girl with tangled
hair and muddy boots, who said
plainttyely: Please, please, will
anybody help me drive Susan
homer Soon as get her headed
right she balks-when start her
up, she runs backward, the wrong
way. And II / leave her till i can
get Farmer Brown TO come for her,
you VIII not have sweet pea left
she loves them so l almost be-
leve she broke out TO get at them. %
clear case of OK In the ditch
.T.or worse" Prue said cordially:
tOf course, wen help you. John,
get your golf sticks-it will make
ate so glad TO see them for once
I really uHefut-v