Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1922)
The Bee unday rMAG AZ1NE SECTldhT VOL. 52 NO. 24. OMAHA. SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 2G, 1922. FIVE CENTS The Prince7 s Kiss - BuBertaRucic- 5 Y She Was a Sleeping Beauty by the Name oj Mary Smith, and She Was Engaged; Then Came That Caress "Like a Bolt From tlte Blue." M OKT love stories end with a kiss; this, however, be gins Willi unci, Knitter um un uhuuI sort of one, too! lint to begin with the girl of the story, She, at llun liniment. upMared hh one of the most usual Kort of Kills you could find. Commonplace littlo thing, most people- thought her. Jfer name M;iry ttniith was a label. Her clothes you uuo everywhere dark blue tailored suit, cream Hllk Jumper (home knitted) Just showing under the coat; small, neat hat, neat fur urouud neck, neat shoos and stockings, nice suedo gloves. Quiet neatness (a trifle dowdy!) wai the keynote of this Mary when yon first nee her. . Hhe wit in the rglht hand corner of the third class ear-rlago- ft a railway train that wni Just about to iiturt nut. Her buck was to the engine. A hove her head on Die glass of the carriage window ap peared the announcement. "Ladies Only." Her um brella and desputch caw were in the rack. On her knee, a dark blue leather bag and a book, not' a mere story, but a thought ful treatise all about the trend . of people's minds. This had been sent to her a week ago by her fiance. He was an earnest young man to whom Mary had been engaged for two teaching titan at a good school. Mary had not yet read this book. She had been saving it up for the railway Journey, as she was off on a visit to the coun try house of some old fam ily friends of her mother's. You see how highly con ventional, how quietly cor rect everything sounds? How eminently sedate, how arrestingly unlike ' what happened next? For mark what did hap pen: The train was Just off, the whistle wag at the guard's lips, when a sort of commotion occurred in the little crowd of see-ersoff collected on the platform. The tall figure of a younj? man in" a big brown rain coat and the close fitting leather cap which is worn by flyers, motorists and motor bicyclists came storming up to the train. "Hurry up, Bir! Take your seal!" cried a porter, and held open the door of the first class smoking car riage next to the "Ladies Only" in which Mary was sitting. The young man . took no notice. He sprang on to the footboard Just in front of Mary. He thrust his flying capped head in at the ojien window, caught bolh hands of the girl sitting in the corner seat, drew them up to his chin, exclaimed in a fresh pleasant voice, "Well, good-by, darling! I hope you have a splendid time! The best of luck!" He then kissed her heartily; -es! kissed her on the mouth. And Jumped back on to the platform and in amongst the group of people there assembled ns the train moved out in a series of quickened Jerks and a long, oiitstreumlng scarf of white smoke from tho engine. He then walked back to the barrier, giving up his plat form ticket with all the other people who had come to .see vieiiilH off by that train. Those onlookers probably saw oihing more in that little parting scene than was to be uiirved any day of the week, on any train of tho day, at any railway station in the country. Kut to return to Mary Smith sitting there in that corner w.'it o that train ns It sped into the country. Mary gasping! Alary, who hud never wen that young man before In her Hi... In that carriage for "tallies Only" th.ro were three other im-uietigei-a, h occupying a corner seat. Opposite ( Mary sal a school girl with two bluek )igtail dangling, mm apiile eli.-. k-d face, a black straw hat with a hockey rM-i'i on It. and large gray even mirroring every thought tt ai came Into her mind. She wan at the age (1-0 len o l two thought. ever did come; one w .1-, "lh"V ov-l T" li.- ll. I" WtlM ' How awful!" Vlnit llapiKT, having nb i veil that pirtinu embrace, he !v ngUirml the thought, "How ovrl ii noulilii't have iinltcr.il her sei'lng it. I ill.- i.ii.ii seal n ill.. Mill i.t to Mary sit it bus ..i mov. In uniform. Th. l'e were war rtt. ns on the . . i Ii. r cat. a rlirnpi I war on her tor. h. ,ul un,W I it I. l-.iiii.i. iul ltn Ink In her foe of a mmiji Alio . , .lito.l m iniuv i:ihIh slgltla In the fnl Si Jears o. i it. ih.i (or tb. rr ut it nil will I n'pri-d at l'fc M' . 