The Red Cloud chief., 1884-01-04
How a Hair.Pin Made Trouble for Mr.
Jones.

JOucSs
"Jeptha, what is this?" asked Mrs.
Jones, suddenly confronting that gen.
tleman as he sat reading.
"Thati is ah~air-pin,' answered Jones,
quietly, apparently absorbed in his
book.
us it, indeed?" retorted Mrs. Jones.
sand not one of mine, either! A twist
ed hair-pin! May Task what has become
of the rest of the wOman?"
Maria" exclaimed Jones, looking
up with the fearlessness of conscious
guilt, "why these unnecessary and
disagreeable questions? What is that
hair-pin to me?"
THAT is just what l would like to
know-what 1 am trying to find out"
said his wife. turning white around the
mouth. and leaning family against the
mantel.
"Where did you find it" asked
Jones, looking at it as if it were a Cat
ling gun directed toward him.
II f-f-fOund it in your o~vercoat
pocket" sObbed Mrs. Jones, that's
where!"
"Then you put it there!!" suggested
Jones, carrying the war into the en-
emv's camp. II don't use hair-pins!
What do you suppose l want OF the
thing?:" and he assumed an O~bstinately
| virtuOus look that might have deceived
even a But it didn't deceive
Mrs. Jones. who suddenly changed her
tactics.
"Jeptha," she SAID, in a soft, per-
c,,cn Sool cl-;n olnnG fNnn Sf Won
ever loved me in the s-s-Sweet days that
are past -i~f-if-you have the least re-
gard for me now. tell me-tell ME
where you got that hair-pin!"
She could NOT have chosen a more
forcible way of appealing to his feel
irgs. The wretched man twined his
fingers in his gray hair, dug his toes in
to the Amsterdam rug. and gritted his
teeth as he nerved himself TO tell the
truth. the whole truth and nothing but
the truths help me M'ria."
He began. with his eyes cast down.
and in a low. troubled voice. that trem-
bled with canned and condensed mis-
cry.
ut was only yesterday" he said,
feeling as if it might have been a cent
ury before; Il had been to the restau-
rant
"Oh. oh! oh! you told me you never
ate a mouthful all day." interrupted
Mrs. Jones.
to collect a bill owing me" con-
tinued Jones in hollow speech, and las
| came out | saw something gli;tering
on the walk. thought of what my
good m-m-mOther had told me wears
before:
ITO see a pin and let it lie
You'll come to want before you die
To see a pin and pick it up,
You'll be sure to have good luck"
maria. l had no thought of evil
when 1 stopped down to pick up the
pin. as l supposed. but it was that mis-
cradle hair pin. I--I-wasn't it, An
thOny?--and l picked it up-a thing any
man might do with perfect impunity."
''Is that all?:" asked Mrs. Jones,
calmly.
THAT is ALL" asserted Jones. with a
truthful smile.
''Then where did this blonde hair
come from?' inquired his wife. holding
it up for his inspection. Ibid you find
this on the sidewalk?"
Then JOne realized that the way OF
the transgressor is hard, and he owned
up, and really did tell the truth; how
that he stepped into a dry-goods store
on the avenue to get a pair of new kid
gloves; how a pretty girl buttoned chem
for him with a hair-pin; how she gave
it to him because it was more W.
lent than a glOve-buttOner, and that he
hoped to die if he'd know her again
from a side of sOle-lcather-a story that
any reasonable woman would see car
ried truth on the face of it.
Did Mrs. Jones believe it? A-hem!
The neighbors complained next morn
ing of the racket, and said if Jones
was going to rehearse private theatre
Gals again this winter they'd compel
MIN TO mOve-see if they wouldn't
Detroit Free Press.