MISS FEATHERINGTON’S SHATTERED DREAM.
Marietta Featherington couldn’t seem to concentrate her mind upon that thirteenth chapter of “Lily the Lovely Laundress.” The handsome rat-catcher had just beaten the aristocratic villain to a pulp and would have finished the job neatly and thoroughly had not Lily raised her lovely fair hand and cried with the imperiousness of an empress:
“Pause, Giovanni! Pause! He may have a mother!”
Ordinarily Miss Featherington would have raced through the pages hungrily, avidly. Not so on this fair November afternoon. Whether it was the mince pie and melted cheese she had partaken of a bare hour before, or whether it was the even-more-so-than-usual grumpy mood of her employer, Joshua Barnes, she could not tell. Perhaps it was neither. She refused to analyze it. Whatever the cause, she felt heavy and wistful and sad.
From time to time the emotional Miss Featherington allowed Whitney Barnes to flit through the corridors of her imagination. He had walked heavily 305 through her dreams the night before. His strange words of yesterday had strangely moved her. Desperately she had striven to solve the mystery. Were they words of love? If so, how would Old Grim Barnes accept the declaration from his son’s lips that he loved the humble though, yes, though beautiful stenographer lady of the Barnes Mustard Company, Limited?
Miss Featherington had half expected to walk into Joshua Barnes’s presence that morning and meet with a torrent of abuse. She had rehearsed a cold and haughty retort. But her employer had greeted her with a gruff, “Good-morning,” and an expression that was equivalent to a smile.
Alas! the prince had not spoken.
Marietta pounded out forty-two letters containing references to as many different kinds of assorted and selected mustard before she succeeded in dismissing the heir to the mustard millions from her romantic thoughts and creating a new hero in his stead. The new hero some way fell down and she picked up “Lily the Lovely Laundress.” But even the “Lovely Lily” failed to thrill and she laid the book aside.
A long sigh was escaping from the depressed maiden’s bosom when the door of the anteroom opened and who should enter but Whitney Barnes. Marietta swallowed her sigh and clasped her hand over her palpitating heart.
The young man was not alone, however, and he 306 did not deign Miss Featherington a glance as he held the door open and cried:
“Come in, children!”
The children were none other than Helen and Sadie and Travers Gladwin. Nor did they deign Miss Featherington a glance as they assembled in a little group, talking in hushed tones and punctuating their talk with suppressed laughter.
By the time Whitney Barnes did turn to Marietta that young lady’s nose was elevated to an excruciating angle––so much so that she was unable to fulfill her desire to sniff. There was cold hauteur in her stare as she met the smile of Whitney Barnes and replied to his query:
“Yes, Mr. Barnes, your father is in and alone.”
“Thank you, Miss Featherington,” cried the young man, gaily, and an instant later the little party of four had vanished behind a mahogany portal.
Joshua Barnes was bent over his desk writing, as the door opened noiselessly and the four young people entered. When he looked up his son, Travers Gladwin and Helen were lined up beside his chair, the two young men smiling sheepishly and the girls blushing crimson and looking down at the floor.
“Hello, Pater,” opened Whitney Barnes, “you remember Travers Gladwin. This is Mrs. Gladwin, a bride of sixty-seven minutes!”
Old Grim Barnes was on his feet in an instant with a gallant bow to Helen and a hearty handshake for the bridegroom.
For a second or two he failed to descry Sadie, who, as per rehearsal, was hidden behind the two young men. As, with a look of surprise, he spied her, Helen drew Sadie to her and managed to stammer:
“And this is my cousin Sadie, Mr. Barnes.”
Sadie dropped a timid courtesy, her face on fire.
“How do you do, Miss––er”–––
Joshua Barnes was feasting his eyes on Sadie’s shy beauty and smiling benignly.
“I didn’t catch the name,” he added, turning to Helen.
“B-b-b,” she began, when Whitney Barnes came to her rescue.
“Barnes, pater––Mrs. Sadie; that is, Mrs. Whitney Barnes––a bride of seventy-seven minutes.”
Whitney Barnes beamed upon his father and put his arm about the old gentleman’s shoulders to support him.
“How do you like my choice, dad?––isn’t she a darling? Why don’t you ask to kiss the bride?”
Joshua Barnes breathed with difficulty for a moment and his eyes blinked. Slowly he looked for confirmation in the faces of the newlywed Gladwins, and when they both nodded and smiled, he returned his glance to Sadie, who had turned very pale and was beginning to tremble.
The mustard king shook off his son’s arm and gathered Sadie to him with a bear hug.
