The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1899-12-13

troubled cats sneezed"
MY dear Doretta, all this is very
witty and entertaining, but may
make one remark?"
Very we'll"
IF you go on in this way 1 shall
never know what you wanted to tell
me. We are losing the way"
You are very unjust, Mr. Tort. II
don't see how l could have told It any
shorter But l will hurry along. You
see, now, the surroundings In which l
found myself the first time l met Lieu
tenant Scratch. 1t was absolutely nee
essary to describe them. You can see
how he must have been bored. The
lttterateur had taken him off into a
corner and was reading him some Of
his own verses. Finally. the young
lieutenant succeeded in shaking of his
tormentor and came over to me. He
described. in the liveliest manner, the
painful situation from which he had
just rescued himself. The young Apol-
10 did not wish to attract attention, and
he got SO near Scratch that he not only
felt the fellows breath, but-something
else.
The lieutenant said that 1t was like
standing near n fountain from which
the spray fell over one. We laughed
first at the poor poet and then at the
other masterpieces of the company.
We were entertaining ourselves charm
tnEly and everything would have been
all right IL my husband had not been in
| the parlor That looki l can see II
| now Perhaps he thought | should
| prefer TO converse with hlml
Some days after we got his card,
Lewis Scratch Iiatitannpf Nf oil
GERS. In the course of n week he was
50 courteous to call. l had another
caller at the time. Mrs. Rentz- Cham
berlain. You know her. of course, Mr..
Tort--the one with the glass eye. You
see, II was not tete-a- tete. But Mrs.
RentZ-Chamberlain has an evil tongue,
and she gave ii free rein almost before
she got out of the house. 1t YOU will
believe her l appointed n rendezvous
With Scratch. Only an old, ugly wo-
man could concoct such gossip. The
fact Is | told Scratch that l usually
went to drive In the park about 4. one
must talk of somethingl Can | help 1t
II o'clock is the most convenient time
for taking walk?
II rode out to the park lie went on
foot. and You know rs we'll as l do
hat nobody considers II anything re-
markable If a foot passenger In the
park stands for a moment on a carriage
step and chats with an acquaintance.
lnce l left the carriage for u few min
Htes. | needed exercise: so ! took a
short walk
with the lieutenant?"
Yes; With him, of counsel But Il
was too funny Imagine my horror
when | saw Mrs Glassblower. fairly In
Igu|fnH nj
walking up and down side path with
gentleman whom | know very we'll
Her gallant Is member of the Legis-
lature. and II would be much more SEN
sihle for' him to go up to Albany, where
II is hard they say, to get n quorum to
carry ON business-but | don't believe
In troubling myself about other peo-
pies affairs
II believe we walked ten minutes.
and the consequence? Horriblei First,
command never to 80 to the park at
O'Clock again, second, Il command TO
go TO Boston at once and pass some
weeks with my husbands family.
But now comes a new casus BELL.
Eight days later Scratch was also I'm
Boston | should like to know IL | am
Rrswernble Cor his aatiens2 olaa.e -sssss----l
one go where he VIII? Railroads are
for comman use. My dear mother-in-
law. OF course. read me long sermons
full of sounding morality and virtue.
She certainly did not have much cause
for sermonizing. She ought to think OF
her own youth-for you see, Mr.. Tort,
though you may be dislnclined to be-
lieve 1t. my mother-in-law was young
once"
At this instant the clock on the
mantelpieee began to strike.
Three o'clock, isn't it," asked Do
retta.
mo, four"
-Four o'clock? Gracious mel l cant
stay minute longer-Tve ordered the
carriage for half-past three Why, /
promised Lew-Mr.--I've an awfulIy
important engagement. you know. |
wouldn't miss 1t for anything"
"But, Doretta. you've told me only"
another time. To-day 1t Is hardly
impossible. You've heard my confess
sion"
Eyes, my dear child: but as yet YOU
have only confessed the sins of others
Your own"
Are so few they deserve complete
absolution | hope my parents viii
look ON 1t in that light"
"Only a moment" protested Mr.. Tort
as Doretta hurrldly prepared to go.
mot second longer, 1t Is late now.
| am greatly obliged, Mr.. To 1T, Good,
byei"
Mrs. Van Dyke whisked out OF the
room as quickly as wig-tail slips into
the reeds. Her father-confessor re-
manned sitting alone, and his face wore
a thoughtful. puzzled expression.--Ex-
change.