The Columbus dispatch. (Columbus, Miss.) 19??-1922, 1921-10-30

: though ! tried to look as pretty a
! | could, the hope faded from his fac,
: and he turned away Nothing wa
left for me to do bat to move on.
: Next came Georgia Griffin, in rose
colored satin; then Eloise Roper il
violet; then Eugenia Eckford in al
s oriental costume; Martha Biles as
shcpperdess; Mariaddie Maxwell as d
Jewess; Beatrice Parsons as Swiss
peasant; Thelma sartain, in scarlet
and white; then came the bride, Fan
ME Harrison, who did look too sweet
for anything-we all said-he blonde
beauty intensified by her snowy veil
, and orange blossoms.
The few favored ones who were adj
{ mitted said it was an immense success
and would be the greatest event of
Halloween.
But the next night, just as we had
all assembled, note came from Mrs.
Sartain, saying that Thelma had an
lalarmingly sore throat, and that she
was growing worse and would not be
able to come. We all said, what a
shame to have Thelma miss it, but
suddenly Fannie Harrison proposed
that we should beg her school FRIEND
Mildred Brown, who had arrived that
afternoon, to take her place.
"She is tired from her journey, but
she need not appear until the last
minute, and she can wear one of her
lovely Partisan dresses. She will
come; know she will; she never re-
fueses me anything" said Fannie, as
away she flew
Miss Brown came in quietly, just
before the music began. "What bride
she would have made; perfect coun-
terpart to the Prince" whispered
Eugenia Eckford, who paints and has
an eye to color and artistic effects.
She was as beautiful as a whole
garden full of roses, dewdrops and all,
with auburn hair, and great gray eyes
that were both soft and keen, pink
complexion and lips like red carna-
tons. Her dress was of cream-color-
ed satin, embroidered with wild roses,
and wonderfully becoming.
| was so enraptured with her love-
illness that nearly forgot to move
when my turn came, till the Turing
music drew my feet along, only to
meet for the second time that cruel
look of disappointment and disdain
from the enchanted Prince. Here
was a small bit Of comfort in seeing
the next six maidens droop little
under the same sign of rejection, and
pass sadly on.
Then came Mildred Brown, "beau.
tiful as a poets dream as Martha
Biles said. As she stepped within
the frame of the Magic Mirror, saw
the Prince turn pale, then paler Then
his face flushed like sunrise, and he
started forward with his arms out
stretched.
Mildred had grown white, as well as
the Prince, and believe she would
have tainted if the Prince had not
caught her and held her up.
Fannie told US the whole story the
day after Halloween.
Once upon a time, Mildred and the
Prince fell fathoms upon fathoms deep
in love with each other; but Mildred's
mother persisted in calling it girl
and-boy affair, and sent her off to
Panama to visit her uncle. The Prince
Twas in disguise then, so to speak, be-
ing nobody but Reginald Walton, who
.clerked in his uncle's store and was
Jas poor as a church mouse. But he
went to Brazil, after Mildred vanish {
ed, to seek his fortune-if he could
not forget his woes-and had re-
turned to America only a fortnight
ago, having come into his kingdom. I
Not one word had either heard from
the other until that blessed evening I
when the magieian's wand restored
his bride to the Prince.
Nobody could call it a boy-and-girl /
love now, especially as Reginald Wal
ton was in possession Of a princely
fortune which he had amassed in
Brazil.
So now the Prince declared that he
would not lose sight Of his love again,
but that they should be married that I
very week in that very room No
body had the heart TO object. though /
we girls felt defrauded that the
anticipation and fiutter of prepare
ton should be so short. But a pref
tier wedding the candles never shone 4.
upon. We were all there. Mildred |
looked even lovel;er than on the ]
night Of the Magic Mirror. She wore /
he same dress-Reginald insisted on
lthat--and a millionaire way insist on /
anything, but the bridal veil covered
il like a delicate mist, with diamonds
glittering out here and there like dew
drops.
But whether she looked more like a
flower or a star, I could not tell, as
standing before the old picture frame
that was wreathed about with linden
leaves and lilies-of-the-valley, the
real Bride was really married to the
real Prince j