Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1898-08-27
A PIECE OF FICTION.
Continued from Bird psge.)

VINO found II When she WIS Sweeping
after the literature class yesterday AS
no one else had occasion to enter this
room it is evident it must belong to one
of you four. Denial will only make mat
ters worse and will besides distress me
more than can tell you 1 am grieved
and disappointed beyond measure at
this betrayal of trust have exercised
as little surveillance as possible, be-
lieving that if left you to your honor
you would feel grateful to me and not
let me have any cause to regret it. r.
"Oh, stop. Miss Banks exclaims
Kathleen Il can explain the note. l.
that is-well-" and she pauses, and
oh, horrori begins to laugh. / look at
her anxiously. Can all this trouble have
affected her mind? There is a moment s
pause.
when you can conquer this untime-
ly mirth, we will hear your explain
ation," says Miss Banks cuttingly at
last.
why don't that coward Frank Win
kle explain and not leave it all to her?''
whispers Lou Indignantly to me.
1.-THE brutev' l rejoin emphatically
n AAOAhCuJ anu lltu DIOJGN
face settles into composure, but a glance
at our faces, for some reason or other,
sets her off again. We are all in agony
Miss Banks stands without a smile,
waiting. MIR. Wrinkle is biting his mus
tache. Is he a little remorseful? Why
don't he speak? Kathleen conquers her
self with an evident effort and begins
again
Miss Banls-er-I-er-we
well, >" desperately, 'to cut n long story
short, actuated by an amiable desire to
entertain my companions ! made up a
love story and to accompany it wrote
that note and several others. Surely a
harmless way to fill my leisure hours
The copies are all in my desk if you
would like to see them, and likewise
my studies of a masculine handwriting.
1t was good deal of work, but the
girls were all longing for a sensation,
and So having read somewhere of a girl
doing something like this, the idea oc-
CURED to me that l might entertain
them and relieve the monotony Of which
they complained The trouble was
worth while if have earned-and am
sure have-their gratitude and gen
eral vote of thanks.
l draw a curtain over all that follows,
Miss Banks lecture on filling our minds
with frivolous topics, our reproaches
and threats Co make known the care.
fully suppressed fact that Mr. Wrinkle
was the hero of the romance.
Girls, you know 1 have amused you, Z"
she says in tones fraught with anguish.
"You go to the theater and enjoy il
and cry and laugh with the leading ac-
tress- Why cannot you take my story
in the same spirit? 1t was acted foI
your benefit, free of charge. and as fo1
fibbing--why, if you will think you
will see 1 did not All said was, I'm.
agine girl very much like me, and
/ imagine this and imagine that. and you
came Co the conclusion it was about me
and Mr. Winlxle''
lone hates TO be deceived, F." says Lou
! disgustedly, TO which we all assent
"Ah, that deceit should steal such
gentle shapes and with virtuous visor
hide deep vicep' says Kathleen dra.
matically Whereupon, after a struggle,
we all laugh and tell her she has studied
her literature Co some purpose
And Mr.. Wrinkle never knows the TO
nance that was weaved around him
THE END.