The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1891-01-31
LOTT|E DEANE'S MISTAKE.

Mr.. Ross Deane was thriving young
surveyor and auctioneer in large
country town.
One day Mrs. Ross Deane was mend
ing her husbands Office coat and sing
ing cheerily over her task. She was a
pretty little woman, with pink cheeks
and wavy fair hair aud great blue eyes.
sunny and innocent in expression as q
little child's. If her mouth was "a trifle
large. nobody ever noticed it for ad-
miring the scarlet lips aud white teeth
that cleaned out when she smiled.
which was not seldom. for she was a
merry little body. as sparkling and
sunshiny as If she'd never care in the
world.
Aud really, when you come to think
about II, her cares were very few, and
her pleasures many. Hadn't she the
handsomest aud dearest husband in the
world. who petted and humored her to
her hearts cOntentP 1t Is very queer
the fondness some women have for be-
ing petted. It's rather a cat-like trait.
this liking to be purred and coddled so
much. Then she had the sweetest love
OF baby; but that was rather q part
nership concern-there were grand
parents and aunts innumerable, who
put in q claim to baby, to say nothing
Of the little ones father; while her
handsome Ross was all her own indi-
vidual property.
At least she thought he was, till she
very unwisely undertook to mend that
Office coat of his. She had pounced
upon it that morning, when previous
to shopping expedition, she had
penetrated to his Office at the back of
the HOUSEKEEPING in want of more
money-and had confiscatcd It directly.
declaring that 1t was q shame for any
body to wear such dilapidated ar
rangement. and her husband shouldn't
do It another day, 80 there!
There was only one more pocket to
look after now. and then the tiresome
Job would be done. Caroling merry
little roundelay, she turned It inside
out. The song died on her lips as a
tiny scented envelope dropped out and
fluttcred to the floor. She stopped to
pick 1t up. and. noticing the feminine
on the outside. opened it.
of course, but with an odd misgiving
at her heart regarding the act, never
thcless.
Perhaps she had better not have
opened II. won't undertake to say
whether ii was best or not; but al
ways believed that where ignorance
was bliss" it was exceedingly foolishto
become enlightened Of your own free
will, as this child was doing, for this
was what she read:
DEAR Mr.. DEANE: or course you will be
at the masquerade tomorrow evening. l
won't tell you what character ] shall assume,
but II you were to wear pink domino with
white rose 10 your buttOn-hole, aud you were
In Its band-how Gun tell who It would bel
BELLE.
Bad enough--or not-just rs one
chose to take 1t. Mrs. Deane knew
well enough who wrote it--knew that
The letter wasn't really half SO bad as
Il sounded. Still It was proof that tho
Mrs. Deane had here
tofore believed to be carried on chiefly
by Miss Believes going altogether
too far to DO pleasant to the looker-on
when the looker-on happened to be
The wife OF one Of the parties.
As long as Miss Belle Preston made
eyes ut handsome Ross Deane, only to
be carelessly battered in return by him.
and afterwards laughed at alike by both
Mr.. aud Mrs. Deanc. 1t was very little
the latter cared about it. She called
the girl goose to herself, was politely
cordial to her before folks. and never
gave the matter another thought.
Miss Preston was goose. OF course,
but quite pretty. winning little goose
after all. She was rather dashing in
her ways-smoked cigarettes, talked
both of which Mrs. Preston par
defeated and tried to ape the
generally Of the masculine
half OF creation. or course she made
failure Of 1t, but men are remarkably
tolerant OF bright. saucy, black-eyed
failures OF the Belle Preston kind; and
30 they laughed at her little, but
flatter her great deal more, aud not
a few fell ia love with her continually.
But Mrs. Deanc did not choose that
her husband should be caught In the
tolls OF a siren like this; and she was
properly indignant ut finding that the
two were on familiar terms enough for
notes to pass between them-and such
notes. too.
THE bold thing-to ask another
woman's husband to come to tho mas
auerade to meet her--she ought to be
ashamed of herself!" muttered Mrs.
Ross Deane angrily. ''And he. too,
after pretending to me that he thought
she was horrid Il hate him!" and she
stamped her little foot. and subsidized
into u lit OF the sulks.