1 Inexplicable farewell sccno had been avalauched ujion her. When she lifted her head again It was to meet this nuuiviid, this glmletlikn glance of her mother's distant (but too near at the moment!) Cousin Kllznboth. "I didn't know," began this lady, "that any of your brothers were at homo now, Mary?" "They're- not," admitted Mary, feeling she was now In for It. "Harry's In ltrltlnh Fust Afrlcn," she went on, talk ing. to mark time, "and Hill has gone back to Camilla, and Arthur has Just sailed for China." "O? 1 thought perhaps one of tliein had nil' red so much that 1 shouldn't know him again?" continued Cousin Kllz.il.cth, eyes still firmly glmleted uion the face of the Iflrl opposite to her. It hud often been said that "it was a pity d'-ar Mary was rather pule und anaemic looking. Sho would have been quite good looking but for that. What she wants is a lit tlo more color." The uncle who said this might have been pleased to observe tho improvement In dear Mary's com plexion at this moment. "Hut, of course, that gentleman Just now didn't really look a bit like Arthur or Harry or Hill," added Cousin Kllza beth. "I suppose it was one of the cousins, Mary, that 1 haven't met?" "z,!' V r r I fiumf U.rmiyllM-'" fl If B''m f I. a toai A. , ' to I !-H. , .1, lit.Vt Itl-lt!.'.! hl-r ite-eiliiJ i t.e ; b- I Ml il.t.'irf I - I In ,! IU.lt III ,11,1. (, l 'iU h mu 1 , .l. ' .1 I It,. .! w mill ii e In. i t .to.il I 1 I I ' it i'( i 'iii ere o. .oi j t.i-4, i,i ii t . Mi ml K. t . ... , . f l He thrust his head in at the wiiulow and caught both hand of the girl A wild impulse took the nudgered Mary. Supiiosing shr did allow this to pass as a hitherto unmet cousin? Too thin; too thin! Besides, think of tho strings of ques tions that would ensue! The lnitiiri"S as to name, profes sion, place of Residence! Further, Mary was a fundamental ly truthful girl; so, at this Juncture, she reacted to tyi She blurted forth a straightforward, indignant "He wasn't even a cousin! I don't know who that man was!" "Pou't know who he waH?" echoed Cousin KHwibelli. staring. The eyes of the other two lieople in the carriage turned ulfo upon Mary. The nurse's with restrained amuse inejit, the school girl's with an almost audible "How awful!" "What can you mean, Mary, don't know who he was?" "1 mean i don't know who he was any more than you know," faltered poor Mary, gazing round from one to the other of the three faces, "I mean I never saw hii'n In fore that minute!" "What? Vou mean to say he was a complet.. stranger and he came up like that and spoke to you? l'ld you hear bim say diuling'?" ultered Cousin Klirabeth with growing horror. "And, am I right, or did I dream it? ridn't be kiss you?" "W," admitted the daed Mary. "lie certainly did." Here tho ey.-s of the school glil opKisite changed to their other vxpresslun, "How lovely!" "It must hav been a dangerous luiiauc," declared Cousin Klli.ilieth. "I ought to write to the railway company und Thf. Times and the police aliout It." she ndiU-d l.irely, "Kliher ih wretched rreutur was quite insane " "He didn't look insane." put In the mir-' rool profe iiinal toi.w. "heetned m refcll Imrntul, I thought. '' "or he had lie!! Urilikllig; luavily." M-trv. without knowing why, pioienU'd quite warmly. "No! lie hadn't lieen drinking at nil." Then liltmln'1 more deeply than rver.) ''8ur.ly It iiiiint ha- leti on thmt or the mher M.t fMi ouiliiuire hi iiher caso." lb-re Hi tiulu drew In ut the lirl stop. It th tb other I-0..-.-HI-. t prep i r J to stikht. Tha tiur., twinkling. o Miry a ple.i.iiit "CooU fiiriii.ii" as li p4Ji out. i.i:t.if.l o ihe . inml (nl biik'hl eye I her rtmUl plslnly h r1 iin ii,.uit "l ihrlr unl i-utiiiuviit, ' tiuw lovely, but k.'W l(rv knit,, llim fil, li tt'l, bom klll-lff n niit.ol I l M.a p . h it.ti.ioa tht th pit. r.la' rvnnii,t BI..IKM, rlli..ilH.I 'Hi ,rfl .fnl' . n I t.i-Vi fiiitii i- .i . ih In lion. II I thMef .rr li.ixUr I I U. .- t hiu .tr '.o IH i i..i'.Vh ItUr.vJ. il n ni t i .1 VI.' v. l i , j.n l .1 1,,-B, "I Miri Kl llvt lnit lfnr: i i I ciiiiiiiv rriff 'Liolil ut hi n it rro.!. it I I ' . ' i "I I ' . I . I, - H I ft fl. J A f, when he pranced up and behaved in t!tat that that man ner! "There lire no manners left nowadays," decreed tiie spin ster darkly.' "Nothing but the bmuk up of all decent con ventions and tradition. An engaged girl! 1 don't know what poor Mr. Ferguson would say," (Mr. Ferguson was Mary's fiance.) "Or your isior mother. Or the Hoini lelgl. lirownes" t lii-He. were tho people where they weie going to stay). "What they'd all think I cannot Imagine!" It was only too clear that CoumIii Klizahcth meant to find out, by tho simple process of letting all these peoplo