He kissed her ten times in succession and then let 308 her down in his chair and patted her shoulder. Joshua Barnes was so happy that tears glistened in his eyes. He continued to look at Sadie for a long moment before he turned to his son and gulped:
“Whitney Barnes, you scoundrel––have you been keeping this from me?”
“Why no, dad,” came the laughing answer. “I telephoned you about it last night, and you called me”–––
“For the first time in my life I made a mistake, Whitney Barnes,” his father checked him, “and you both have my blessing a thousandfold––provided you will take me in as a boarder.”
“Done!” exclaimed Whitney Barnes.
THE END
Popular Copyright Novels
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| Abner Daniel | Will N. Harben |
| Adventures of a Modest Man | Robert W. Chambers |
| Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | A. Conan Doyle |
| After House, The | Mary Roberts Rinehart |
| Ailsa Paige | Robert W. Chambers |
| Air Pilot, The | Randall Parrish |
| Alton of Somasco | Harold Bindloss |
| Andrew The Glad | Maria Thompson Daviess |
| Ann Boyd | Will N. Harben |
| Anna the Adventuress | E. Phillips Oppenheim |
| Armchair at the Inn, The | F. Hopkinson Smith |
| As the Sparks Fly Upward | Cyrus Townsend Brady |
| At the Mercy of Tiberius | Augusta Evans Wilson |
| At the Moorings | Rosa N. Carey |
| Aunt Jane of Kentucky | Eliza Calvert Hall |
| Awakening of Helena Richie | Margaret Deland |
| Bandbox, The | Louis Joseph Vance |
| Bar 20 | Clarence E. Mulford |
| Bar 20 Days | Clarence E. Mulford |
| Barrier, The | Rex Beach |
| Battle Ground, The | Ellen Glasgow |
| Bella Donna | Robert Hichens |
| Beloved Vagabond, The | William J. Locke |
| Ben Blair | Will Lillibridge |
| Beth Norvell | Randall Parrish |
| Betrayal, The | E. Phillips Oppenheim |
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| Bob, Son of Battle | Alfred Ollivant |
| Brass Bowl, The | Louis Joseph Vance |
| Broad Highway, The | Jeffery Farnol |
| Bronze Bell, The | Louis Joseph Vance |
| Buck Peters, Ranchman | Clarence E. Mulford |
| Butterfly Man, The | George Barr McCutcheon |
| By Right of Purchase | Harold Bindloss |
| Cabbages and Kings | O. Henry |
| Calling of Dan Matthews, The | Harold Bell Wright |
| Call of the Blood, The | Robert Hichens |
| Cape Cod Stories | Joseph C. Lincoln |
| Cap’n Eri | Joseph C. Lincoln |
| Cap’n Warren’s Wards | Joseph C. Lincoln |
| Cardigan | Robert W. Chambers |
| Car of Destiny, The | C. N. and A. M. Williamson |
| Carpet From Bagdad, The | Harold MacGrath |
| Casting Away of Mrs. Leeks and Mrs. Aleshine | F. R. Stockton |
| Chaperon, The | C. N. and A. M. Williamson |
| Circle, The | Katherine Cecil Thurston |
| Claw, The | Cynthia Stockley |
| Colonial Free Lance, A | Chauncey C. Hotchkiss |
| Coming of the Law, The | Charles Alden Seltzer |
| Conquest of Canaan, The | Booth Tarkington |
| Conspirators, The | Robert W. Chambers |
| Cordelia Blossom | George Randolph Chester |
| Counsel for the Defense | Leroy Scott |
| Cry in the Wilderness, A | Mary E. Waller |
| Dark Hollow, The | Anna Katharine Green |
| Day of Days, The | Louis Joseph Vance |
| Depot Master, The | Joseph C. Lincoln |
| Derelicts | William J. Locke |
| Desired Woman, The | Will N. Harben |
| Destroying Angel, The | Louis Joseph Vance |
| Divine Fire, The | May Sinclair |
| Dixie Hart | Will N. Harben |
| Dominant Dollar, The | Will Lillibridge |
| Dr. David | Marjorie Benton Cooke |
| Enchanted Hat, The | Harold MacGrath |
| Excuse Me | Rupert Hughes |
| 54-40 or Fight | Emerson Hough |
| Fighting Chance, The | Robert W. Chambers |
| Financier, The | Theodore Dreiser |
