Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1878-12-03

| upon lnlS matter"
Il think you are right. Now |
think Of it, / remember hearing her
say week ago that she wished she had
another silk. But bless me! Tibbs,
could never choose dress. "
/ ssWell, perhaps [ might. #
That was just what | wanted. Tibbs
had taste. We started right off to
make the purchase. 1t took us some
time (or Tibbs rather) to get the arti-
Gle that suited exactly.
''Just enough to make dress, sir.
Not another piece like it in the city.
Sold all but this to the Figglnses Of
New York. The lady who wears this
sir, will cause all her female friends to
howl with envy"
'sI'll take it, durn me if [ don'tl" /
hissed between my teeth.
Its splendid thing remarked
Tibbs, in an undertone.
And so took it, and carried it down
to the office, and locked it up in my
desk until my dear Fannie's Birthday
arrived.
Well, when Fannie's birthday ar
rived [ brought home the silk dress,
| and presented it to her; and | made a
really fine presentation speech, at least
| Tibbs said did, for he was there, and
Of course he ought to know. And
Fannie, why, bless her soul! she was
SO surprised and gratifed that she
dropped the dress, fell into my arms,
and gave me such kissl that | felt
really more than repaid.
But now, my dear reader, / come to
the most affecting part of my story.
How could that beautiful blue silk
| dress ever have brought SO much sor-
row, such tears, such woes to me? L
should never have dreamed it; but it
did. Tibbs can testify to that.
reside on Hollis street, ID that
large brick house with blue blinds,
standing back from the street, with
those great tall elms in front Of it.
There is an observatory upon the
house, which you may have noticed,
with four large windows in it of stained
glass. Tibbs and often 60 up there
to smoke our cigars and discuss poll
tics. N NF3 &sts a#
Directly opposite my house, in a
small cottage, which stands very near
the street, by the way, and which, du-
ring the summer months is completely
covered with vines and flowers, lives
Miss Flora Dudley, lady of uncertain
age. Tibbs boards with her. He has
the front room up stairs, commanding
a fine view of my house and grounds.
1t was Wednesday morning, about
ten O'Clock. The weather was fair,
and the wind was south-I always feel
particularly good-natured when the
wind blows from that point of the
compass. There was very bright
smile upon my countenance. / held
the morning paper in my hand, though
[ was not reading / was seated IN the
back office, near the west window.
Green was whistling sold Dog Tray
with the ''Moeking- bird'' variations
something quite new-no one whistled
it but Green, our head clerk. He knew
was in good humor, or he wouldn't
have dared to whistle.
AT this moment / heard the outer
office door open, some one came IN, and
walked through. | turned around,
and looked up just as Tibbs reached
the door of the back office.
''Tibbs!'' l cried, IN alarm, "what
has happened?n
knew something had gone wrong
for he was pale as death. | placed
chair for him, and raised the window,
and then ran for palm-leaf fan. When
returned, Tibbs had recovered his
color somewhat, especially around his
nose.
Charles y said he in a deep hollow
voice, that seemed to come from the
tomb, ''prepare yourself,' and he took
my hand i'll his.
''Tibbs- -whatl Sir? Speakl''
''Hushl | hardly dare. Can you
bear it?''
Now l was somewhat excited, as
you may suppose, and if Mr.. Tibbs
hadn't been my particular friend, |
should have been tempted to pitch him
out Of the office for daring to disturb
me in such manner. If he'd got any
thing to communicate, why not out
with it? | don't think there is any
reason in frightening a man to death
to prepare him for bad news. g
''What do you mean?" | asked, not
little alarmed.
"Hushl Charles, my boy, listen. "
| And Tibbs brought my ear down to his
lips, and then whispered loud enough
for the whole office to hear, '',She's
tGlSel''
''Falsei Who the deuce is false?'' /
asked, regarding Tibbs with vacant
stare.
He had fallen back in his chair,
completely overcome. His small
leaden blue eyes rolled horribly, I
thought he was in pain. | believe l
had an idea that he had proposed to
Miss Dudley and been rejected, though
/ must have been wandering in my
mind to have supposed the latter.
''Whom do you refer to?''
"Fannie-your wifel'' he gasped.
''No, no, not that? Fannie falsel''
| seized Tibbs by the whiskers. He
howled with pain.
''Unsay those words, or by
"They're true. l sd,1 that dressl
Twas her, I'd swear"
| calmed myself with great effort.
Tibbs sat quietly in the chair, while |