The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1886-05-28
a STARTLING EPISODE

1 ~ Al0N Oh tie Diou
hetnnclub to themselves. They satin .
circle round the blazing fire, chatting
laughing, chatting ons another and
bandying jests. At length, during a
momentary pause, mi Of the party,
Who was lounging in an easy chair
With his legs dangling over n OF the
Arms and his hat tilted over his eyes,
idly took up anewspaper which was
ct hand, and read out from the agony
column the following advertisement:
JAcK.-Meet me at the marble arch
tomorrow, Tuesday, at 8 O'Clock p.
N. It is the last favor l shall ever
ask. Come il you love me. MAGGIE.
There was q sneer on the face of the
reader, and the announcement caused
laughter among his audience. One of
the young men turned to another, and
said, jokingly;
ssJack, Che base d~eceiverl It's your
little milliner friend. You've behaved
s~hockingly, and it's your duty to CO."
"B0sh! returned Jack Canister, sip
ping TRANQUILITY at his tumbler. s'She
hasconsoled herselflong ago. Besides,
Maggie isn't her name"
cts a plant, of course" remarked
some one, knowingly.
Eve often wondered. added an
other, o seriously, whether an
nouncements of that kind are really
genuine or not. l fancy they gener-
ally have q yelled significance. I've
been told that they often have refer
ence to contemplated b~urgiaries or the
dispositiongof plumber"
s'There is special staff of clerks at
Scotland yard who kept a close watch
on mysterious advertisements and
are trained to translate ciphers," re-
marked Jack Canister.
"Deuced uninteresting and unproft.
able occupation, 1 should think" re-
joined the holder of the newspaper.
81 know a man." said young Has
lett OF the guards, "who was made q
precious fool Of by one Of those ap-
peals. It was Tom Craik. You know
Tom, Jack?
"Gold diggings," remarked Jack, Ia
conically.
Eyes. I am told he is doing no good
there. This was years ago, before l
joined" said Haslett, who had only
seen some five years service. "Tom
was always in difficulties, and an or
der was out against him for commit
tai or contempt; SO he was in hiding
at the rooms of a friend OF mine. He
was awful spoons at that time. I for
get who the object of his affection was,
but che would have nothing to say to
him. Well, he was taken in by an ad-
v~ertisement which he thought came
from her. Without saying a word to
anybody he attended the appoint
ment and was nabbed."
"And quite deserved it," said Jack
Canister, "for being such an idiot.
That Is a very old dodge"
II never said it wasn't, did II" re-
torted the guardsman, rather nettled.
every one knows that Tom was q
tool, and that's why he came to grief"
II should like to know whether this
advertisement is genuine or not"
said one Of tho youngest of the party,
possessing himself of the newspaper.
Ut would be rather fun to inves-
tigate it. Ilgoifany one else will"
What's the goods,' growled Jack
Canister, contemptuously.
Nevertheless. a few young men, hall
jsstingly, half in earnest, agreed to &C.
company the proposer, and shortly
afterwards the circle broke up and
the friends separated.
The youngster who had suggested
the expedition was a newly elected
member OF the club, who, even in his
n0vitiate, had contrived to establish
q reputation for fastness OF which he
was immensely proud. He was
universally liked on account OF his
amiable disposition and his boyish
frankness, and though he fondly i'm.
-agined that he had attained the digni.
ty of q notorious man of pleasure, he
was really regarded as an honest,
foolish young fellow, who would 500
sober down into O respectable membe.
of society.
When thenext eveningarrivedy young
Thurston, who was tilldetermined to
carry out his Investigation found that
none Of his friends were disposed to
fulfill their promise Of accompanying
him. Their curiosity on the subject
of the advertisement had faded. and
they all laughingly made excuses.
Thurston himself, to tell the truth,
was strongly inclined to yield to their
example, but, with characterization
osty, he did not like to draw back
from his own proposal. Besides, it
was only q matter OF half an hour,
and he had nothing particular to do.
He therefore started off to the tryst.
ing place alone in a handsom, and ar.
rived there exactly at the appointed
hour.
It had been q thoroughly wet day,
and the rain had ceased SO recently
thAt9the payements were still shining.
therefore there we're very lew people
about. Thurston lit a cigarette, men.
tally deciding not to waste more than
five minutes, and then began to look
leisurely about him.
As he did so he became conscious Of
the figure OF a woman standing close
against the ratings, watching him in.
tently. She advanced straight up tc
him as his glance met hers, and &C
oosted him.
Are you Jack?" she inquired
abruptly.
yes" replied Thurston, recklessly
They were standing beneath stree,
lamp. the light from which fell full up
on his face, while hers was in shadow
He could see, however, that she was 6
young woman, quietly and d~ecentlN
dressed. She sc%rutinized him for !;
few minutes in silence, during which
- m 49, = L. :.