| Flamsted Quarries | Mary E. Waller |
| For a Maiden Brave | Chauncey C. Hotchkiss |
| Four Million, The | O. Henry |
| From the Car Behind | Eleanor M. Ingraham |
| Fruitful Vine, The | Robert Hichens |
| Gentleman of France, A | Stanley Weyman |
| Get-Rich-Quick-Wallingford | George Randolph Chester |
| Gilbert Neal | Will N. Harben |
| Girl From His Town, The | Marie Van Vorst |
| Glory of Clementina, The | William J. Locke |
| Glory of the Conquered, The | Susan Glaspell |
| God’s Good Man | Marie Corelli |
| Going Some | Rex Beach |
| Gordon Craig | Randall Parrish |
| Greyfriars Bobby | Eleanor Atkinson |
| Guests of Hercules, The | C. N. and A. M. Williamson |
| Halcyone | Elinor Glyn |
| Happy Island (Sequel to Uncle William) | Jennette Lee |
| Havoc | E. Phillips Oppenheim |
| Heart of the Hills, The | John Fox, Jr. |
| Heart of the Desert, The | Honore Willsie |
| Heather-Moon, The | C. N. and A. M. Williamson |
| Her Weight in Gold | George Barr McCutcheon |
| Herb of Grace | Rosa N. Carey |
| Highway of Fate, The | Rosa N. Carey |
| Homesteaders, The | Kate and Virgil D. Boyles |
| Hopalong Cassidy | Clarence E. Mulford |
| Honor of the Big Snows, The | James Oliver Curwood |
| House of Happiness, The | Kate Langley Bosher |
| House of the Lost Court, The | C. N. Williamson |
| House of the Whispering Pines, The | Anna K. Green |
| Household of Peter, The | Rosa N. Carey |
| Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker | S. Weir Mitchell, M.D. |
| Husbands of Edith, The | George Barr McCutcheon |
| Idols | William J. Locke |
| Illustrious Prince, The | E. Phillips Oppenheim |
| Imposter, The | John Reed Scott |
| In Defiance of the King | Chauncey C. Hotchkiss |
| Indifference of Juliet, The | Grace S. Richmond |
| Inez (Illustrated Edition) | Augusta J. Evans |
| Infelice | Augusta Evans Wilson |
| Initials Only | Anna Katharine Green |
| Iron Trail, The | Rex Beach |
| Iron Woman, The | Margaret Deland |
| Ishmael (Illustrated) | Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth |
| Island of Regeneration, The | Cyrus Townsend Brady |
| Japonette | Robert W. Chambers |
| Jane Cable | George Barr McCutcheon |
| Jeanne of the Marshes | E. Phillips Oppenheim |
| Jennie Gerhardt | Theodore Dreiser |
| Joyful Heatherby | Payne Erskine |
| Judgment House, The | Sir Gilbert Parker |
| Keith of the Border | Randall Parrish |
| Key to the Unknown, The | Rosa N. Carey |
| King Spruce | Holman Day |
| Knave of Diamonds, The | Ethel M. Dell |
| Lady and the Pirate, The | Emerson Hough |
| Lady Betty Across the Water | C. N. and A. M. Williamson |
| Land of Long Ago, The | Eliza Calvert Hall |
| Langford of the Three Bars | Kate and Virgil D. Boyles |
| Last Trail, The | Zane Grey |
| Last Voyage of the Donna Isabel, The | Randall Parrish |
| Leavenworth Case, The | Anna Katherine Green |
| Life Mask, The | Author of “To M. L. G.” |
| Lighted Way, The | E. Phillips Oppenheim |
| Lin McLean | Owen Wister |
| Little Brown Jug at Kildare, The | Meredith Nicholson |
| Lonesome Land | B. M. Bower |
| Lord Loveland Discovers America | C. N. and A. M. Williamson |
| Lorimer of the Northwest | Harold Bindloss |
| Lorraine | Robert W. Chambers |
| Lost Ambassador, The | E. Phillips Oppenheim |
| Love Under Fire | Randall Parrish |
| Macaria (Illustrated Edition) | Augusta J. Evans |
| Maid at Arms, The | Robert W. Chambers |
| Maid of Old New York, A | Amelia E. Barr |
| Maids of Paradise, The | Robert W. Chambers |
| Maid of the Whispering Hills, The | Vingie E. Roe |
| Maid of the Forest, The | Randall Parrish |
| Making of Bobby Burnit, The | Geo. Randolph Chester |
| Mam’ Linda | Will N. Harben |
