The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1921-09-02

The book and the play of Little Lord
SEauntIeroy0 probably spread Mrs. Bur-
tnett's name the broadcast. 1t had a
#tprodigfous RUM the pretty pathos of
Il the story appealed to grownups, though
%at seemed silly fwaddIe TO the fnnumer-
u able kids who were dragged by fond
4 parents to see IL, and was snid to be
a great nuisance to that one of the
n authors own children from whom 1t
4 was drawn. The play of "Esmera1da,e
done with w. HI. Gillette, from one of
4 mer short stories, ran three years I'm
America. "a Lady of Quality" dram
q affixed with Stephen Townsend Gas were
other pfays), had a considerable run.
~ ETTINA VANDERPOEL was
"a ten years old when her sister
0 Rosalie married Sir Nigel An
struthers, an English baronet. Betty
4 hated Nigel with a child's instructive
hatred for bully, but in spite of his
y coarseness, there was a certain fasci-
allie to his real character. They were
married in the whirl of gayety which
Il befitted the daughter of a multi-mil-
lionaire, and left New York for Eng
Il land. Long before the honeymoon
ended Rosy discovered that Nigel cared
only for her money, and nothing what
II ever for her pretty, rather shallow
self, and by the time Stornham court
was reached Rosy was desperately
homesick and frightened. Her life
Il in the little English village, even while
she was the lady Of the manor, was
made nightmare by Nigel and his
II mother; and when, bewildered and
terrified, Rosy sought spiritual con-
ISOLATION and comfort from Mr.. F'fol-
lott, the vicar, Nigel accused her of
having lover. He intercepted her let
II tiers, lied to her about her parents, and
at last, furious at her refusal to ask
her father for money, he struck her
so that she fell in heap against a
chair, and cried out, with crazy, aw-
full little laugh:
nigel, be careful You don't know
how valuable I ami I might might
have-a soni"
Fifteen years passed, and the Shut
Il tie of Life, weaving back and forth
between the two countries, weaving a
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 a lovely woman Of twenty
u he yE r.
long-legged little schoolgirl who had
angrily defied Nigel Anstruthers, but
she kept her determination and her
vtll-power, and booked her passage on
the Mauretania with q party OF
friends. At sea storm came up that
threatened to send the ship to the bot.
tom Of the ocean. and, rallying the
frightened people who were with her,
Betty had the unexpected assistance
OF one Of the second-class passengers
silent, gentlemanly Englishman, who
helped her to keep order among the
passengers, and then as suddenly as
ne came. disappeared into the second
cabin. The storm abated at last, and
England was reached In safety. but
~Sh1J uhu BUt see tDG H1hu aEdiu
When Betty reached Stornhan
Court, her worst fears were confirmed
Rosy was changed from a dainty
pretty, lovable girl into faded wreck
timid and dowdy before her time. Her
son Ughtred, was hunchback, and
with the cringing nature of his kind
tried to hide himself from the world
Nigel was on a trip to the Riviera, anc
MS mother had died, which left Ros
allie alone in the Court, which was
tumhling down for lack of repair
with plenty of money at her call, ant
with plenty of courage, Betty set about
her work of transforming Rosalie, anC
building up the house, which soor
changed from dingy, gloomy pile to
she stately English country house II
soould have been. She superintend'
co the repairing of several of che
houses in the village, and one day
during her regular drive about Storm
nam, she went farther and visited the
grounds of the Mount Dunstan estate
Mount Dunstan was almost as badly
IN need of help as Stornham. There
vas a superstition which had come
down through the years that the earls
or Mount Dunstan were cursed, and
the last earl. James Hubert Saltyre