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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (June 25, 1905)
4 K s r M M . V r ' VI til f : ' .9 V cams e" Of Ml USA r lOLLT ENTP.EKIN. ow of the belle of Raltl- morp, ha broken her engagement with Wal ter Aylette as the result of one of the moot astonishing cases of plagiarism In the history of literature: and by the name surprising dis closures tliat resulted In the breaking off of the match bclwnn them Ferman Phillipps won the love of Martha Baker. Aylette, It Is charireil by the other throe purtiex to the case, plagiarized the brilliant love letters that Fi mini Phil lipps wrote In secret to Martha Rnk'T and. by changing them slightly, came near winning thi luve of th" young girl through them and their passionate force. The discovery was made but a few days before the wedding whs t have taken place, and the girl, with the gltmour of the false spell dispelled, dis missed Aylette. declaring him un impostor and cheat. Phillipps and Ayb tte wi re friends and lived In the same boarding house in North Charles street. One was the son of a prominent Richmond family, high In society and reputed wealthy, and why he should have been living in Baltimore In obscurity few outside of the friends who were aware of his wildness and dissipation at Richmond knew. He was a handsome fellow, dark, dashing, and romantic. T'hillipps, on the other hand, was timid, and the gayeties that Aylette Bought he shunned, or was too bashful to participate in. Beginning of Intertwining of Fates. Aylette was reading law In a downtown office and Phil lipps was striving for a living In one of the big Baltimore street mercantile houses. While all business, so far as even his closest friends knew, he really was a dreamer, and he aspired to write novels and plays. He came from a long line of distinguished nneestor and his home, before he went to live t 'Baltimore, was at Havre de Grace, in Maryland, the beautiful little city on the shores of the Susquehanna. He hail come into Baltimore without resources and worked hard. By accident he was thrown into contact with Walter Aylette, and the result was a strange Intertwining of fates. Aylette, through his family's prominence, had the entree to many homes, and one evening, hy Insistence, he persuaded Phil lipps to accompany him to the home of Miss Molly Entrekin, daughter of a wealthy merchant. Aylette did not tell Phil lipps, but he Invited him to go merely that he might have another man to " take her chum off his hands" during the evening. H was that evening Ferman Phillipps met his fate In the shape of pretty Martha BHker, Molly Entrekln's chum, who If the truth were known had been summoned by Molly when she knew Aylette' call wa Inevitable. Molly' plan failed. Instead of helping her dispose of Aylette Martha appeared to enjoy herself talking to the young department manager, and Molly was .orced to be gra cious to the man who, at that time. he diHliked. but to whom because of the family friendship she was obliged to be gra cious. J J Confessed His Sordid Love. The families of both girls are wealthy; and. going back to their rooms in the boarding house that night, Aylette con fessed to Phillipps that he did not particularly love Mis En trekin. but that she was rich and that he was going to win her. Disgusted, sickened by the attitude of hi friend, which came a a rude awakening from the dreams that he himself hud been dreaming. Phillipps turned to go to his room. There, with the vision of the bright eyed, fair haired girl before him. he resolved never again to go near her, realizing, as he thought, the Impossibility of ever winning the love of Martha Baker. He held to hi determination. Two or three time the girl Inquired of Aylette why he never brought Mr. Phillipps with him to call, and she admitted to Mi Entrekin that he had been interested In the reserved, handsome young fellow. Once she frankly asked Aylette to bring Phillipp to call, but the message was never delivered, and Aylette lied about It to her. telling her Phillipp preferred not to come, nd the girl. urprlsed and hurt, never referred to him again. Phillipp became more ilent than ever and worked hard er, refusing to join In any of the little pleasure of the other In the boarding house. Once one of the girl in the house teasingly asked him If he was in love, and be flushed and left the room. Aylette. to all appearances. was making no better prog ress In his effort to win the love of Miss Entrekin. and he departed for Richmond. Mr a fortnight's vacation without receiving one sign of encouragement. J J When the Love Letters Began. Then. sudtii nly. there tx-j-an to come to Molly Entrekin. dty fter d?. li tters overflowing with tenderne, love, and passion; love letters such a swept the heart of her grand mother a by storm flowery, Imaginative, beautiful love letters, audi as K Ms read and reread in the privacy of their o n rooms l'l grandmothers ki w hen they find them hid den In the bottom of old trunks. The letter were from Waller Aylette. and they revealed to Molly Entrekin a depth of feeling, of pi'Wtr and passion. of love and tenderness and yearning thut sl had never suspected existed in the man. She was as'otilshed. Time of th.' 1 tiers, which have been made semi-public by th event thi fal'.owid. have been circulated among her friend before the real truth wa known. The first came toe day Walter Aylette reached Richmond. "My Pear Miss Entnkln: I love .you. I have aald It; the word that have trei 'bled on my lip ince that first even'ng that 1 iw yoi. vle n my heart fell down and wor shiped ou. From afar 1 have worshiped you ever since, daring not come n it. .cowa-d Hi it 1 am. for fear the secret would bum from tee; that the word that I dare not speak 1 ., I it A . t , ' '. I ; I X f " Mine were II yenxr leWeric M fa fxj m : If I ; ... 