| Marriage | H. G. Wells |
| Marriage a la Mode | Mrs. Humphrey Ward |
| Master Mummer, The | E. Phillips Oppenheim |
| Masters of the Wheatlands | Harold Bindloss |
| Max | Katherine Cecil Thurston |
| Mediator The | Roy Norton |
| Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes | A. Conan Doyle |
| Missioner, The | E. Phillips Oppenheim |
| Miss Gibbie Gault | Kate Langley Bosher |
| Miss Philura’s Wedding Gown | Florence Morse Kingsley |
| Miss Selina Lue | Maria Thompson Daviess |
| Mollie’s Prince | Rosa N. Carey |
| Molly McDonald | Randall Parrish |
| Money Moon, The | Jeffery Farnol |
| Motor Maid, The | C. N. and A. M. Williamson |
| Moth, The | William Dana Orcutt |
| Mountain Girl, The | Payne Erskine |
| Mr. Pratt | Joseph C. Lincoln |
| Mr. Pratt’s Patients | Joseph C. Lincoln |
| Mrs. Red Pepper | Grace S. Richmond |
| My Friend the Chauffeur | C. N. and A. M. Williamson |
| My Lady Caprice | Jeffery Farnol |
| My Lady of Doubt | Randall Parrish |
| My Lady of the North | Randall Parrish |
| My Lady of the South | Randall Parrish |
| Mystery Tales | Edgar Allen Poe |
| Mystery of the Boule Cabinet, The | Burton E. Stevenson |
| Nancy Stair | Elinor Macartney Lane |
| Ne’er-Do-Well, The | Rex Beach |
| Net, The | Rex Beach |
| Night Riders, The | Ridgwell Cullum |
| No Friend Like a Sister | Rosa N. Carey |
| Officer 666 | Barton W. Currie and Augustin McHugh |
| Once Upon a Time | Richard Harding Davis |
| One Braver Thing | Richard Dehan |
| One Way Trail, The | Ridgwell Cullum |
| Orphan, The | Clarence E. Mulford |
| Out of the Primitive | Robert Ames Bennet |
| Pam | Bettina Von Hutten |
| Pam Decides | Bettina Von Hutten |
| Pardners | Rex Beach |
| Parrot & Co | Harold McGrath |
| Partners of the Tide | Joseph C. Lincoln |
| Passage Perilous, The | Rosa N. Carey |
| Passionate Friends, The | H. G. Wells |
| Paul Anthony, Christian | Hiram W. Hays |
| Peter Ruff | E. Phillips Oppenheim |
| Phillip Steele | James Oliver Curwood |
| Phra the Phoenician | Edwin Lester Arnold |
| Pidgin Island | Harold MacGrath |
| Place of Honeymoons, The | Harold MacGrath |
| Pleasures and Palaces | Juliet Wilbor Tompkins |
| Plunderer, The | Roy Norton |
| Pole Baker | Will N. Harben |
| Pool of Flame, The | Louis Joseph Vance |
| Polly of the Circus | Margaret Mayo |
| Poppy | Cynthia Stockley |
| Port of Adventure, The | C. N. and A. M. Williamson |
| Postmaster, The | Joseph C. Lincoln |
| Power and the Glory, The | Grace McGowan Cooke |
| Price of the Prairie, The | Margaret Hill McCarter |
| Prince of Sinners, A | E. Phillips Oppenheim |
| Prince or Chauffeur | Lawrence Perry |
| Princess Passes, The | C. N. and A. M. Williamson |
| Princess Virginia, The | C. N. and A. M. Williamson |
| Prisoners of Chance | Randall Parrish |
| Prodigal Son, The | Hall Caine |
| Purple Parasol, The | George Barr McCutcheon |
| R.J.’s Mother | Margaret Deland |
| Ranching for Sylvia | Harold Bindloss |
| Reason Why, The | Elinor Glyn |
| Redemption of Kenneth Galt, The | Will N. Harben |
| Red Cross Girl, The | Richard Harding Davis |
| Red Lane, The | Holman Day |
| Red Pepper Burns | Grace S. Richmond |
| Red Republic, The | Robert W. Chambers |
| Refugees, The | A. Conan Doyle |
| Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary, The | Anne Warner |
| Rise of Roscoe Paine, The | Joseph C. Lincoln |
| Road to Providence, The | Maria Thompson Daviess |
| Robinetta | Kate Douglas Wiggin |
| Rose in the Ring, The | George Barr McCutcheon |
| Rose of the World | Agnes and Egerton Castle |
| Rose of Old Harpeth, The | Maria Thompson Daviess |
| Round the Corner in Gay Street | Grace S. Richmond |
