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Show (DOROTHY DILEMMA B IIAYKN OAKKUTII. Copyright, 1901, by Dfily Story PuUlthtng Company. I K It was tho Dominie's turn to till a story. "Or you can sing a song If you prefer." suggested tho Judge with a suavo air. "Or I dare say you would ntfcopt a cake-walk," returned the Domlnlo, as ho arched his eyebrows and looked around at the company. "We'd prefer It," said tho Colonel promptly. "I'll touch up tho piano with a llttlo ragtime." "I refuse to gratify your scandalous scandal-ous wishes," replied the Domlnlo stoutly. "I'll not only tell a story, but I'll seo that there Is a moral tacked on as becomes ono of my cloth." "Can't you give us tho moral 'first, then we won't liavo to bo dreading It?" asked tho .ludge. "Yes, I'm willing to do that. Tho mora Is: Dowaro of selfishness, lest you bo hoist with your own lyddlto shell. It all happened up at my town last fall. There's a widow living there who has thrco daughters, very estimable young ladles, but, alas, tho two older are exceedingly selfish. They are both somewhat farther along In life than the averago unmarried woman 1 don't know how old they are I hopo I'm too much of a gentleman gentle-man to know anything about a lady's nge but Just for the Bake of tho story wo'll call one of them slightly over thirty and the other slightly under. un-der. The third daughter I'm willing to como out boldly and call twenty wo'ro on safer ground whon wo get down In that neighborhood, you know. And better yet, this girl Is ono of the most unselfish creatures In tho world. She Is, In fact, a most charming girl In every way, with a pretty face and a quiet, unassuming manner which never falls to win with Its slmplo charm. If she has any falling It Is that of too great humility nnd an Inclination In-clination to allow herself to bo Imposed Im-posed upon. But probnbly this has been brought about largely by her being be-ing constantly domineered over by her older sisters. There Is, I bellcvo, a sort of unwrltton law among women thnt daughters must marry In rotation according to ago, though Instances of rebellious younger sisters who marry before their elders arc common enough. But certainly In this caso Dorothy, which we'll name tho youngest, young-est, had not the least Idea of over doing anything so Improper. It might seem to hor thnt her older sisters had had a fair chanco, and that thoy wero unconscionably long In getting out of tho way, but still she was patient pa-tient and willing to wait. "Indeed, Dorothy was very closely looked after by her mother and older sisters, and llttlo opportunity was ever given her oven remotely to contem-plato contem-plato the idea of marrlago. It was not until last fall that anything In tho gulso of a man was allowed to approach within hailing distance. Then sho was given tho privilege of receiving some circumspect calls from a neighboring young man named Harry Har-ry Lambort. He's ono of tho best young fellows In town, only n year or two older than Dorothy and altogether desirable In ovcry way. During the tall ho was accustomed to drop Under the tree on the lawn, around Sunday ovenlng und spend an hour with Dorothy on tho front porch or elttlng on a bench under a tree on tho lawn. Her mother approved, though the older sisters woro accustomed accus-tomed to sneer and to question the propriety of tho proceedings. Though you roust not gather that the older girls had no ntteutloiiH- far from l. Mr. Edward Eilgewator has been reg ularly paying court to Elizabeth, tho oldest, for a number of years. Mr. William Jackson has been doing tho samo by Ruth, the second duughter. I don't know why, but tho progress of Messrs. Edgowntcr nnd Jnckson hns been exceedingly slow. They havft called with clockliko regularity evory Sunday ovenlng, but tho Joyous wedding wed-ding bells hava refused to ring. "So during tho fall things ran on as I have Indicated, each of tho young men finding happiness In tho company com-pany of tho lady of blB cholco ovcry Sunday ovenlng. But with tho approach ap-proach of cold weather tho prospect "Indade, OI'll not " for Dorothy changed. Tbo porch or tho lawn wero all very well under tho soft Influcnco of tho harvest moon perhaps preferable to uny other placo but tho austere November moon is another thing. Right here I ought to mention that tho widow's houso, though comfortable, Is far from large. It accommodated Elizabeth and Ruth very pleasantly for courting purposes, but thero was really no place for another. an-other. So thero was nothing for Dorothy but to throw herself on tho gonoroslty of the others, and beg them to nharo with her, slnco Sunday evening even-ing was tbo only time that Harry could conveniently call. Sho went to Elizabeth first and laid tho case before be-fore her, and asked for tho uso of the parlor occasionally perhaps once a month. Tho older girl proved colder than tho November moon. Sho replied re-plied In effect that sbo was In tho habit of entertaining Mr. Edgowatcr In the parlor each Sunday evening and that sho had no Intention of giving giv-ing it up for a chit who ought to bo in short dresses. Hardly I Dorothy had better go back to her dolls. "Poor Dorothy wiped her eyes nnd sought Ruth. This lady was dumbfounded. dumb-founded. Tho Idea! Sho was accustomed accus-tomed to seo Mr. Jackson in tho dining din-ing room each Sunday ovenlng, nnd she thought sho saw herself giving It up to n minx who ought to bo wearing wear-ing her hair In a long brnld. Oh, yesl Dorothy hail bettor go back to her dolls. Dorothy had a quiet cry, then bIio bethought her of Maggie. Tho kitchen was not Just tho placo to receive Harry, but any port In a storm; so bIio sought out Magglo. "Tho lolkcs of that! Well, I never! And mo In tho habit of receiving Afllcor Donovan hero lvcry Sunday nolght, with the conslnt of tho missus. And him n proper young man, and on this beat, and that his only nolght off. Indado, OI'll not! OI'll glvo notice first! It's a wonder that Miss Dorothy Dor-othy don't go back to hnr dolls!" "Poor Dorothy! Sho retired to her own room and had a good cry. Fato was against her; thero was no hope. It was Saturday; tho evening paper liredlctrd a cold wave, Thero was a little touch of snow on the ground tho next morning. Dorothy cried somo moro. This was really all thcro was left for her to do. "But next ovenlng Harry caino. Ho had feared tho worst, and wns provided pro-vided with his winter overcoat and a pair of heavy gnlosheo. 1orothy put fii her wlnUr cloak and took her muff juul together they spent an hour tramping brlbkly up and down tho path besldo tho house. Tholr teeth chattered considerably, but they managed man-aged to carry on a conversation, nnd lu sou.10 purpovo, ns appeared subsequently. subse-quently. At tho end of (ho hour Harry sal'l good-nlrbt ft t- front stops, passed out tho gate, sneezed furlousl thrco times and hurried home. "Tho next nftornoon Dorothy and Horry called at my houso. Harry asked mo to marry thorn then nnd thero. Dorothy told their story, nnd explained that they had not Intended to bo married for a couplo of years, mainly out of regard for tho feelings of her sisters, but that now there was nothing for them but to bo married or glvo each other up, which they could never, never do. So I married them. "Tho marrlago, I heard, produced somo excitement In tho widow's household. house-hold. Elizabeth and Ruth arc reported re-ported to hnvo said things, especially whon they got a note from Dorothy whllo away on n llttlo thrco-day wedding wed-ding tour, nsklng them pleaso to look after her dolls, and seo that they wcro fed regularly and put to bed at seven o'clock. Messrs. Edgowatcr aud ' Jackson wcro also said to liavo been rendered thoughtful by tho occurrence, occur-rence, nnd when I met Ofllcer Donovan Dono-van on his beat tho next day I noticed no-ticed ho seemed preoccupied. So If you haven't forgotten my moral you seo where It comes In. Bo generous. At least, don't be too selfish." |
