The Oklahoma State Capital. (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 20, No. 69, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 23, 1908 Page: 5 of 8
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TTTT
THF. OKI AHOMA STATE CAPITAL,!
o
Margaret Busbee Shipp
Copyright, 1908, by Thomas II ZicKee.
• OU'VE been crying, Effle. You aren't strong
enough to seo company yet."
"It wasn't that. Mrs. Joyner eyed the baby
all over, and then she said: 'What nice llttlo
ears she lino!' and old Mrs. Morris remarked
in a comforting sort of way: 'But I've always noticed,
the ugliest children make the prettiest grown peo-
ple.' "
"They're Just a pair of cackling geese, they don't
Ktow a fine youngster when they Bee one. I'm sure
she weighed nine and a half pounds! As for her
looks, all babies aro exactly alike, can't be told apart.
Goodness, Effie, you aren't crying again?"
"I—I am afraid I don't think she is pretty either,"
confessed his wife between sobs. "I cannot under-
stand why I should have a daughter with red hair."
But red it was, and straight it was, in spite of Mrs. y
Wyatt's frantic efforts to the contrary. She brushed
It backwards fifty times every morning, yet it re-
mained as flagrantly straight as It was indisputably
red. When Madeline was older her mother braided it
, into innumerable small plaits at night to make It
ripple next day.
Trying to fall asleep one night, a process hindered
in spito of her perfect health, by the discomfort
caused by the many braida, Madeline overheard her
mother in plaintive monologue. Her name, by the
way, was of her mother's choosing; her father called
her Lina.
' "John, 1 Just den't know what to do about dancing-
school. I took Madeline this afternoon, and dressed
her as sweetly as could bo, though it Is very hard to
find anything becoming to her (now L could always
wear any color) and the boys simply wouldn't dance
with her. Madeline seemed absorhrd in the music,
and stood there, as unconscious as if she was in our
back yard, swaying with the music and taking all
sorts of queer steps she roust have made up bcraflf.
• Some of the girls beeau to laugh, and Qus Dehman
said: 'I think her dancing looks real pretty,' and they
all mado fun of hito, and the boys said he liked
green-eyed girls and teased him so ho wouldn't dance
wi h «r i none o' >.*■« bc;"i did—and I was so mor-
tified!"
"I hope she had sense enough not to let a fool row
of giggling boys spoil her good time."
"She will never he a belle," moaned Mrs. Wyatt.
"Belle!" echoed Mr. Wyatt, with something re-
sembling a snort, "I'm glad she won't. If my Iront
steps were always swarming with small boys like
Major Bridgets', I'd—I'd use insect powder to scatter
'em!"
"Annabel Brldgcrs has a way with her, all the
boys like her," pursued Mrs. Wyatt. "It is strange
that my niece should resemble me more than my
own daughter. From the time I was fourteen, It
was Just that way with me. All the boys in Bal.ers-
ville "
' "Yes, yes, I know," interrupted her husband, has-
tily. "But, my dear, it is enough to have married a
belle; I don't want to be the father of one."
Alas, Madeline, never again heard urged this point
of view, which would have contributed so much to
her peace of mind in the years that followed! For
• Mr. Wyatt died, and his widow's narrowed interests
concentrated on her daughter.
He paid Madeline but little pubiic attention, probably
he asked himself what was the use of taking a girl
to a ball'whom the other fellows wouldn't (..'.nee with!
Ho escorted her to the occasional plays w. icb came
to their town, because he enjoyed hearing . r quick
appreciation of any good point, or her crit m and
suggestion. On these occasicns# it was try:; • to feel
that he was being pitied as generally as Annabel
Bridgers' escort was being envied. Yet, somehow, he
liked Madeline, he even liked to look at her! This
secretly alarmed him. He feared it might be a sign
that he was falling in love with her. He was a care-
ful and scrupulous youth, inclined to be stout, and
he liked to keep bis hand on the pulse of his emo-
tions.
