, 1896-12-19
A SURPRISE.


Mr.. and Mrs. Bert Lester had q fat on
the North Side.
They were and are the kind of young
married people calculated to restore a
feeling of confidence as to matrimony.
Many o bachelor after spending an
evening at the Lester fiat and rioting in
the simple delights Of a"Dutch lunch
would remark TO some C,..sr bachelor
as they were walking h%oIneward, "Say,
il I knew where there va another Mrs.
Bert Lester, I'd be a married man in
less than six months"
The Testers had q dozen or more men
friends. mostly of the hotel kind, but
Joe Barnet held the record for constant
attendance. When there was any sort
Of social gathering at the Lester fiat, Joe
was neither absent nor tardy. He and
Bert Lester had been good friends long
before there was any Lester fat. Mrs
Lester believed that Joe was an lawful
ly nice fellow" She had laid certain
plans for his future.
Louise Rhodes had been preached to
Joe Barnet for q year.
Her picture was on the Lester mautcl.
and her name went back and forth be.
tween the Testers.
ooh, Joe, I must have Louise come
up to visit me-" Mrs. Lester would say
when she had dragged Joe up to the
photograph for the hundredth time.
"You'll like her immensely. She's as
Nlovor M cha Nur hn aud prokfv Ino
her father has plenty Of money too.
Think Of that"
II don't see why that should interest
me" Joe would reply with al inditfer.
once which wa wholly assumed.
"Well. If I was a man there would
not be many girls like Louise Rhodes
running around single"
"You couldn't marry more than one
Of Them"
you're very bright tonight, aren't
your Wait till you see her. I know You
will fall in love with her, and then 1t
will serve you right il she refuses to
look at you ut ALL"
Mrs. Bert Lester and the much talked
Of Louise Rhodes had been classmates
in q girls seminary in Ohio. After
graduating Kate Townsend returned to
Chicago and promptly accepted Bert
Lester. Louise resumed q country town
existence at Flavius, Ind. where her
father owned a grain elevator, a bank,
. general store and a huh and spoke fac.
tory. His country possessions were
marked by white farmhouses and huge
red barns. Mrs. Lester once visited
Louise at Flavius, and when she re.
the Rhodes possessions.
Last spring, while Mrs. Lester was
writing to Louise, coaxing her to come
to Chicago on a visit, Joe Barnet did a
very unusual thing. He wrote a letter
to Miss Louise Rhodes Of Flavius. Ind,
. young woman whom he had lever
seen.
Mark the cunning Of the s%ooundrell
This 10 the way the letter ran:
"Of course You dare not overlook my
vast presumption in thus addressing
you. One fact you must consider, how
ever. I Am with the Testers 20 much Of
the time that I am, to all intents and
purposes, a member Of the household.
and this may entitle me to the privilege
of joining in the invitations. You may
remember that May 8 will mark the
third anniversary Of their marriage. ]
am arranging to give . little dinner in
their honor, but I want to make it a sur.
prise to them. Al you are Mira Testers
most intimate friend, 1t would be almost
a calamity If you were not present at
the dinner. You will understand, Of
course, that I could not have forwarded
this information through the agency Of
Mrs. Lester. Don't tell her that I have
written to you. do not want her to
learn Of the dinner. aud there r other
sessons."
The letter closed with . final plea fof
pardon, and Joe mailed IL, in the con-
sciousness that be had done . very
clever thing. BE believed that any
young woman, no matter how strict her
seminary training had been, would have
to answer that kind Of letter. He WA
not mistaken. The reply lame three
days later, and 1t was IN . bald and
peaked handwriting, In which both ink
and spaoe were lavishly waited. The
letter called him "HE. Barnet" and eaid
amoue other things:
ssUnder these extraordinary oircum-
stances I suppose I an justified In writ.
~ 10 you-s stranger. Nc, mot q stran-
III, either, for I have heard % much
aboat you Through Kate) that ! suppose
/ can already claim . half way ..
quaintanca. Alas, to say ~ CANNOT