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

should give riso to awkward
questions. F~ortnnately, however,
Sans opinion turned out to be
correct, for the truth was that the
Disagreement was really very trifing.
Mrs. BAttledore madeno comment upon
her husbands appearance, and raj so
entirely unsuspicious Of what had hap
pened that she hardly referred to his
suppored sojourn in town. Sam Newell's
wife made no suspicious inquiries either;
and the conspirators took IN early OPP
portunity Of secretly congratulating
one another upon their happy escape
from detection.
Somewhere toward the small hours
of the night, however, Mr.. Battledore
was aroused from his first doze by an
omirous question from his wife, who
inquired rather meaningly, as he inn
agmed, whether he had receiveda let
ter from her.
"a letterl What letter." he asked,
taken aback.
"Ths letter I wrote to your Office on
Tuesday, = said Mrs. Battledore.
1t would have been perfectly simple,
and also perfectly true, for Mr.. Battle
dore to have answered in the negative.
The next moment he bitterly repented
not having done so. But somehow or
other, when the question was asked, he
was seized with an ~unreasoning panic,
arising from q guilty conscience, and
the idea flashed across his mind that if
he said he had not received the letter
his wife would instantly suspect he had
been absent from the Office. An in
stant's reflection would have convinced
him Of the foolishness of such q notion,
but he replied hastily and thoughtless-
u, inspired by secret uneasiness and
his evil genius.
aOh! the letter. Oh, yes. Certain
"" he said, burying his face in the
pillow again.
'Well2' said his wife, interrogative-
II.
"What?" mumbled Mr.. BattIedore,
"You ordered it / suppose?
pretending to be doing off again.
Ordered It'll Ehi What? Oil OF
course. Of courselp answered Mr..
Battledore. 4What on earth made Won
write to the Officer" he added, by the
way Of changing the conversation.
y thought it would be more CONVEX.
lent. You would only have to step
round to the shop" replied his wife.
What the deuce does this all mean ?"
thought Mr.. Battledore, with a groan
j hope it will be ready in time. Jo-
sephl Jeseph!" cried his wife, emphati-
cally, Is he feigned to slumber. twill
it be ready in time?"
"Of COURSE" said Mr.. Battledore,
shortly, trembling with apprehension.
What color did you choose, Joseph ?"
demanded his persistent spouse, little
suspecting his mental perturbation.
"Color?" murmured Mr.. Battledore
family.
Yes, I left that entirely to you.
II think it was q sort Of blush
green," said Mr.. Battledore with des-
peration.
To his unutterabIe relief his wife ap-
peared satisfied with this answer. or.
more probably, she became drowsy her.
self OF this juncture. At all events. she
asked no more, and Mr.. BattIedpre was
left to reflect upon the conversation.
BY this time he had realized that he had
made . fatal mistake in pretending to
have received the letter, and q greater
mistake still in feigning to have execut-
ed some mysterious commission. He
tossed shout restlessly as he perceived
how foolishly he had walked into q
dangerous trap. Should his wife now
discover that he knew nothing Of the
letter, and had answered her at random,
her suspicious Of something wrong
would be Immediately aroused; and Mr..
B~attledore was haunted by q dismal
foreboding that the smallest clue would
lead to the discovery of his recent es-
capable. He dared not anticipate the
scene that would ensue when his wick
edness and deceit stood revealed, for
the truth was that he vas afraid Of his
wife, and though pompous and self-im-
portant in the world he was pretty So
verely henpecked at home.
However, it occurred to him that the
case was not absolutely hopeless, for
Sam might find ont through Mrs. New
ell what the letter wa about, and BY
putting him on his guard enable him to
avoid sinking deeper into the mire. Ac-
cordingly, next morning, having previ-
ously arranged with his friend to have
an early dip in the sea, he started off
before his wife was awake, and confided
his trouble to his faithful companion.
Sam scoffed at his fears. and undertook
to find out the necessary information
from his wife without delay. Fortu-
nately Mrs. Battledore made no allu-
sion to the subject during breakfast,
and alter that meal, being excused
church on the ground Of overwork at
office during the week. the friends
seated themselves on the beaah and
and threw pebbles into the glistening
water which implied unsteady at their
feet.
But to Mr.. Battledore's dismay it
TRANSFERRED that Sam had failed in his
mission. His wife pretended to know
nothing about the letter, and had in
her turn questioned him quite sharply
about it.
1She put mo in q corner" said Sam,
rubbing his nose with a perplexed air.
"by asking what you had told me about
it, and why was putting questions to
herr
what did you say??n inquired Mr..
Battledore, breathlessly.
Il said l only asked for fun. That
was q little weak, wasn't it? But Idon't
think she twigged was Disconnected"
said Sam. 1She seemed more curious
to know what you had let drop about
the letter"
Eyes, yes!" murmured MI. Battle
dore.
Il said / had forgotten, but believed
you had mentioned something about
light green, turned up with blue or
some other color. Evidently Maria
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