Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1889-04-03
MARY CLARK
BY GERTRUDE EVELYN SMALL.

l. -
BY GERTRUDE EVELYN SMALL.
DEAREsr-I was so glad to receive your letter.
1 thought you had forgotten. You and sarah
both are mad. l thought dog days came in
August. and that is long past. When shall you
recover? l am in Kansas now. shall be in
Texas or China soon If you don't prevent H.
What do you think of the new house on K street9
How would it do furnished Tor two?
Yours till death,
JACK.
/ stood turning this highly mystic
epistle over and over. The postman
had thrust it into my hand this morning,
and had stalked off in very postman-
like way. miss May Clarke" read
on the envelope. 1852 K Street, Forward
ed" Before L broke the seal | won
dered who of my friends had SO far lost
sight of my later years as to address
me by my child name, and sent this
letter to the house where we lived a
dozen years ago. and now | was in a
daze. Who was Jack and who was Sa-
rah, and what on earth did it all mean
Slowly it dawned on me. "There is
another Mary Clarke who lives in our
old house. They have made some
stupid mistake at the post-office, and
this letter, written out of boys hot
heart, was not meant for me to read.
What should | do? Take it down to 62
and explain the broken seal to an indig-
nant sweetheart? l felt myself blush
and stammer under the other Mary
would wait for the postman, decided,
and ask him to make the necessary ex-
plantations. / should obviate al per-
sonal discomfort in that wav.
So [ waited for the postman. It
seemed as if did nothing but wait that
day. | tried to read; tried to write; /
worked myself into fever Jest in some
impossible way Mary Clarke should have
moved from 81 X Street, or should have
died, or should have married another
man, leaving me to settle this fiery
young Jack myself.
And alter dinner, when [ sank from
sheer WEAKNESS into a sort of doze, l
saw Jacks threatening, Jacks beseech-
ing, and Jacks murderous. Never did
I breathe a sigh of deeper relief than
when l gave the crumpled envelope in
to the keeping OF the gray-and-black
servant of the United States, and en-
trusted him with my apologies.
| went to walk that evening with
very brisk step, ate my supper with
better appetite than usual, played with
my cat, and went to bed, thankful that
my days of bitter sweet were over, and
that | was not the Mary Clarke who had
to keep a hot-headed Jack from kick
ing up his heels and clearing off for
China.
[ was lingering over late breakfast
the next morning, when [ heard the
quick ring of the postman, and ran to
the door myself, eager to learn the Sc
quel of my letter tragedy. A hand
thrust the mornings mail at me, voice
OF NV
brought the letter back to you" And
the busy man of letters was across the
street, leaving me speeches. and
aghast.
'No Mary Clarke at62; where is Mary
Clarke then, and who is to be responsible
for this love affair now?"
Staid spinster as | was, I remembered
when my pulses beat high at 20, and
when [ had Jack across the seas. and
some way remembrance of it, free as it
was from all regret, made a sunshiney
corner in my heart, into which this pair
of lovers were creeping. | would hunt
up Mary Clarke, [ resolved. 1t couldn't
be so hard thing in this little town.
She must have left her address with
some OF the neighbors. So l got into
my street dress hastily, hurried down to
81, and found the dear old house shut
tered, desolate, looking doubly so in
that trying season between winter and
spring, before the crocuses made up
their mind TO start, and the snow still
fingers IN dirty patches on the brown
grass.
| stopped a moment, as I always shall,
before the old place, to think of my
happy childhood there. Then I went
and rang at the house next door.
"Can you tell me anything of the fam
lily who last lived in the Fielding
house ?" | asked the woman who came
to the door.
''Do you mean the Clarkes?" she re-
piled. II don't know very much about
them. They were very good neighbors,
quiet, and gentle like. Only lived here
a short time, and | don't know where
they are gone. Seems kind o. lonesome
to have the old place smut up" she add
ed, with touch of sentiment, for which
/ mentally blessed her.
''Can you tell me if there was daugh-
ter?"
Miss Mary-oh, yes
"And have you any idea where I
could find their present address?'
No, she couldn't; they were not init
mate with any o. the neighbors; the
owner of the house might have it-that
was the only person she could think of.
l thanked her and picked my slip
perry way down to Mr.. Newman's of
fee, to find it was in charge of an unus-
ually witless attache who didn't know of
the Clarkes-never saw the Fielding
house. S'posed the guv'nor would know
when he came back, but he didn't know
when that would be, because he was
gone away on business trip; might be
gone couple of months. might be gone
two days, or yet three; didn't know
where he was. be replied in answer to
my impatient inquiry; he had no idea,
conclusions with which Tin the plurai)
fully agreed.
left word for Mr.. Newman to call as
soon as he returned, and after going
back and securing the entire neighbor-
hood without success, there was moth
ing for me to do but to return nome and
trust the cause of my lovers to that spe-
cial providence-pagan or Christian
which looks after such things.
But | couldn't get it out of my mind.
I had thrown myself into the affair with
all the single-heartednes and energy of