The only son of Its richest merchant, Gus was re-
1 ti '
"ED'S FURIOUS," WHISPERED ANNABEL.
garded a3 the catch of Bakersville, and he had a
proper sense of the responsibilities of his position.
Annabel Bridgers, in appearance almost exactly what
her aunl had been twenty :^ars before, was the
town's acknowledged belle, but Gu3 secretly opined
that he could give the other fellows a close call if he
had a mind to the running-
Annabel had a birthday, and she determined to
celebrate it with particular pomp—something even
gayer than progressive euchre.
"I've decided on a German. Whom shall I put with
Madeline, Aunt Effle?" she asked. "On each boy's
invitation I'm writing the name of the girl I want
him to take."
"Oh, put her with Gus. He drops in once or twice
a week."
"As often as that?"
"Yes, indeed, maybe oftener."
Annabel said nothing. She could not understand
why Gus should be the only one of the young men
who seemed oblivious to her charms. He couldn't
be really in love with that lopg, lanky Madeline; per-
The years before her marriage, when it was a fore- ^aps he was just shy, and using her cousin as a blind;
gone conclusion that any voting contest for "the pret- perhaps he needed a little encouragement.
tl"st girl in Bakersville," or "tbo most popular young poor Mr3. Wyatt outdid all her previous efforts on
lady in town" would register an additional triumph Madeline's ball-gown. From waist to hem it was a
for Efflo Bridgers shone in undimmed glory in Effle mass 0j organdie rufiles, and every ruffle had the lace
Wyatt's remembrance. whipped on by hand. In her youth she would have
All that earnest maternal effort could do to give looked like a delectable doll-baby in Just such a gown,
an equally radiant period to her daughter, she un- but It gave her daughter the appearance of being cn-
cascd in a beflounced barrel.
Puff3 and pompadour increased the semblance of
height until Madeline seemed an Inch taller than her
stout escort. But in the dark he could not discern
this, and as they walked along, Gus had the sense
of pleasure, of restlessness, that he always had in
listening to the girl's voice,
"I thought it would be nicer to walk." he said.
"Don't think I'm stingy about carriage hire."
"I don't," she answered simply. "The flowers you
sent are lovely, Gus, Only "
"Only what?"
"I didn't mean to say It. Only I wa3 sorry that
mamma would put one In the back of my hair. It's
moat amusing, a girl was' seated at the enfl of tho
room, while her partner brought up half a dozen
men, to each of whom she gave an apple. The first
one who could cat his n,ip!" n i l askc.d in :i dear, un-
choked voice, "May I ha*v the honor?" danced with
the girl.
Gus was one of the candidates, and rather to his
own surprise finished his apple first. He saw black
wrath In Ed Davis' face, a3 tho latter choked over his
pippin, with tho prize already lost.
"Ed's furious," v/hispered Annabel, a3 she and Gus
glided over tho floor.
"Because I finished first?"
Her volco dropped a bit lower, shyly. Her pretty
brown head was very near his shoulder.
"He saw that I gave you the smallest apple."
Flattered Gus forgot the warnings of Adam and
Paris, and that from time Immemorial tho apple haa
been the fruit of temptation.
"We ought to he awfully good friends," went on
Annabel, looking up at him with big, blue eyes. It
was nice o have a girl look up at. you, not to have
her eyes on a level with yours. "I guess we'll be
cousins some day. Aunt Efflo has been telling us how
often you come to see J.'ad line, that you re just
around there all t.: - lime. Somehow you and I have
never happened to seo much of each other, but It will
bo different alter wc aro kin, won't it? I havcu't
any brother, and you can advise me, and tell me
what you think of my men friends -won t you, Cousin
Qua? You know I have such confidence in your
Judgment of people."
Tlie music stopped, and some one claimed Annabel
before Gus could frame a reply.
Madeline had few partners; she was oftener in her
scat than any girl in tho room, while Annabel was
besieged with applicants. Gus was standing gloomily
by the wall during an intermission, in which Mrs.
