The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-06-01
just One Letter Vrolg.

Never Form Hasty Conclusions
or You May Get the Reputa-
ton Of Being an Old Gossip.
"Where's ID orothyr' said a bright lit
tie fellow. five been to the mail and
have a letter for her."
s'Oh, she's In her studio, drawing or
engraving or something. She's always
busy" answered the mother, pleasantly,
adding, "when you come back I'll have
a bag of cookies ready for YOU"
THANK you. Can'tI take them nowT'
said the boy, eagerly.
"No, 1 don't like to have crumbs scat
tered over the house, and SO ] always
give my cookies to boys who are willing
to eat out of doors"
''They are so nice. Most any boy
would do that, Mrs. Porter said the lit
tie fellow, as he ran away, quite uncon-
scious that his petite Little speech had
earned for him an extra supply of cookies.
Now, as we can't eat Mrs. Porter's
goodies, we will go with BERTHE to the
studio. no q
"Good morning, BERTHE"
"Here's a letter for you, Dorothy"
"Thank you; you are very kind to go
to the Office so often for me-"
The boy looked a little abashed, felt a
great desire to whistle, then thought he
wouldn't, and as Dorothy tore open the
letter he remembered the cookies and
disappeared.
/ suppose you know just how that
room looked, and what is the use of my
telling you about it?
Dorothy hasn't paid the least atten-
ton to you and me, and suddenly she
laughs, a laugh that is all fun. When
Dorothy has only Dorothy for company,
that's the kind of a laugh she always
laughs, and that's the kind I like to hear.
Now | am going to tell you about that
letter, and why Dorothy is 81 amused.
In the first place you must know that
Dorothy is a very uncommon girl, and
belongs to a remarkable family, and this
man who has been writing to her (for, Of
course, you haven't been simple enough
not to suspect it was a many belongs to
another branch of the same family, and
Dorothy thinks he must be very remark
able, although she has never seen him.
He has written to her Ave or six times
asking questions about her ancestors; he
says he is going to write a book about
the family, and perhaps he is. ! don't
know as much about him as I do about
Dorothy. His letters have been very
business like, with q CLEAN Of fun once
in a while. This one says:
"FEB. II, 1888.
DEAR Miss PORTER Please send the
date of your grandfather's death; also
date of your Observation-Disclosures mar
riage. I have mislaid the Inscriptions on
the tombstones of the Pepperill branch;
can you send a copy Of them to me?
Yours truly, R. p. HUTTON.
"P. S.-You might consider this a val
entine. r. P. H."
Dorothy goes to an old fashioned Sec
rotary, and, with a smile lighting up
every feature. writes:
"DEAR Mr. HUTToN-Allow me to
thank you for your poetic and tender
epistle. I would not mention for the
world that it was written somedays after
st. Valentine makes his annual visit. I
would simply endeavor to appreciate the
beauties of its diction. Had it been a
business letter your questions would have
been answered at once; as it is, l believe
the st. wishes them left unanswered
through the year. Sincerely,
"DoRoTHY PORTER"
Dorothy posted her letter and thought
of Mr.. Hutton. / suppose you think I'm
going to tell you just what she thought,
but I'm not; that's for you to imagine.
I'll mention that although she stayed in
her studio all day the seemed to accom-
plish very little. Dorothy always does
things thoroughly, and when she muses.
she does it as she paints, with a great
deal of vim.
81 never saw Dorothy SO interested in
the p~ostoffice," said Mrs. Porter. s'She
has been once or twice herself when we
were not expecting q letter from anybody
in particular"
Even mothers don't always understand
girls, not but that I always understand
mine.
In a day or two Dorothy's answer
came. Don't let's be so ceremonious. I
am SO anxious to read it that Ill peep
over her shoulder, and nobody'n see me
but the mulleins, and they are country
things. I am not a bit afraid of them.
DEAR Miss PoRTRR-I don't know
whether to be displeased at your note or
not. In one point of view it compels a
very busy man to write an unnecessary
letter; in another it affords an additional
opportunity to hear from a very bright
correspondent. I most humbly apollo
gize for the levity of my postscript, and
on my Bonded knees ask for an answer
to my question"
Here Dorothy turned over the letter
before I had finished reading it (strange
how inconsiderate some people areD and
all I could see a
"P. S.-As you take this part of your
letter most seriously to heart, please
consider the above a business document
of the highest importance requiring
prompt attention. r. p. H."
Now what there was in that letter that
| didn't see might have been the most
important of anything in it; and the
most provoking part of it all is that /
have some affairs of my own that I must
attend to, even if l don't watch Dorothy.