The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-11-28

the suggestion that they should return
to town that evening, instead Of wait.
ing till the morrow.
- ~ w had better. and then you
will be out OF harms way all the SOON
err
aThat will put an end to the Difficult.
ty, for I shall no doubt find the letter
somewhere about the Office tomorrow
and can set everything right" said Mr.,
Battledore, eagerly.
Accordingly the two dissemblers
shirked their families as much as posi-.
BILE all day, and then created consider.
able surprise and CONSERVATION by un.
expectedly announcing their intended
departure by an early evening train.
Business was as usual the excuse put
forward, and after an uncomfortable af.
ternoon they started back to town, con.
soled by the reflection that the danger
was happily over.
On the following evening, however.
Mr.. Battledore greeted his friend with
9 very rueful countenance,
"The letter Is not to be found any,
where. Those idiots ct the Office must
have mislaid it,
"Or else it miscarried," suggested
Sam, with an exasperating grin.
But l said l received it'll Now, what
am l to do? What is it I'm supposed to
have ordered? It might be anything,
from wall paper OF curtains to q pair Of
gloves or q drawing room sofa," ex-
claimed MIR. Battledore, quite tragi-
cally.
ut is certainly awkward; but if 1
were you l should pretend to forget all
abont the thing whennext we go down.
len to one your wife will then mention
what it is" said Sam, in his confident
way.
Poor Mr.. Battledore plucked up
heart a little ut this suggestion, but he
continued to grow more and more un-
easy, especially after receiving q post
card from his wife 4 day or two later,
enjoining him to remember her COM
mission, and to bring it down with him
on Saturday, without fail-the last two
words bang literally underscored.
"How q I pretend I've forgotten it
after that ?" said MI. Battledore, pee
yishly, as he threw the post card on the
table.
"You will have to. It's your only
chance" said Sam, looking quite seri.
GUS.
why couldn't she have mentioned
the article, instead of saying it 2" ex-
claimed Mr.. Battledore, tearing the
card %viciously into small pieces.
'Il tell you what, old fellow. T
shall take Mrs. N. . bracelet or some.
thing when we go down on Saturday"
said Sam thoughtfully. eff there
should be q row, it won't do any harm.
and it may enable me to assist you to
ascertain what you wish to know"
MI. Battledore's ~apprehensions
reached to a dangerous pitch when his
friend announced his intention of adopt
ing such q rrecantion. But . little
calm reflection induced him to fol.
low Sons shrewd example, and the re-
suit was that both gentlemen the
following Saturday carried with them
p~ropitiatory offerings to be sacrificed on
the alter of congual affection.
On reaching Eastbourne they were
met by their wives in the carriage, and
MIR. Battledore. at all events, felt by no
means grateful for this little attention.
However, he and Sam took their seats
opposite the ladies, trying their best to
look as if they had nothing on their
minds, and above all no guilty secret.
But before Mr.. Battledore had time to
recover his elf-possession, his wife said:
Joseph, you remember my speaking
to you about o letter I wrote to you last
week."
"Ye-yes," said Mr.. B~attledore, win
cling at nudge from Sam.
We'll, I never sent it, after ALL On
~ this morning / discovered it among
the leaves of my plotting book. I for
got to post it,"
ut Is of NO consequence of COURSE
chimed in Mrs. Newell; "only you will
be the loser, Sam, Mrs .Battledore wrote
to her husband to buy you q new cigar
case on my behalf, and to have your in
itials engraved upon it. Tomorrow,
you know, is your birthday"
Mr.. Battledore was by no means reas-
sured by these speeches. On the con-
trary, he realized that he was in o worse
fix than ever, since he would now be
called upon to explain what he meant
by saying he had received the letter. A
sort Of sickly feeling came over him as
his wife said:
by the way. Joseph, you said you
had received the letter, and talked as
though you knew all about it,"
"And you, Sam, said Mr.. Battledore
had mentioned the subject to you;
and l vas vexed at the time, as Of
course it was q secret" %interposed Mrs.
Newell.
"The fact u.s." said Sam, coming gal
lantly to the rescue, for Mr.. Battledore
was at a loss to find words, "as Joe
said to me afterwards, we have been at
cross purposes. We each had q secret,
and we thought you had discovered
ours. Joe let out that blue was the
color he had chosen. When I tried to
find out how the land lay from my wife,
she nearly made me betray every
thing by asking questions. However,
I dare say neither of you guess what it
is" /.
enc, indeed!" cried both the ladies',
considerably m%ystifedby this incoherent
explanation, and on tiptoe of excite
ment.
well, here, Maria" he said, produc-
ing q bracelet, like q conjurer. EN-
eralds, you see. Don't you remember
my saying it was a sort of BLUSH green
or something. Well, Joe's offering, i
believe, has blue stones-turqoises."
Mr.. Battledore took the hint, and
handed to his wife the bracelet he had
bought as q peace offering, inwardly
m~arvelling at his old friends wonderful
tact and impudence, and beginning to
breathe quite freely again. In fact, it
was evident that Sans extempore dis
course, followed up by the bracelets,
had satisfactorily explained what was
mysterious in their recent behavior,
and the secret of the unhallowed expe-
dition to Paris seems unlikely ever to be
Observation-Disclosures T,-nth