77 ' ft I lis :: . . . . should speak themselves; that my whole heart would cry out to you. " 1 love you.' " 1 am writing these words that 1 never will dare Bay to you and that perhaps you never will see. Would that I dared send them to you. 1. who am so unworthy, to let them plead for me. 1 have ssid to myself. ' I love her: why should I fear?' But 1 see the harriers that rise between us-t-the har riers of money, the wall of social convention. I say to my self. It is pride.' If she loves you these will not keep jus apart ' But again. I am a coward and I tremble at the thought of asking you to share with me the little that 1 have. Again and again 1 have said: 1 I will go and tell her.' and then I have trembled at the vision and crept back to my own room, to sit for hour looking out across the light of the city towards where you were, and weaving on the cloth of my Imagination the fairest picture the world has ever known; a picture of you. with your glorious eye alight with the fire of love, and I have dreamed that it wai I who fanned that fire Into a flame. ' Night after night I have skulked past your home, Jut to be near where you were, for the chance of seeing you, of getting a glimpse as you flashed from carriage to door, of hearing your laugh, and when I saw you I have turned homeward thinking: ' Bhe Is afe. She 1 happy. Why should I trouble her In her happiness?" " It is despair to love like this. Some day, perhaps to morrow, 1 will gather up my courage and dare all by telling you. I am trembling and quaking now at the thought of what you would think if you read this. I rannot help It; I must write. I dare not whlnper my love to you. It were prof anation to speak of it to other. " Oood-night, beloved. I have dared to say it even to myself." When She Began to Relent. When Molly Entrekin got that letter she sat down In the middle of the floor and read it. Then she said: " Well, of all things." Then she read it again. Then she said: " I never heard of such a thing." Then she reread It. and, clasping her arms around her knees, ut on the floor and studied. I " I don't know why he wrote me uch a letter," he" said to herself. " If the fool man i in love with me why don't he tell me so? Don't dare come near lae. don't he? I've no ticed that he's been hanging around here two or three nights week." Finally she got up and said: " Anyhow. I'll write him a nice letter that will cure hlm.V And she wrote. It was a kind, sisterly letter, and the burden of it was. " Impossible; I don't low you." But there was no doubt thLt the letter had started Molly Entrekin to thinking. She read it over and over. It parti Impressed, partly pussled her. It wasn't a bit like Aylette. Three days later there came another astonishing' missive. " Dearect Beloved : Last night I had a dream. I dreamed that I came to you and you smiled upon me and bade me sit beside you and talk to you. There were other men there, t but you seemed weary of them and to want me. First it was In a ballroom, tend we sat in an alcove, and when you smiled the smile drove me mad, and I leaned across and told you told yu everything, of my love, and my hope, and my de spair, and you kept your eyes away from me until my heart stood still with fear, and then you turned and looked upon me. and there were tears in your eyes, and my heart gavs a great sob, I feared you mere pitying me, but you smiled through the veil of tears and whispered something that sounded like Tea.' And then I awoke, and for hours I sat at the window In a transport of joy, half dreaming, half wak ing, until the crushing misery, the heart sickness, came back, and I realized that It never can lie true. Yet, dearest beloved. I was not unhappy, and the dream almost r-iade me brave enough, daring enough, to call on you. to meet you, and some day to tell you all. as I did In the dream." J . J Men in Love are Such Fools," :. -!1 Molly. That time Molly read seriously. Again i. tone of the letter puzzled her, and she wondered if he had not received her rejection before writing, and thought It strange that he did not mention It. " Men in love are such fools." said Molly, and. taking the two letters, she went over to see her dearest chum. Martha, and consult with her about It. Martha read the let ter and then she said: "Molly, if a man ever wrote to me that way I'd love him just In spite of myself." " I'm afraid I'm beginning to like him," said Molly. " Maybe I misjudged him before." Then she wrote him a kinder, sweeter reply, telling him that she hardly knew her own heart and to come to her the moment he returned from Richmond. The following day there came another letter, tenderer, more exalted, higher in tone than the other, breathing the despair of an unloved lover exalted by the purity of his love. And Molly was conquered. " I never did like the man." she said to Martha. " I am afraid I lost the beauty of hi character through my blindness. I'm not sure I love him now. but I'm glad these letters have opened my eyes and shown me the depth of his love. Any girl can learn to love a man who loves her that way." Engaged but Not Happy. So that night Molly Entrekin, In her own boudoir, sat down and wrote her first love letter, and became engaged to Walter Aylette. For the first time in her gay, happy