| Routledge Rides Alone | Will Levington Comfort |
| Rue: With a Difference | Rosa N. Carey |
| St. Elmo (Illustrated Edition) | Augusta J. Evans |
| Seats of the Mighty, The | Gilbert Parker |
| Second Violin, The | Grace S. Richmond |
| Self-Raised (Illustrated) | Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth |
| Septimus | William J. Locke |
| Set in Silver | C. N. and A. M. Williamson |
| Sharrow | Bettina Von Hutten |
| Shepherd of the Hills, The | Harold Bell Wright |
| Sheriff of Dyke Hole, The | Ridgwell Cullum |
| Ship’s Company | W. W. Jacobs |
| Sidney Carteret, Rancher | Harold Bindloss |
| Sign at Six, The | Stewart Edward White |
| Silver Horde, The | Rex Beach |
| Simon the Jester | William J. Locke |
| Sir Nigel | A. Conan Doyle |
| Sir Richard Calmady | Lucas Malet |
| Sixty-First Second, The | Owen Johnson |
| Slim Princess, The | George Ade |
| Speckled Bird, A | Augusta Evans Wilson |
| Spirit in Prison, A | Robert Hichens |
| Spirit of the Border, The | Zane Grey |
| Spoilers, The | Rex Beach |
| Strawberry Acres | Grace S. Richmond |
| Strawberry Handkerchief, The | Amelia E. Barr |
| Streets of Ascalon, The | Robert W. Chambers |
| Sunnyside of the Hill, The | Rosa N. Carey |
| Sunset Trail, The | Alfred Henry Lewis |
| Susan Clegg and Her Friend Mrs. Lathrop | Anne Warner |
| Sword of the Old Frontier, A | Randall Parrish |
| Tales of Sherlock Holmes | A. Conan Doyle |
| Tarzan of the Apes | Edgar Rice Burroughs |
| Taste of Apples, The | Jennette Lee |
| Tennessee Shad, The | Owen Johnson |
| Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Thomas Hardy |
| Texican, The | Dane Coolidge |
| That Affair Next Door | Anna Katharine Green |
| That Printer of Udell’s | Harold Bell Wright |
| Their Yesterdays | Harold Bell Wright |
| Throwback, The | Alfred Henry Lewis |
| Thurston of Orchard Valley | Harold Bindloss |
| To M. L. G.; Or, He Who Passed | Anonymous |
| To Him That Hath | Leroy Scott |
| Torn Sails | Allen Raine |
| Trail of the Axe, The | Ridgwell Cullum |
| Trail to Yesterday, The | Charles Alden Seltzer |
| Treasure of Heaven, The | Marie Corelli |
| Truth Dexter | Sidney McCall |
| T. Tembarom | Frances Hodgson Burnett |
| Turnstile, The | A. E. W. Mason |
| Two-Gun Man, The | Charles Alden Seltzer |
| Uncle William | Jennette Lee |
| Under the Red Robe | Stanley J. Weyman |
| Up From Slavery | Booker T. Washington |
| Valiants of Virginia, The | Hallie Erminie Rives |
| Vanity Box, The | C. N. Williamson |
| Vane of the Timberlands | Harold Bindloss |
| Varmint, The | Owen Johnson |
| Vashti | Augusta Evans Wilson |
| Wall of Men, A | Margaret Hill McCarter |
| Watchers of the Plains, The | Ridgwell Cullum |
| Way Home, The | Basil King |
| Way of An Eagle, The | E. M. Dell |
| Weavers, The | Gilbert Parker |
| West Wind, The | Cyrus Townsend Brady |
| Wheel of Life, The | Ellen Glasgow |
| When Wilderness Was King | Randall Parrish |
| Where the Trail Divides | Will Lillibridge |
| Where There’s A Will | Mary Roberts Rinehart |
| White Sister, The | Marion Crawford |
| Wind Before the Dawn, The | Dell H. Munger |
| Window at the White Cat, The | Mary Roberts Rinehart |
| Winning of Barbara Worth, The | Harold Bell Wright |
| With Juliet in England | Grace S. Richmond |
| With the Best Intentions | Bruno Lessing |
| Woman in the Alcove, The | Anna Katharine Green |
| Woman Haters, The | Joseph C. Lincoln |
| Woodcarver of ’Lympus, The | Mary E. Waller |
| Woodfire in No. 3, The | F. Hopkinson Smith |
| Wrecker, The | Robert Louis Stevenson |
| Younger Set, The | Robert W. Chambers |
| You Never Know Your Luck | Gilbert Parker |