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Show 1 1 fp-:1P mm I ill I yKX Sf I ' it & y JHtefc, I' i yn IBglfcg I BISIfe'JHl Arnold Stcclman Ernest, the rich Trine Charming against whom pretty manicure girl has tiled a $o0,000 "heart balm" suit, Hl If a body meet a body coming down Hji the STAIR, should a body thrill a l body with a boyish STARE? Write B Iter love letters? Beg her to marry Hi I him? And then, just when Cupid had H; spat on his chubby hands and Hi! grasped tho bell rope to peal the Hp wedding chimes, should he play Hj sick? Postpone tho ceremony? Leave H! the girl to grieve among the ruin H of her love castle in wonderland? Hj No emphatically NO says Miss Hji Ruth Ray Stout, pretty manicurist, who recently filed a breach of prom- Hj ise suit for 50,000 against Arnold H; Stedman Ernest, member of a Hi wealthy East St. Louis family. She Hji alleges that ho did all these things, Iand as a result her heart is broken. "I feel very old, very wise and ij very lonely," says the girl. l The romance, according to Miss Hr Stout, began when young Ernest, HL then on the "outs" with his family, H was a roomer in the homo of her mother in Chicago. Miss Stout says HI'. that at the time she did not know of Hi, his wealth and social standing, hut loved him for himself alone. H, Ernest's father, Finis P. Ernest, i' was a well-known real estate opera- j tor, and had extensive holdings in H; east St, Louis and Colorado. Ernest's K mother was one of the commission- H crs from Illinois to the Louisiana K Purchase Exposition. Since tho Hf death of her husband she has been H' living In Colorado, where she is so- Icially prominent. The elder Ernest laid out Denverside, an East St. Louis subdivision, and had other valuable val-uable holdings there. A Denver sky- m scraper bears his name. Young Hi" Ernest is interested in the oil busl- ness. H! Miss Stout's story, as told to her , lawyers, Callahan &. Callahan, fol- B ; lows: , By Ruth Kay Stont.' l 4 One evening last December I stood H ; in the hallway of our apartment H mother's and mine shaking the H s snow from my wraps. Suddenly I H i heard a footstep on the stair. H "Cold evening, isn't it?" said a H ) voice. H I looked up to see a young man of H handsome face gazing into my eyes. Hj Ho was smiling pleasantly. Hl ''Yes, bitter cold," I answered. h He passed by me and opened the R front door. Before going out he H turned and smiled again. Hj The young man was Arnold Sted- H man Ernest, our roomer. He had Hf come to us a month before, but this H'J was the first time that I had ever Hi seen him. H A week or so later we 'met again. HS "Will you go to a theater with me m sorao evening?" he asked. "Yes." I said. H ARNOLD PAYS PRETTY H COMPLIMENT. H I shall never forget that evening. m We went to vaudcvillo and all through the show Arnold never took H his eyes from me. I was embar- H rassed. I blushed. In an attempt to H divert his attention I asked', "Isn't H she pretty?" The reference was to B ono of two girls on the stage. H "Not nearly so pretty as you," he B replied. m Arnold's words thrilled mo B through and through. No one had ever paid me such a pretty compli- H ment before. I could have cried H with joy. I fell asleep that night H9 thinking of Arnold, my Prince H Charming como to life. M The next day he told mo that he H was going away. "I am in love with M a girl," said Arnold. "Sho means H everything in the world to me and ii V 1 i Ll ?B Sift? J. SffiBS5i9BBKlwBfflSfi for her sake I am going to make good. The folks will give me another an-other chance they will realize." He did not tell me that I was tho girl-then. girl-then. But I knew. And that evening ho went away. I threw myself on tho bed and cried. Soon camo letters wonderful letters let-ters from a lonesome boy. "You are such a sweet, good, beautiful beau-tiful girl and I love you so much. Good night, sweetheart. My kisses , and many hugs. Always your Arnold." Ar-nold." WELC03IED HIS -' ARDENT WORDS. Was ever a girl more happy than me? No, never! I was the one and only sweetheart of this handsome chap who had traveled and seen so many others. My silly little head was turned by such phrases as these: "I certainly love my little girl and hate to bo away from her. Dearest, you are all in tho world I have. I want to squeeze you tight and call you mine. I just got a letter from my old girl of last summer. She is In New York and wonders why I don't write. However. I think loo much of you, dearest, and have no time for her." Fear crept into my heart when I learned from his letters that bis family was rich and socially prominent. prom-inent. And yet it was all so wonderfulso won-derfulso liko tho story of Cinderella. Cin-derella. After a time he asked mo If I would marry him. Marry him! The words burned into my brain