Wyatt had borno her daughter off to the dressing-
room for certain repai.s to the coiffure, when ho
t>vcrhi>ard a stiav.r ; a' ;• It was Mrs. Gil/, . y,
wlio, after a long and succcssful carccr on tho 3tage,
had return jJ to slc tho little town of her nativity.
"Who is that girl who has just pas. ed? Tho one
with the wonderful n . I me t.
"That's poor Madeline Wyatt," replied the woman
questioned. "So plain, isn't she? I, too, have no-
marry a girl whose queer appearance wo'.jld constant-
ly excite comiucnt. With.a sudden ssBftlt of relief
that ho had not yot committed him.- If, he went over
to dance again with Annabel.
On tho way homo ho f It aw' ward and constrained.
Madeline was a' !ra . .1, «i:' « th v walke.l on in si-
lence. As they drew near the houso he said, with an
evident effort at sang-froid:
"By the way, I mentioned that there was something
I want 1 tn t .1 j< "i ' i I lnt\. alu been
awfully good friends, Madeline, so I'll confide in you
that I bellevo I'm half way In love with that little
flirt of a cousin of yours. You'll help me, won't you?
She has an Idea I'm In lovo with you, you ka iw."
"I'll undeceive her," replied Madeline. "Good . ;ht,
Gus."
As tho door closed, mingled with his appreciation
of his brilliantly c: vcr exit from his predicament
was a realization of the trailing sweetness of Made-
line's volco.
"Mother, I've a great deal to tali; to you about,"
said Madeline, going straight to Mrs. Wyatt's room.
Quietly sho rep a'ed Gus's < nversation on the way to
the tiance, and on tho return. She felt shocked at the
grayncss which came in'^o her mother's face.
"Oh, mother, den't look like that! I'm glad, glad!
If Gus bad asked me to marry him, I should have
said yes because I knew your heart was set upon it-
hut I didn't want to. To night I had a long talk with
Mrs. Ollvery. She kept looV.ln;; at me, and then she
as' e J me to como and sit by h r. Mother, It 13 all so
wonderful. She wishes me to go back to New York
with her. 1 told her how I have always longed to go
on the stage, an I she belie s I cif I work hard."
And in the end Mrs. Wyatt con ntcd.
To Madeline, who had nc \ nr before left Bakers-
ville, K w Yor' ' ;s a l> wild. -n<; puzzle, and then
a growinj: Tas ;nation. Perhaps every hour of her
life lira ht d< . dug op;' J'Ion of the generosity
and insight of great-hearto.l woman who had be-
friended her Sao mr frli is of Mrs. Cllvery's, with
j in I and v. e jra-
blazoned upon billboards, and their friendliness de-
lighted her and developed her. The d.fference in her
dress was one of the earliest sources of comfort to tho
girl. Her great coils of hair wore arranged natural-
ly, the high-h'.clcd ..hoes wc-ro discarded, aud gowns
llinchingly attempted.
Mrs. Wyatt had been plump, blue-eyed, brown,
haired, rosy-cheeked, indeed, poppy-cheeked might be
moro exact. In spite of the difficulty of her material,
she tried to bring Madeline to this standard. The
girl's height and slimnes3 were lessened by number-
laM ratftM on her skirts, Madeline's "Queer walk-
changed into the Bakersville fashionable gait by the
simple means of inordinately high-heeled shoes.
Madeline's hair was Marcelled and pompadoured. and
adorned at tho back with a bunch of curls.
But no loving effort could make Madeline s eyes
any color but that strange seagreen, and tho only
method of making Madeline's cheeks rosy would have
resort to those external applications which right over my ear, and tho thorr.s stick. Mamma
Mrs. Wyatt did not consider reputable for a church
member in good standing. Though sho tabooed paint
aud powder, mechanical beautifiers invariably tempt-
ed her. There was a memorablo July in which sho
insisted that Madeline should sleep In a rubber faco
mask, but mask, flesh-brushes and electric appliances
failed to give to the girl's cheeks tho famous color
that characterized tho erstwhile Belle of Bakersville
Madeline boro these experiments patiently and
passively, because sho loved her mother dearly. Hers
was a sweet nature, for even tho realization of hope-
less homeliness, which had filled her soul with hu-
mility, had not embittered her. Her chief source of
pleasure lay In those village epidemics called amateur
performances.
