CUPID'S MIDDLEMAN
BY
EDWARD B. LENT
Author of "Being Done Good"
Illustrated by
H. B. MATTHEWS
NEW YORK
CUPPLES & LEON
Copyright, 1906, by
CUPPLES & LEON
To My Friend,
HERBERT F. GUNNISON,
of the
Brooklyn Eagle.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| PAGE | |
| Cupid's Middleman | Frontispiece |
| "Why, who in the world could have written thisnonsense?" laughed Hygeia | 214 |
| "You advertise rooms for light housekeeping" | 238 |
| "I wrote it, Gabrielle—and forgive me" | 286 |
| "I came to apologize to you, Mr. Tescheron" | 322 |
PREFACE
John Alden was a celebrated Cupid's middleman. In presenting the causeof Miles Standish to Priscilla, however, he did not attend strictly tobusiness as a jobber. He was not able to resist the lady when she asked:"Why don't you speak for yourself, John?" That famous question haspractically made it impossible for the middleman to make much headway inthe assumed part. Benjamin Hopkins, of Oswegatchie County, was not atraitor—perhaps because he never met the fair Priscillas face to face.
This story can teach no new lesson; it can only recall the ancientwisdom which filled Miles Standish when it was too late. In the poem byLongfellow, the Plymouth Captain says:
"* * * I should have remembered the adage—
If you would be well served, you must serve yourself; and moreover,
No man can gather cherries in Kent at the season of Christmas!"
E. B. L.
Cupid's Middleman
CHAPTER I
"Jim, it's years since you asked me to help you out in a love affair," Isaid. "Has your old heart grown cold, shriveled up, or what's thematter?"
"You're right, Ben; it must be a long time back. But why don't you putout a few letters for yourself?"
"I wish I could get a dollar a ton for all I have written for you," saidI; "then I'd have a fortune