The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1876-06-08
SLIGHTLY MISTAKEN
BY JULIA A. ABBOTT.

Mrs. Ross Deane was mending her
husbands coat, and singing cheerily
over the task. She was a pretty little
woman, with pink cheeks, and wavy
hair, and great blue eyes, sunny and
innocent in expression as a child's. II
her mouth was q trifie large, nobody
ever noticed it for admiring the scarlet
lips and white teeth that cleaned out
when she smiled-wbich was not sell
dom, for she was a merry little body,
as sparkling and sunshiny as If she
never had a care in the world.
And really, when you come to think
about it, her cares we're very few, and
her pleasures many. Had she not
the bandsomest and best husband in
the world, who petted and humOred
her to her hearts content? It's very
queer the fondness some women have
for being petted. It's rather q catlike
trait, this liking to be purred and
cuddled so much. Then she had the
sweetest love of a baby (; but thst was
rather a partnership concern there
were grandparents ana aunts innu-
merable who put in a claim to the
baby, to say nothing Ofthe little ones
father; while her handsome Ross was
her own individual property.
At least she thought he was till she
very unwisely undertook to mend that
Office coat of his. She had pOunced
upon it that morning, when, in the
course Of shopping expedition, she
had penetrated to his den at the back
of the store-being in want of more
money, and had cOnfiscated it direct
ly, declaring that it was q shame for
anybody to wear such dilapidsted
arrangement, and her hubby should
not do it another day, sc there
There was only one more pocket to
look after now, and then the tiresome
job would be done. CAroling a merry
little roundelay she turned 1t inside
out. The song died on her lips as
tiny scented envelope dropped out and
fluttered to the floor. She stopped to
pick it up, aud, noting the feminine
handwriting on the outside, opened it
of course, but with an odd misgiving
at her heart regarding the act, never
tbeless.
Perhaps she had better not have
opened It. / won't undertake to say
whether It was best or not but l al
ways believed "wbere Ignorance was
bliss" it was exceedingly foolish to
become enlightened of your own free
will, as this child was doing for this
is what she read
"DEAR Mr.. DEANE-Of course Won will be
at the masquerade tomorrow evening. !
won't tell you what character shall as
sume, but II yen were 20 wear pink DOM
ino with white rose in your buttOn-hOle.
and you We're TO meet another pink domino
with red rose IN its hand how can tell
who Il may be q? Yours,
BELLE"
Bad enOugh-Or nOt-iust as any
one chooses 20 take it. Mrs. Deane
knew well enough who wrote it
knew that the letter wasn't really
half so bsd as it sounded. Still ii was
proof that the fiirtatiOn-which Mrs.
LOttie Deane had heretofore imagined
to be carried on by Miss Belie-was
going altogether too far to be pleasant
10 the lOoker-on-when the lOoker-on
happened to be the wife OF one Of the
parties.
AS long as Miss Belle Preston made
eyes at elegant Ross Deane, only to
be eareIessly battered by him IL re-
turn, and afterwards laughed at III
tie by both Mr.. and Mrs. DeanP, it
was very little LOttie cared about it.
She called the girl a goose to herself,
was politely cordial to her before
folks, and never gave the matter an
other thought.
Miss Preston was a goose, OF course,
but quite pretty little winning goose
after all. She was rather dsshing in
her ways-smOked cigarettes, talked
slane-both of which Mrs. Dsane
particularly detested-and tried to ape
the manners generally Of the mascu-
line half of creation.
or course she made a failure OF il,
but men are remarkably tolerant OF
bright, saucy, blaek-eyed failures of
this Belle Preston kind, and so they
laughed at her little, but fiattered
her q great deal more, and-not
feW-fell in love with her continually.
But Mrs. Deane did not choose that
her husband should be caught in the
tolls of siren like this, and she was
properly indignant at finding that the
two were ON familiar terms enough
for notes to pass between them-and
such notes, too.
"The bold thing, to ask another
woman's husband to come to the
masquerade to meet her-she ought
% be ashamed OF herself 90 muttered
Mrs. Ross Deane, angrily. "And he,
too, after pretending to me that he
thought she was horrid-I hate him 90
And she stamped her little foot, aud
subsidized into a fit OF sulks.
But her nature was too healthy 10
permit long indulgence in feelings
OF that kind, so before very long she
found herself wondering whEt she