Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1891-02-21


5,., IT ON business that is distastetul but
~ St lc done. She was, by the way,
tn, ,u.rs. N to whom the letter had been
a,,drr.;srd
NJ dear" she said without parley,
"W'cre is your husband?"
"Wny, he has gone to Sing Sing, re-
pli,'d the hostess, wondering at her call
cr', manner. She was still more sur
prl,ed at what she heard next.
When | was II girl we were taught
to be truthful above all things. You
are : %ounger than l, and perhaps times
have changed; but | prefer that my
daughter should not meet you after
this "
AID then she swept away, full of
dignity, to lay before Bay Grove the
pro lem how any one man, no matter
now wicked he might he, could be in
Aubur =, Elmira, and Sing Sing within a
month AS for Mrs. Blank, she was in
dignant, and then s ,e wept, and then
she was indignant again. Then she
wrote a letter.
The letter brought an answer in the
shap' of a young man in slouch hat,
who came down by late train and
went directly to the Blank cottage. lie
sat with Mrs Blank on the piazza, and
they talked earnestly for a long time.
1t was nearly midnight when the con-
ference ended. Then the young man
started for the gate, Mrs Blank followed
him, and they stood talking together
by the post for two or three minutes.
T., iC.i,t inbt
and anybody in the neighborhood could
have seen the young man kiss Mrs.
Bla!ik when he went away. He caught
a very late train for the city.
Now, nobody in Bay Grove would
willingly play the eaves'lropper or spy.
That goes without saying. But as a
matter of fact, several pairs of eyes saw
the parting in the moonlight, and as
many pairs of ears heard the man say:
"Well dear. I'll be down here in a week
an then it won't matter what these
people say or do.
A D city woman with a husband i'll
three jals in Il month and a mysterious
n!idnig t visitor, Bay Grove was scam
da'izc . TIL re could be no doubt after
tIg,t lhHt nubo iy in the village knew
the offender She seemed to have
gained invisibility.
MOI ody saw her when she went out;
at least, nobody gave any sig of seeing
her. Even the scapegrace gave her up
which meant a great deal, for he be-
lievel that he had only his wickedness
to pr lie himself upon.
Six days passed and Il caller again
rang the doorhell at the cottage. He
noticed with a shudder that the wire
SCENE TO be gettin rusty for the want
of Use T at touc ed him, for he was
the landlord and he hated to see the
prop ,rty deprecated, He had come to
tell his pretty tenant that she must seek
other quarters.
She paid the rent regularly, but press
ure had been brought to bear upon him
and his family had social aspirations,
and he couldn't afford to disregard
pressure.
He stammered, but was firm. Mrs
B ank was amazed, but loquacious. He
explained that the cottage must be va
Gated at once. She declared that such a
proceeding was unheard of. She tried
to break down his resolution, but failed.
Then she showed signs of getting hys-
terical.
"Oh, if my husband was only here!"
she walled.
"Yes, madam, if he were, but hs
amt. That was as near to sarcasm as
the landlord ever c me. He was phi
lanthropist by nature and preserver Of
village morality by necessity.
"Hullo, what's all this?" said some-
body in the doorway. Landlord and
tenant turned like flash. Mrs. Blank
| gave shrek of delight, and threw her.
self into the new comers arms. The
landlord looked disgusted. He merely
saw young man in a slouch hat, no
doubt the midnight visitor.
81 think you had better go as soon as
you can, both of you, " he said.
sWell, that's cool. I've paid the rent
of this house and ] mean to stay, es-
pecially as it suits my wife, or did until
the neighbors went crazJ." This was
| from the young man.
The landlord looked dazed. your
wife?" he said. "Why, then, you're her
husband.
Naturally" said the young man
dryly. And now," he added, what is
all this ado about anyway"
He heard all about it in the next ten
minutes, although it was sadly dis
connected story. Still, he got the gist
of it pretty clearly. Then he addressed
the landlord:
Look here, you don't deserve an ex-
planation, but I'll give you one. My
| business is to see things and to write
about them. have been employed by
a magazine to describe certain features
of prison life in New York. TO see them
| have had to study the prisons careful y,
and it has taken six weeks of hard work.
In that time I've had just time enough
to spend one evening at home and then
hurry back to work Aid now | come
down here for rest and ii ID tAat you
| people have gone mad AID treate my
wife disgracefnliE Somehpdy j. going
| to smart for this.
| As u matter of fact II goo man. per-
sons did smart but only mentally, and
therefore they survived uii Wer' y X.
ious 20 make am'n Is. Tie H.. Ii ,I,l
wit, drew his demands ard ~ "'i O
put in now we'll curb. Tiinsa who
| knew him say he sUtf red en"u ii vri'
| tbs To- atone for all he lad done 1h.n
came iiocils .t femi .lc Wi is e. tie
cottage. full + tears nth .thHt'n,
and contrilloM
The Blanks had Diet rmined q rn
away, but these good rep, lie oul III ,