"Why is Madeline always given tho nicest part.
Annabel complained, not recognizing that her cousin
had redeemed tho character from tho commonplace.
The drop of comfort in Mrs. Wyatt's cup was
U«l Gus Beh nan eame regularly to see her daughter.
Bald that sho once wore a pink rose like this and a
young man told her she looked like a picture he had
seen of Napoleon's first love."
"You certainly are a good daughter," Gus ex-
claimed, with impetuosity unusual for him. "I don't
believe Mrs. Wyatt realizes how yielding and obedient
you always are. I tell you I realize it! You are the
best girl I evor saw, Madeline, and—and there is
something I've been thinking of tolling you for a long
time. You must have seen that I—oh, pshaw, there
is the Bridgers' house! I'll tell you on the way
home."
However, when they stood In the light of tho ball-
room, his emotions, roused more than they had ever
• been In his well-regulated life, received a distinct
shock from tho queer appearance Madeline presented,
with the large pink rose in her rod hair. She danced
well hut It was not a la Bakersville.
Annabel, in a fluffy blue frock, looked her prettiest.
In th" cotillion flguro which Bakersville considered
—
11 i, w--—*-
V 1 t
.-j
£*r l"r■'
"■ > V'- V. ' '
Esse*
V'.y?
-by <'<.J . , ,/'V
mm v-' -'m
SHE SUI ' ENLY TURNED AND FACED HER 'Ti: " '
it loo'
tlced what an odd noso si! it !o:)' • Ilk th«
pictures in ancient history 10 0! fahloned! Th
isn't another like it in IJa!: .
•"I doubt if there is anot' !i it in tho world,"
return .1 Mrs. Gilvery emphatically.
Gus moved away. Yos, Madeline was a good girl,
and ho liked her voice, but It would be incongruous
for tho only ron of the Dehman Supply Company to
c re-
lic
work
of the simplest cut r ; '
ations over which her mo ' ha 1.
No one could have vn
with more absorb; i devotion than
whole soul was llllod with won :■ a
passionate endeavor was to prove
friend! who believed in her. Ho. n:oth<; was wtll
satisfied to keep her uway from Tlft.keravlilo during tho
of
somewhat intermittent progress of Gus Dehman's
wooing. In Bakersville phraseology, he "rushed" An- 0 ]
nabel, but hesitated for months on the brink of com-
mitting himself. At, the psychic- juncture when un-
wi. Mrs. Wyatt hajJ b<vun to boast of Cais's atten-
tions to#hor daughter, her more astute niece showed a
■udden indifference, aud began to play Ed Davis'
against him. This piqued Gus into determining to *
master the situation; and so successful wore his ef-
forts that the Behman Supply Company was hence-
forth to have tho privilege of settling pretty Anna-
bel's bills -by no means limite.d.
They bad Chosen New York for their wedding jour-
ney, and as Mrs. Wyatt was going to town for her
daughter's first appearance, they generously permitted
her to accompany them.
"It'll be comforting to know there's somebody from
Bakersville to take my last words in case there's a
wren Iw." said the good soul. "Madeline has sent us
tickets for tho first night. She is appearing in a
stage version*o( 'llypatia.' "
' I haven't had much chance to talk with Madeline
yet," sah! Mrs. Wyatt, when the usher showed her to
the Scats where the Behmans were already installed.
"I surpose she asked all about the wedding?" ques-
tioned Annabel complacently.
She was so busy, I guess that's why sho forgot,"
apologized the mother.
"How does she look?"
"Well, I don't think New York clothes aro becom-
ing to her, they are so awfully plain. I've sent her a
good allowance, but I guess Mrs. Gilvery's a poor
manager. None of the child's frocks have much trim-
ming; I must touch them up a bit. Some embroidered
grapes down the front of her be3t dress would help
it wonderfully."
