The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1896-10-15


thought Of who it belonged to saved
him, and instead of betraying him into
trouble the remembrance Inspired him
with a good idea. Wagstaff was also a
director and would be at the meeting
to which he was going. Those letters
could be returned at once He took
them from the safe, which was behind
the cashiers desk, put them in his
pocket and went out with Mr.. Bulgerby.
Hardly had he been gone five minutes
when young woman entered the outer
office and asked for Mr.. Thimberly. She
was showily dressed, wore excessively
high French heels and had dark eye
brows and very light golden hair. She
was told that he would be i'll shortly,
and the cashier-a sedate, elderly man,
who was not favorably impressed by
her appearance-invited her to take Il
chair outside the railing. She accepted
it, but after sitting a few minutes
sprang up, gave herself an all around
shake which filled the office with rustic
and the oddr of patchouli, said she
would "come back later" and went
away.
Mrs. Thimberly, peeping out from
Algernon's den, saw, heard and Won
dered. Anotherl Oh, what a wretch
Algy wasl
Jennie had met Mr. Wagstaff acct
dentally and in conformity to his in
structions came to reclaim her letters
from Mr.. Thimberly. But she was
restless young person, conscious CT de-
serving admiration, enjoyed evokiIg it,
and, happening TO remember that she
was near Wall street, suddenly rCalizcd
that she had much better be ont daz-
cling susceptible young brokers than
wasting her sweetness in dingy office
waiting to get some letters about
which she did not really care much
from "a man who might be 60 years old
for aught she knew to the contrary.
Hardly was she well out of the way
when Mrs. Wagstaff returned, and hav-
ing what the Office boy mentally char
acterized as "a very pretty nerve of her
own" did not wait to be seated outside
the railing or even detained in the ont
er office, but marched straight into AL
gernon's den, the door Of which now
stood little way open.
Mrs. Thimberly was aghast at the
audacious familiarity demonstrated
But no wonderp' she reflected. "a
creature who calls herself Cuddlesv'
Who she was Mrs. Wagstaff did not
care or even trouble herself to imagine.
She was not Jennie, and that was
enough. How could she know that:
Well, she had seen another of Sam
my's friends, and the fellow-whether
from malice or because he was just
a plain fool, who can say?-had per
mitted himself to tell the jealous
wife all he knew about Mr.. Wag-
staff's apparent delinquencies. 1t was
not much. He had seen Sam on two or
possibly three occasions dining publicly
with young woman-a very light
blond, quite dashiug i'll appearance
and little overdressed-who might, fer
all he knew to the contrary, be Jennie
She looked like the sort of young per
SOIL liable to be called Jennie or Fanny
or anything like that And on one OF
those occasions, two or three months
ago, maybe more, at Delmonicos, he
believed Mr.. Thimberly sat at their TIA.
BILE little while He would not swear
it was Thimberly, but he thought il
was.
aha" thought the jealous wife
''Now let Algernon look me i'll the eye
and deny knowing Jennie if he daresr'
OF course if she had found him he
would have done SO, for he was con.
sistent man, who having said thing
would stick to it. Furthermore, in this
particular instance he would have been
right, for the tattler was at fault i'll
naming him. But he was not destined
to be put to the test that day. Instead
of him Mrs. Wagstaff found another
woman and charitably said to herself:
Poor Mrs. Thimberly! How she, too,
is deceived" That this lady might be
she did not occur to her. In fact, her
mind was so full of Jennies that
there was temporarily no room in it for
tanner imaginings or interest in less rep
rehensible personalities. Since this lady
did not fit the description given of the
young person who dined abroad with
her husband, Mrs. Wagstaff had no con-
Germ as to who she might be. So, after
moments embarrassed pause at the
door, she turned upon her heel, told the
Office boy she would return later" and
disappeared. She was gone before AL
gernon's wife had sufficiently repressed
her indignation to determine whether
| to address her as Cuddles and wreck
her then and there or wait until by fair
speech she should have entrapped 'the
creature" into some self betrayal.
Just then Flossy's minds eye caught
glimpse of Algernon as he was at that
moment. In a large room, where other
men were standing about as if they had
arisen from seats at a big table, he was
earnestly talking, little apart from the
rest, with tall. jolly looking man,
who laughed, and, receiving package
from Algernon, dropped it carelessly in
one of the pockets of the light overcoat
he carried ON his arm. "Oh, the cum
ming of the wretchP' exclaimed Flossy.