know the whole story!. The Homololgh-Hrow fins were a cherry family who'd known Mary from her earlleat childhood, who'd been nice to her from a sense of duty, but who'd always considered "her tho dullest of the dull. When, two years ago, they'd heard she was engaged to a staid young schoolmaster, they'd all exclulmed, "She would. How suitable!" They'd sll written prim notes to congratu late. They'd never dreamed of her as a girl to whom one could show a glimpse of real fun or churnmluess, even though the eldest' Honieleigh-lirowne girl was engaged her self. Hut now a change came o'er the spirit of their dream. Cousin, Klhsiihelli (tnat dead ly nuisance who had In vited herself for the week end when they were giv ing a dance and all!) had a tale to tell to Mrs. Home-Iclgh-Hrowne, about Mary Smith. "Mary? My dear, there must be some extraordinary mistake." "I wish I could think so," gloomily from Cousin KHz abeth. "I was myself shocked beyond words. I can only repeat to you what I saw with my own eyes" (she repeated it wHh zest" "and tell you that the girl had no explanation to of fer, except such s no rea sonable being could pos sibly accept." The story, and Mary's unreasonable explanation, jiermeated to the rest of the family. Were they shocked beyond words? Sad to say, they revelled in it. Mary, the meek and mouselike? Mary, the nice, quiet, sensible girl who had always been held up to them as a model? Mary, a, dark horse? Mary, with the pearl ring of the blame less Ferguson gleaming on her engagement finger? Ha, ha! Curiosity seethed in tlm household. Who was the other young man? What was at the bottom of it nil? Nobody actually said a word on the subject to their younper guest. Only O, the diference in their be havior toward Mary Smith! Rightly, perhaps, they should have treated her more standoffisbly than us ual. But not they. The reprehensible, th-! cheery family suddenly took Mary to their hearts! After all these years of family friendship (which means nothing) they found they could make a friend of the girl. She was human. They treated her as such. Tho girls confided in her various love affairs and near love affairs of which she had never, on previous vb-its, heard a whisper. They ran in and out of her bedroom and "talked trousseau" without, restraint. She confiil.-d to them the sad news that her dance frock of pale blue georgette might not be finished In time for their dance, in which caso she'd have to wear her ordinary dark dinner dress, and the eldest Hoiiioleigh-Browiio girl vowed that she'd lend Mary an absolutely stunning trosseau frock of her own that she'd g'ol to go out to Egypt! "It's a gorgeous color, Mary, and I'm sure you could wear a rich vividc olor,, now," suid the other engaged girl, with tmiphaai on the "now." As for the boys of tho family, they also looked at Mary Smith with new eyes. They spoke to her with a new tone In their voices. The medical student om-o said to her. "You know, Mary, I've the greatest respect for your young man Ferguson. Not that I've ever seen him. I go by the difference In you. Of course! Your're a different girl since last time I aw you. Tuu're alive. You're awake. This is the touch by love'n finger that we hear such a lot about. Must le. Tou're Die Sleeping Itcauty come to life at last under the Prince's kiss. I.ucky Prince! I mean, lucky, lucky Ferguson:' "What nonsense," lnitghed Mary, qullii aware that tills old family friend was now ready to flirt w lib her laoim-lf. I 'or lulnly lie was different, ltefor he hud been lred ami brotherly. She bhmmed undT the new treatment; mrkt-, color, and animation lighted up her once i ilber eobs-l. little face. Rnoi motmly t-he began to enjoy the visit in which ill had come as the merest duty. I: now ins Uuu it was aa a dulr lh it he hd been Invited Th onljl blot on her en toymen! of her lir-t twei.l. four hour Ihero wn the stern fitc.i ut meal lime if lH4tant Cousin Klu lU-ih, liven mat ws u.t entirely u blot. In all Iter In uMiodt' hud b'ii nhmk.il at Mmv hofur. Imivonsil.le to il. . ui how the n. e. quiet, enisiUs rtrl apir."ltrd lh ch.rm of (his n..vei, Jul as l did the niiltjr ( Iiiiiiisw" from rutin ll noel. lah- IUvi-. Ikith wer a toi U- that sulie.1 hr! Only - Only h . lull twivoo about tei. i . fr.-tii thr people. Il.-f mother! M-r ftMlice! Kli.knrw'thst C.i ..in l luil .ih would bow wiute la her mother. Now her nietbrr w upln .o! ui.l tl 'h Mji.tar puat In tin H is oul-J hk dhy, Mary's ii !! w.M.UI Itthrt in. ihr ftisl WMIllmlHiMW i',.i Hot'-iv- i . Mi!,ih w..n!4 no' wipe