The curtain rose on a street scene in Alexandria,
with all the faithfulness of detail and lavish perfec-
tion of setting which mark tho master of stage craft.
Pupils, philosophers and followers thronged the mar-
ble steps of the lecture-room, discussing in a frag-
mentary fashion the tension between governor and
bishop, while they waited in growing impatience for
the coming of their divinity.
Mrs. Wyatt was conscious of overwhelming, sick-
ening d:. appointment as her daughter came on the
stage. Surely as leading lady she ought to be priv-
i! J to wear fine clothes and a curly, brown wig—
and oh, heavens! was she nearly barefooted?
Dut tho trained metropolitan eye saw at a glance
the filleted glory of red hair, the queenly poise of the
small head, the Tarian whiteness of the throat and
arms, the exquisite symmetry of outline, the profile
purely Greel; as Athene, but truly woman!
There wa3 a splendid burst of applause, which
deepened as the audience cr.ught the first direct look
of her eyes, dar.-browt , 1 ...'..-lashed, dark-pupiled,
the itis a wonderful green, like a peaceful sea. But
even her beauty was not more alluring than her voice,
with so plaintive a minor in its notes of liquid gold,
or her supple grace of movement. So might the
Win; 1 Victory have walked in the morning of the
nations.
"I wish Madeline would talk a little louder," whis-
pered Mrs. Wyatt nervously. "She just seems to for-
get that she's acting. Why, the slave who didn't
have but a line to cay said It a great deal louder and
with more elocution than Madeline."
"But I couldn't understand her, and I can hear
every word Madeline says," defended Gu3.
"Aunt Efiie is quite right," said Annabel. "Any-
body could tell that tho slave really i n't a slave,
but Madeline is behaving Just as if she was born and
raised in Greece—she doesn't seem like herself at all.
1 call that affectation, not acting."
The monks wore chanting '■ =:■ r ai1^ as t^iC *a3t
note died away they seemed to melt into the gather-
ing dimness as they slipped out of the gr> it ~ ^
the cathedral. Twilight fell into da.kness. There
was no light save the rays shed by th al'.ar candlc3
on the white Crucifix. Far off there came a dull,
hoarse cry, strangely in contrast with ti
evensong of the monks. It grew and wee
that appalling, inhuman undertone which in ana the
blood-thirst, horrible to hear from a pursuing pack
of wolvos, but more awful, more unnatural, from a
mob of frenzied human beings. They were driving
their quarry to the church; their raucous ;
from the vaulted roof as they
very altar.
There she suddenly turned and facod hor pursuers.
Her glorious hair was disheveled and fell about hor
bared shouldors, from which fanatics had torn the
robe. In her white purity, in her exquisite yotum'u •
DC*., her face pale, but with ex* eaia and ..nafrulO,
for a mouieat sue stood at sanctuary undei u. - -o-«.
Then tho maddened S Ob beat about U Pi """
down In their woltlsh force-aud the llBhts fUckered.
went out, and deep darkness fell.
TI'cri< va; silence In the audience for a moment,
the sound "of women sobbing, and then'the UfihU
flashed on, and wave after wave
plaust.' (!'*mnn i> ^ the •< ir.
The ha :>y tears were rut
cl a. A cub rep • ter rua
vvhj t ost beautiful crea
hi d hi;., exclaim.
"1 always thought
Annabel was
sary vigor, and he
"Tastes differ." she
eful
lute "
cchooo
her up to the
of tumultous ap-
down Mrs. Wyatt's
iy to w. ;te ' ' ■ ■
in th v. u: ' they
her
b< in Gus, and stop,
ticking in her hatpins with urn ces-
l,new th was a danger signal
• "1 am ylad to say the
Bland!!! , 1 "1 Ukusvllle are very different from tho*
of Nc.v York."
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Greer, Frank H. The Oklahoma State Capital. (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 20, No. 69, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 23, 1908, newspaper, July 23, 1908; Guthrie, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc126759/m1/5/: accessed July 17, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.