Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1899-11-23

awful mill-wrrds which ought to be abb
| solHtrly private and invinlahlc passing
under y scrutiny OF eyes that cannot he
| imporSonNl and minds that must be full
of curiosity, perhaps OF contempt"
! You make me think" said his host.
of Il StcNnSc story NcviuS, in that de-
I partmcut, told me only a few months ago.
! 1t was about lcttcr that was found
some ~ years after il was written"
| "TwNuty years. Ii seems iucrcdihle"
THAT'S what makes il interesting, IRE
| piled the official, for il was true, You
would newer guess how Il happened. The
| letter was mailed in one ot our eastern
towns, hut it had got caught some way
| IN the hinge or in Il crcvicc, | don't re-
member which, ot the street letter box
| ii was put into, being small note In a
small ruvrlopc, Of course, How Il staid
thcrc 81 long Il is hard 10 understand
| At any rate, II was found when they took
the box on for repairs or r,ucwal--some-
| thing VI that kind"
And did II rcach the writer through
! the dead letter otrrg" Malvern asked.
| Tie was gazing drcamly into the tirc'of
| glowing, broken oak and noticed thcro
one black, charred stick that projected
from the smoldcrtng pieces. II had the
| pointed shape of II hunting dogs head,
! the jaw seam Of rcd cmhcr from which
| thin smoke ilnated upward. giving the
| whole Il curious Resemblance to- n small
dragon, aud MS Malvern listened 10 tho
answer to his question he could hardly
| tell Tor Il moment whether the sound
came from that odd fire dragon or from
his friend, from whose lips also n wrath
OF smoke was drifting.
"No; they could not find the writer.
| 1t was one of those confessional lrttrrs
you were Imagining Just now, 1t was
from u girl who must have had II quarrel
with her lover, probably, very penitcnt
and all that; hegau, Ncvins said, some
| thing like, Dear john You had barely
LETT the house when | realized how uttcr-
| ly wrong and unreasonable | had heen.'
and so forth. don't you know! You can
Imagine what II girl under these circum-
stances would write"
Nrs." said Malvern almost TO himself.
II can Imagine"
The mysterious dog, or dragon. in the
| fire dnrtcd out n tongue VI flame that not
only lighted the faces Of the two men,
hut seemed tn Malvern to hr faintly illu-
mining something in tho past MS we'll,
His host, pleased with the effectiveness
OF hs story, went nn "Shc implorcd him
|
! Nevins said Il positively wrung his heart
to rcnd It, He fancicd ho could soc tears
falling on the paper
"But good God" cricd Malvern,
sprinHing up Indignantly, "the letter
| wasn't written 10 him"
His official friend was amazed III his
excitement, hut replied; "Of course not.
But can't YOU understands Well. the
girl went on 10 say that she was so hu-
| Initiated Ivy her own wrongdoing In
throwing him over and so mortified ut
| having Ia confess II that she could never
speak to him or look at him if he did not
come back 10 her ut once. Then woman.
like, she said she would wait for him I'M
| I'll Christmas or Thanksgiving or some
such holiday, when they were TO dine to-
gethcr."
ut was Thanksgiving, wasn't it2' de-
mnndcd Malvern sharply, wheeling away
from the fire and looking earnestly at his
host.
As if famed by nm unseen hand the
ilickcring flame on tho chnrrcd stick grow
into two long bright arms that waved
aud hcckoncd him,
I'm sure | don't know" was thu am
swcr. ut was something of the kind.
They were So much Interested in IL ut tho
department that they took unusual pains
to find out something further and get tho
letter into the proper hands They ndrer-
tised far and near, but u was no use, and
the little note finally went the way of all
dend letters that cannot hc rcturned-it
wns destroyed"
"But the person TO whom II was nd.
drcsscdW
"lnknown." suid the official 'the ad.
dress llcgihle from long exposure, but
the girls name. | think Ncvins said. WINS
Lily John and Lily. That's all that was
known"
"ArO You sure the name was John2"
Malvern inquired earnestly.
"Oh, no, not sure! but II will do ns
well ns my"
"Not for me" Malvern shook his head.
"And the dnteY'
ASK Ncvins." returned his, host, who
now began 10 look unensly Mt the distin
gushcd guest ns though suspccting him
of sudden brain failure.
II will" declared Malvern. "Tll hunt
up Ncyins at once
And, disrcgnrdng his hosts curiosity
mud rising alarm. he bndc him n hasty
good night aud LEFT tho hous,,
Ncvins' memory was good, He could
I'd. but he did recall that II was written
not to John, but to Dick. and he was
positive That the dinner was to have been
on Thanksgiving day.
And she said she would waltz" asked
Malvern for the third time. =
Eyes, but that was 20 years ago-to-
morrow" laughed Neyins.
Apparently Malvern heard only the
Eyes" for he did not join In the laugh.
Instead he asked eagerly, Can get an
express cnst before morningW
All night long tho iron chorus OF tho
cnr wheels sang In his ears song OF
joy, through which ran n minor chord.
chord which sounded like the rustling
of leaves. In his eyes was but one scene
IA girl In n pale violet dress. with her
arms stretched out toward him.
In the gray dawn he reused from his
doing to wonder what he should do if
she should not be there. Could she
really be waiting for him stilli There
were vet a fpw plnrious laayaa of M.