nineteen years she looked seriously upon love. Yet she waa surprised to find that she was not happy. She confessed to Martha that she was uneasy. There was no announcement of the engagement. Two days after she accepted Aylette by mall there came from lil'n another letter; so different that Molly's uneasiness grew great. It was a nice letter, overflowing with rejoicing but there was something missing. Molly felt that her surrender, her gift of herself to the man who bad seemed to despair, was not received In quite the manner she expected. It seemed to her that the man was gloating rather than ex alted by his victory. All that night she wa uneasy. She felt that she had made a mistake, and she read and reread the first three letters before she fell asleep, happy and reassured. The thought came to her that perhaps she loved the letters and not the man. but she did not believe that art could infuse such feel ing into written word. The next morning Molly came down to breakfast late. She looked a little wan snd pale. little anxious. It was the day that Aylette was to return to Baltimore; the day on which for the first time Molly was to surrender to the kisses of her lover. She was reading the paper idly while waiting for her coffee and orange when suddenly her eye fell upon a little want ad " thut made her gasp. "I knew It; 1 knew It." she said half aloud. " O, the wretches!" "Knew what? What wretches, sis?" asked Bobbie. ' Never mind. Bobble, but 1 want you to go on an Im portant errand right way." " All riKlit: but say, sis. do I get some of thst candy Nick sent up last night?" " Yes. all of It. But 1 want you to take a note ripht away. It is Important. Everything depends on it." Suspicion Aroused by an Ad. Excitedly Molly left the table, and going Into the library scratched off a note: " Mr. Fcrmnn Phillipps: Please come to me at my home, at once, this morning. You must come before noon. It is an im portant matter, one on which my future happiness may de pend. MOLLY ENTREKIN." Phillipps. surprised, read the note. and. unmindful of Bob bie, rushed for a car. Twenty minutes later he was ushered Into the morning room at the Entrekin residence. " Mr. Phillipp." began Molly nervously, " did you put this advertisement In the paper?" Plie handed him the morning paper, in which appeared an ad: LOST-A BUNDLE OF LETTERS. PURELY PERSONAL, of no value except to owner. A reward of fi'i will be paid If returned to Ferman Phillipps. N. Charles-st. " I did." said Phillips rather unsteadily, after he had read the ad slowly. " Are these the letters?" asked Molly, producing the three she had received from Aylette. End of All the Mystery. " Why, Ml Entrekin." said Phillipp excitedly, " where' did you get these? They are copies of mine, or part of them. I was sure they were stolen from a drawer in my room. How did jrou get them?" " They were mailed to me by your roommate, Mr. Aylette," t'.ie answered, steadily. " I notice that In the first one my name was at the top. above the line. I thought it strange at the time." "Aylette send my letters to you?" asked the astonished Phillipp. " Why should he do that?" " He wanted to make me love him. He nearly succeeded. O. Mr. Phillipps. I am so ashamed and so glad. You have saved me from the wretch." " Please don't." he urged tenderly, as she started to cry. Please don't. I am so sorry that I have helped cause this trouble." "I'm not; I'm glad." said Molly, stopping her tear and flashing into anger. " I'll tell that man " Then she broke off suddenly and turned upon the young man. " Fer man Phillipp," she demanded, " to whom did you write the love letter?" " Why why " he 6tammered. " Now, you tell me right away." she dictated. " Tell me, I tell you. You've saved me from that man, and now I'll help you. Are you In love with a girl and afraid to tell her so?" " Please don't, please don't," pleaded the agonised Phil lipps. " I will, too." she said. " Here I've told you everything and trusted you. and now you've got to trust me. Who Is she?" J J And' II Ends Just Like a Novel. ' Really, Mi Entrekin, I can't tell you. 1 scarcely know her, and It would be presumptuous for tue even to speak to ber." Do you love her?" " Yes--you must know I do from the letters." "Do you love her a much a thnw liter show?" " More." " I wouldn't give a cent for a man who wouldn't tell a girl when he love her. Who Is she?" " Your friend. Miss Buker." "What! Martha Buker? O. this 1 too good. It's almost as good as If It had been me. and I'm half sorry' It wasn't. You come on right over to Martha's house right now and tell her you love her. If you don't come with me now I'll send for her to come here. You've got to propose to her right away, and I'm going to stand by and see that you do. And let me congratulate you now for she has read those letter. " Phillipp finally begged off, but promised to call that night on Mia Baker, and he pledged hi word to Molly Entrekin that he would propose before the end of the month. And Molly, as soon as she had refused to see Aylette when he called, rushed off to tell Martha, and they talked all afternoon and cried a little bit, as girls do. Phillipps really proposed inside of two weeks and was ac cepted. And Molly showed the letters to every girl In their crowd, as she told the story, and on of them copied two of them so the secret of the plagiarised letters became known to all Baltimore. It is said that Aylette is now working In New York or Philadelphia, and Molly's engagement to Nick Is expected any day, much to the delight of Bobble, who appreciate candy, s ' r