The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-05-18
"A PRACTICAL JOKE.

was acknowledged to be one OF the
best of fellows. His ,penchant, how
ever, for practical joking, though it
never savored of malice, gained as
a rule more .censure than apprecia-
ton. For one reason, his jokes were
not always in good taste, and the
case in point will serve as an illus
tration. It took the form, first of
all, of an advertisement in one of
the dailies, to wit:
A gentleman, unattached and under 90, will
good income, would like tc make the acquaint-
ance Of an amiable young lady with view tc
matrimony. Address, in confidence, x 1G0,
Office Of this paper.
He smiled grimly as he read it
over in print, wondering, with curl
Gus interest, what sort of replies he
would get and how he should treat
them. Although, literally speaking,
he was unattached-that is to say,
although there was no spoken en-
gagement between him and his old
playmate and friend, Nellie Marsh
he felt that he was sufficiently
idolized by that lady and sufficient
" under the spell of her charms to
defy the possible influence OF any of
the applicants, however fascinating.
Moreover, as his income was at pres
ent too modest to permit of his
marrying anybody, he went into the
Jest with double sense of safety.
The replies were several, and, on
the whole, not interesting. Most of
them were from matrimonial agents,
who promised, for reasonable fees,
to procure him the necessary intro
duction, while guaranteeing their
clients amiability and every other
virtue. The rest, with one excep-
ton, were palpably bogus. The
terseness of this one, apart from its
neat and ladylike handwriting, gave
it a genuine ring. 1t read as fol-
lows:
II the advertiser is willing to send by post
further particulars about himself and exchange
photos with the writer, the confidence will be
respected. Address Miss Townshend, II Hill
street, Kings oval
Decidedly the lady means bust
ness, j." thought Tom, and the thought
led to others, which convinced him
that in following up the joke he
would run risk of making an ass
Of himself, or worse. After all it
was clear there was not much fun
to be got out Of the affair, and he
was about to put this reply, with
tbs rest, in the fire when suddenly
new idea struck him.
While rummaging among his col
lection of photos day OF two pre-
vious he had come across one of a
club acquaintance, a MI. Pelling-
ham, which had reached him on
some forgotten occasion, probably
through a third party. AS this
photo happened to be on his table
at the moment, he placed it in an
envelope. He then looked up the ad-
dress of the original, whom he knew
to be single man like himself, and
boldly indited the following letter:
MAPLE TERRACE, REGENTS PARK.
DEAR Miss TowNSHEND--In acknowledgment
of your letter inclose my photo and beg to
state that ar junior partner in the firm OF
Rawson s. Pellingham, railway contractors.
by object In advertising shall hope to ex-
plain, with further particulars, at an early in
terview. leave the appointment in your
hands and sign myself yours faithfully,
ALFRED PELLINGHAM.
This letter he inclosed with the
photo and posted off to the address
in Kings oval, chuckling at the
tale Pellingham might have to tell
on some future occasion.
In his business or social capacity
Alfred Pellingham was not easily
dumfounded, yet a certain letter
which arrived one evening at his
private residence marked an excep-
ton. It ran thus:
II HILL STREET, KING OFAL-
DEAR Mr.. PELLINGHAM-I inclose my photo
in exchange for your own and shall be pleased
10 meet you near the bookstall of the Great
Northern terminus at O'Clock tomorrow
svening You will have no difficulty in recog.
nizing me- as shall dress in pale green anu
wear hat trimmed with red poppies. Believe
me, yours In confidence.
ALICE TowNsHEND.
It would be impossible to describe
the wonderment. of Mr.. Pellingham
on receipt of this, amazing commu-
nication. The photo was certainly
that of a pretty girl. 'Who is
Alice Townshends And what on
earth can she want with me2" were
the questions he kept asking HIM
self after putting every possible
and impossible construction on the
letter. In the end curiosity de-
cided that he must at least keep the
appointment if he ever hoped to
solve the problem.
Accordingly, at the time and place
referred to, he found himself anx-
iously awaiting the appearance OF
the mysterious stranger, who was
GROWING all the moro mysterious in