made mo dizzy with happiness. I wrote him a letter telling him how much I loved him how much I would love him in all tho years to come. And then we set about to plan for the wedding. I quote extracts torn Arnold's letters to show how sincere ho seemed: "Will admit I kept my eyes open for a little place that will be nice for -ncwlyweds. Yes, I will be all I can to you and you will still have your mother, too. You can visit her whenever you want to, providing pro-viding that you don't stay away too long, as I will get lonesome. Have been looking around for a little lit-tle apartment for you something modern and up to date. Your mother has a right to feel that you have not known me long enough and so does my mother feel the same way but my mother is like yours; she does not understand. If they did they would both agree with us. However, How-ever, I feel tho best way is to get married and tell them afterward, makinc it a great surprise to every one. All these details can be arranged ar-ranged later, as I can talk to you, dearest, better than I can write. Am looking forward to tbis coming October, when you and I will bo together always. My mother will he here In October. That will be fine, as sho can go out and help you pick the little things you need for the apartment. Sweetheart, do you know how to cook? If you don't I will teach you, as I am some cook. Write to me, dearest. Am glad you feel so happy about tho coming October." And then Arnold also wrote some intimately dear things about our coming marriage. For Instance: .y-'f t ' JKbHk 1 f ''IB - 1 1 Hv illlllllllllllllllllllllll 1:4 i III i Mi MiMPfflllllJl Hi k-' w ' H "Am glad you thought it was me when you had your arms around that girl in your dreams. I would, of course, feel badly if j'ou were not dreaming of me. I will admit I often oft-en dream of you. The time will soon come when you can put your arms around me and I certainly will put mine around you. I givo them credit for having good ears to be able to hear me talk in my sleep through tho wall. Tt will be a great pleasure for me to talk in my sleep so you can hear me and I hope tho pleasure is not far off. n I am getting along fine and am glad you are a twin, and wish I could be the father of twins, so, you see, I am satisfied with you (anything else that may happen). Joke. Your letter received and my Utile girl has been crying. Dearest, don't you cry. That makes you feel so bad and it makes me feel worse. When Hazel put her arms around you and told you that I had a child it is strange you did not shudder uith fear, as when a person does me harm and makes mo feel bad they can't put their arms around me and tell me ono more. She Is smarter than you think sho is. There is no disgrace in having children, and I only wish I did have a littlo j.;irl, ' However, I havo no children and have never heard the wedding bells, but I hope to hear them soon." TO TAKE HER TO WONDERLAND. c . Last July Arnold motored to'Ghi- ' cago to attend tho auto races and to see me. I was not aware of his coming or else ho would not have found me the Sunday following sitting sit-ting on tho back porch drying my hair. Then and there, taking mo in his armB, he sealed our troth with a kiss. Just think, we had been engaged en-gaged for months and thiB was 'tho wpT:';:;;,.;-: fflKJ.':'::::::-::::::i''::ii::..':::::,'i ;" ':::'::' :l L-"',::::::::::".: I:-'- ' "'": . 4: &.?: .:::.: . 4 &!jM;:.::-: ...:.:. . ' 1 L": & - -r': , ? y i Wit "-. v llllllllllllllllllllll k-,v',-''.!M 3x&38kJ&WsTMm& W llilllllllh w ESmSwH i - ?ftii lllllllllllllill 3p-T)i I H 1 j UHH SmMM first time our lips had met "Arnold, dear, let me go and do up my hair," I said. XThls is no way to recelvo company especially one's fiance." "I will be angry If-you do," replied re-plied my sweetheart. "You havo the 7' " V.:!":!:: ": '' M$m ' ".':-:-.-S'::' J BHaOT8HBSfciSiBByiwSB mjt iiillVnTMiinWlniTiTiiyTr T1VTnf jibT itt'ti TIP m . 'imSlllm r; tiHM WmL ' "mmm 'w ffi mm x v&'" - ;W if W - most beautiful hair in the world and never have I appreciated this more than now. Please don't be naughty and spoil a pretty picture." "What a glorious Sunday wo spent together! Regardless of Arnold's deception, no matter that he has broken my heart, I shall ever love him for having given me the pleasure pleas-ure of those all too few hours. We planned our future life together in a cozy little bungalow; that's aa far as we got In our day dreaming. Ana he kissed me again and again. Twelve times it was a caress of the lips. Three times twelve did he breathe softly on my auburn hair "You are such a wonderful girl," ho said. "And it does not matter that I am poor?" "No, dear. I shall so enjoy taking my 'Alice' through a Wonderland she has never seen." But it did matter that I was poor! A short while after Arnold's departure de-parture his sister, Mrs. Florenco E. Cragen, came to Chicago on a visit. She called me on the phono one day and introduced herself. "I could not go backj homo without seeing you," said Mrs. Cragen. "Arnold would bo qulto put out." I went to her hotel. She received mo quite cordially, but I scented trouble when sho asked mo to tell her something about my work. "I am a manicurist," I said. ImHhP ; &. 