The Wichita daily eagle., 1893-11-22
cab. driving down to Bayswater:

woman, the very antithesis of her hus-
band. She was calmly seated in the
drawing-room with an open novel on
her lap when we entered, and on her
husband introducing me, she inclined
her head and compressed her bosom,
without stirring out of her chair.
IAN unpleasant kind Of thing this to
happen. to one,' she exclaimed, address
ing me.
'.Why," said I. sit is one of those
experiences which could certainly be
very well spared from the routine of
ones life"
''The impudent man. she continued.
larguidly, what dreadful thing it is
to think that woman's reputation
may be at the mercy Of"
ANY rascally villain who chooses to
plot against her." burst out the irrita-
BILE MIR. Roscoe. For my part l
should like to treat the scoundrel as
he deserves; kick him to the top of the
house, and then throw him out of the
window"
Pray, be cool. sir" said I. "and rest
assured that the law will do everything
for you in the way Of justice"
/ looked round the apartment and
then said:
You will receive the fellow in this
room?'
Mr.. Roscoe answered By grim nod
II must leave it TO your judgment
how to deal with him. Mrs. Roscoe" /
continued, though I would suggest
that you put on an alarmed air, as if
there really might be some foundation
for his rascally assertions. Let him
fancy you are afraid CT him and he will
endcavor to take advantage of you, by
which means he will founder more eff
fectually INTO the trap"
II see your idea. 1t is good one
and I will do my best" said Mrs
Roscoe.
We then settled upon our hiding
places. Mr.. Roscoe got behind the
stout cretonne window curtain and /
crouched at the back of screen in
to wait. There came heavy banging
upon the front door and shortly after
heard the voice of a servant announc-
ing: "A gentleman to see you, num-"
Then a man with ponderous tread,
accentuated greatly by creaky boots,
entered the room.
Good day, madam" he exclaimed,
and the creaky boots were silent Mrs.
Roscoe did not answer for moment or
two. She then said:
What do you mean, sir, by speaking
of certain letters belonging to me
which you have in your possession? I
begged you. to come here that you.
might explain personally, as dreaded
to get into correspondence upon the
subject"
"How, madam?' exclaimed the fell
low, do you pretend that you do not
understand me? Come, cone The let
ters are genuine enough. and 1 can
prove it."
''By what means did you get posses
sion of them?" asked Mrs. Roscoe.
THAT is matter we need not enter
into" replied the man. Il have the
whole bundle of them here with me-
Make me a reasonable offer and the
letters are yours. 1t will be cheaper
for you to pay this hush money than to
let your husband know"
'My husband must never know" ex-
claimed the lady. ''She plays her part
WELL" thought I.
''Oh, he mustn't, eh?" said the man,
adopting staggering, bullying tone.
so you confess to the whole business!
Now. see here, my dear madam, am .
man of the world. and sufficiently No.
guainted with the ways of society at
large to know quite well that it is no
uncommon thing for woman to de-
ceive her husband"
There was an exclamation and
crash, followed instantly by the voice
Of Mr.. Roscoe. shouting in tones that
rose almost to shrek: You con-
founded, rascally, lying villain! I'll
teach you to come into my house with
such sentiments on your lying tongue!"
guessed what had happened. The
nervous, agitated gentleman, unable to
restrain his passion on hearing his wife
addressed in this manner. had sprung
forth from behind the curtain to attack
the cowardly fellow. hastily scram-
bled on to my feet, capsizing the frail
screen as I did So An impressive
tableau met my gaze. Standing erect
with his fist clenched, his nostrils di-
lated, and his tall. thin figure trem-
bling with rage, was Mr.: Roscoe.
Stretched at his feet, and apparently
without any inclination to stir, was
man with red hair. dressed in dust
colored overcoat, while white tall
hat lay upon the carpet not very far
from him. Mrs. Roscoe still sat in her
armchair, looking calmly on. stepped
up to the PROSTATE man. to see whether
he was hurt. He gave me a savage
stare, and satisfied that he was unin-
jured l took him by the wrist. saying:
Get up. we have something to talk to
you about"
The fellow rose. backed away a few
PAGES. and stood glowering at us.
"A nice trap this you've brought me
into" he exclaimed. savagely, to Mrs.
Roscoe "ls this what YOU mean by
asking me for secret interview? But
I'll be even with you" he snarled, fish
ing bundle of letters out of his coat
pocket, and holding them up for us to
see.
There! Get away from these if you
can. You once discharged servant
named Nellie Berners. because YOU sus-
pected her of dishonesty. Well. she
was thief. and amongst the things she
stole was this bundle of letters. which
she reckoned might prove useful to her
one day"
Give me those letters" said I, adj
l. 4,