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Show ' THE HEART OF AN HEIRESS. By George V. Fittock. . At the birth of Gladys Blingum all the pro-pitous pro-pitous stars appeared to be in conjunction, and mamma, who was very rich, and very high-toned, having come from a family of very distinguished and very successful blacksmiths, was mighty proud of the chubby, auburnThaired tot. . She chose the name of Gladys for her only daughter because shortly before introducing this olive branch into the world she had been reading one of May Agnes Flemming's classics, and had found therein a character of that name. The character was an aristocratic young woman, very cultured and exceedingly proud, who had a lofty contempt for the plain people. She married a very wealthy nobleman and reflected great credit on her family. Mrs. Blingum fondly expected her daughter to follow in the footsteps of the Gladys immortalized by her favorite author. Besides, Mrs. Blingum was a highly cultured woman. She had been educated in Chicago and she knew that Gladys, or rather, she was quite sure that Gladys was a name from the classics. She felt that it had a classical ring. It sounded like Greek to her. In her early childhood Gladys developed not along the lines laid down for her. Her nos(5 turned up from the beginning, and her mother feared that she had bred back to the blacksmiths. Instead of playing with the haughty Castelarks of the adjoining villa, she evinced a preference for the offspring of the plain people of the village. But the worst thing that showed up in Gladys w her heart. It grew abnormally in the direction of sentimentality. At the age of seven she planned an elopement with Tommy Griffen, aged five, one of a family of fifteen children of the village stable keeper. Mrs. Blingum was alarmed. The significance of an affinity between her daughter, the scion of a family of blacksmiths, and the son of a man who kept horses, was tremendous. Mrs. Blingum hoped that this preposterous manifestation would pass with adolescence. Unless Un-less the influences of a higher education could frustrate the baneful inclinations that were so assertive as-sertive in childhood, perhaps Gladys would fail to follow in the footsteps of May Agnes Flemming's aristocratic young woman. It was a harrowing reflection. Strenuous efforts ef-forts must be made to arrest the development of Gladys' heart. But as she grew older she seemed positively reckless in the bestowal of her affections. affec-tions. She used to steal food for the poor children chil-dren of the village, and the discovery of her depravity de-pravity almost broke her mother's heart. Even the dogs in the village knew her as their friend. It was positively shocking. Sometimes Mrs. Blingum would confess to herself, in the privacy of her boudoir, that "blood will tell." "Yet I had hoped," she soliloquized one day, "that Gladys would take after the family of Mr. 1 jjH Blingum." (The Blingums had been bad detit 1 iH collectors for three generations, and there wasn't ,. HjH a heart in the whole family.) Gladys was sent to a fashionable academy in , "m New York, and later to a finishing school in Paris, ;fl where she developed temperament. iB The auburn-haired, f reckle:f aced girl returned iflH to San Francisco, a tall, dashing, spirited, graceful j young woman, very chic, very stylish and with a ' jH haughty air. ! 'jjM Her entrance into San Francisco society was 'H made at a great ball to which only the elite of the metropolis were invited. Several eligible young iHE men were on hand. Mrs. Blingum invited them B with a view to arousing the interest of her daugri- iH ter. An alliance with any one of them would ! have brightened up the family lustre. One of them H was Reginald Fairflax, son of a millionaire candle HQ manufacturer, who worked in his father's office. WM He had inherited the paternal thrift. He was typical of the best blood in San Francisco society, so-ciety, for he had developed the true commercial spirit, and despite his riches it was known that he would never marry until he could get a wealthy girl. The rating of the Blingums was entirely satisfactory to him, but Unfortunately Gladys did not take kindly to him. Her mother spoke to her. about him after the ball. "Why, he's getting bald," said Gladys. "But he's not more than forty-three," said Mrs. Blingum. "All the debutantes are marrying men of that age or thereabouts. I do hope that you will marry a man who has reached maturity." "I hope so, too," said Gladys, "but I draw the line at a man who has begun to spoil." Within a few months Gladys had looked over the field, and one day she astonished her mother by saying that she had not met a man in San Francisco society whom she could love. Tears welled in Mrs. Blingum's eyes. "I always al-ways feared that vulgar sentiment would ruin your chances," she said. "That's better than having it ruin my happiness," happi-ness," said Gladys. "Besides, mother, I have too much heart to make even a man whom I do not. love unhappy by marrying him." "My dear, your heart is the bane of your existence," ex-istence," snapped Mrs. Blingum. One day Gladys Blingum met a poor sculptor at an art exhibition, and her heart went out to him. His own met hers more than half way, and they were married and the Blingums were shocked. "I always felt it in my- bones," said Mrs. Blingum to her husband, "that our Gladys would disappoint us, but I never thought that her absurd ab-surd heart would lead her into such a mesalliance. It was bad enough to have a blacksmith for a grandfather, but it's worse to marry a man who makes ornaments out of bronze and reminds you of those poor Italians one meets somewhere on the continent." Fortunately, young Slocum, the sculptor, had talent, and his wife gave him the money to develop de-velop it, with her at his side in Paris. He became be-came famous and received large sums for his handiwork. Then Mrs. Blingum welcomed him home and submitted to be sculptured in marble. Before long she had busts of herself all over the house, and she opened a salon and talked about art to cultured men and women who knew no more about it than she did. On such occasions she had the drawing-room filled with her busts, to help out the atmosphere, as she explained. Mrs. Blingum was very proud of her son-in-law, who seemed to think she was a very amusing old; woman, and who couldn't help laughing in her face one day when she said to him: "I do wish that some day you will make a bust of my foot. Gladys says I have a very pretty foot, and I think it would look very well in a bust." "Yes," said Slocum, "a foot's bust is a unique work of art." Town Talk. |