3Iiss Ruth Roy Stout, whose lovo castles in viontlerland fell wuent slie says, her wealthy sweetheart failed to show up for tho -nodding. "Ho feigned illness," declares the girl, "but my detectives proved he was shamming." "A manicurist! Heavens!" I did not seo anything wrong in that Until a short tinio before I had been employed in a stationery store, but often I had to work at night I did not like that, so took up manicuring. WARNS HER OF DANGER. "I do not believe any young person per-son should follow that kind of work," added Mrs. Cragen. "But," and her words cut me deeply, "I always al-ways knew Arnold would marry a poor girl." Later Arnold's letters breathed of suspicion. A manicurist must of necessity be frivolous and flighty so he evidently had been mado to believe. be-lieve. Said he in ono missive: "Do any of tho men ever ask you to go to the show the regulars that you manicure? Be careful, dearest, I am so worried about you," And again: "You know, dearest, you are now dealing with the public, and to do that you must believe only 1 per cent of what they say. Also handle Chem In a smooth way. Please be careful, dearest, as you know I think so much of you; and pardon mo for saying what I have, but my thoughts of you are for the best, sweetheart. SOUGHT TO RUSH TO HIS SIDE, As our wedding day Oct. 1 drew near Arnold wrote less frequently. I believed him to be very busy, and In tho letters which I mailed him every ev-ery day offered my sympathy Also I told him of the wedding showers and the farewell party my girl friends had given me and of the pretty trousseau I bad prepared. " On Sept, 29 I received tho following follow-ing telegram: "Wrote letter yesterday. Unablo to come to Chicago at present owing to my recent illness while in Mexico, Mo. Letter follows giving particulars. particu-lars. Feel very sorry that I have to put matters off somo few days longer. ERNEST." I felt sorry that the wedding had to be postponed, but more sorry to think, as I did then, ' that Arnold iKr sjfr' 4?f til mS'y 11 m ' . I . . ':-:'?Bjfc ii &., - hI iffipfih' .-fh ' jHff P53fijBJK JBv $$9iHt ': .Bi J mm' '.Jifar " Ipv. ;v';yr ' -' i -, jS s ' ' yS ' , i had been ill. You see, wo had planned to be married quietly at my homo and the next day have all my relatives present to meet Arnold. It j. was necessary that I send word of 1 tho postponement. I never heard so many and varied expressions of ''I told you so" In all my life. None ' would believe that Arnold was real- ly sick. The romance throughout Is had seemed too much liko pages r from a story book to bo real. I shed tears. I stamped my foot I grew enraged at their insinuations. i "Arnold Is sick!" I cried. "Ho loves me I know ho does!" ' I mailed him i letter telling him i' I was coming to East St. Louis. "If f you are ill my placo is by your I side," I wrote. In answer I received Ii the following telegram: Lvi "Have been ill for five days. Will writo you a long letter today. Noth- f. ing to worry about. Everything will j uomo out all right. ARNOLD." i a 4 My suspicions were aroused for the first time. Why did lie not want I 5 me with him? I determined to find 1 out And with the aid of a detective J ? I did find out! It was because he 'i j had mado up his mind not to marry , 5) a manicurist Ho had not been ill I in fact, he was never healthier in I his life. p Followed my breach of promise f suit. f g It is all over between us. I have ; j- passed out of his life into a new j, world that, no matter what it might j' m hold for myself and others, will not i- hold him. Tho memory of romance '- is burled In the ashes of the past Do I love him still? No. But I I Bi shall miss the companionship of the s happy hours when he took me into I his confidence about his plans and II ambitions, when he let me feel that m I was to mean something rral, L something constructive, to him f.- in his large, man's affairs j! jtjc that I was to help him live h jM as he had helped me. These won- i J derful things that made me so proud qj so proud and happy! I thought I ; ij meant more to him than a toy, a ? U plaything; moro than a pretty wo- I ? man who piqued his fancy for the moment. j fr Tho poet was right after all. S I "Man's life is but a jest, a dream, a (, 2? shadow, bubble, air a vapor at tho i; lrJt best" And I was born to be a I m dreamer! i, Si' (Copyright, 1915.) i, $ lL t 11(5 |
