The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-11-03
isfaetIon that be bad bod llLs eentIo:


II knew he wasn't at the theater that
night" said Alice, turning toward the
house. IL wonder where he VAST Prob
ably I'll have to ask him."
And she did that evening.
81 wasn't at the theater Friday
nightr' exclaimed Harry. "Well. 1
5ust was. Who says wasn'tf'
She took him by the two lapels Of his
coat and looked up into his face with
the sweetest Of smiles.
'You mustn't ever try to tell me
wrong Stories" she said. 81 can see
right through them. / suppose you
were playing billiards or poker. Har-
ry, was it poker?'
at was theater, that's what 1t was"
he declared, land I'll prove 1t to you"
An idea had come to him. He had
seen Stanley Manton since Friday and
had learned that he was In the theater
that evening. OF course Manton hadn't
seen him, but there would be no harm
In having him say so. That would be
better than trying to prove 1t by
Graves, whose reputation for veracity
was not of the best.
wickham arranged the matter very
cleverly. He got Alice TO come down to
the Office on the following day in time
to go out to lunch with him, and Of
course Mr.. Manton lunched In the same
place and took occasion to come over
to their table to speak with them.
by the way, Manton," said Wick
ham, you remember seeing me at the
theater the other nightf"
"Friday?' said Manton. when !
sat In your box1"
Eyes; Friday"
"a fine show" said Manton. IT
would have missed 1t, Mrs. wlckham,
for there wasn't seat In the house,
but your husband was so good as to
invite me into his box"
Were you aloneY asked Alice, as IL
1t were a matter of no Importance.
"Quite alone" said he. I'VE bored
each other dreadfully. Harry was al
ways wishing that you were there"
How sweet of himp' said Alice, and
then she relapsed into a stony silence.
lilies, lies, llesw she was saying to
herself. "They don't know that know
about all those girls. 1t must have
been worse than / thought And the
very evening when / was coming
homer
She bore 1t very well until they got
back to the Office, and then in Wick
hams private room she broke down
and shed tears.
~ know all about 1t, Harry" she
said. 81 knew something was wrong
as soon as you began to talk about the
play. You hadn't seen It. Then i ask
ed Mr.. Graves. and he happened to
mention Manton and all those girls. /
suppose you took them to dinner first
and then sat In the back of the box and
talked with one of them and never saw
a bit of the play"
Wickham's hair stirred at the roots.
He felt it turning gray as she unfolded
the story, as she disclosed his sinful
dupllcity. 1t was time for the truth,
and he told 1.-THE truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth.
Naturally. she didn't believe him.
The conventional story about over
work at the Office really sounded very
thin. Wickham was in despair. In his
heart he cursed Graves and Manton,
but most of all himself. Why had he
lied? Why hadn't he lied better? How
could he ever square himself?
"Your brothers here, sir" said boy,
opening the door.
Mrs. Wickham hastily walked to the
window. Harry, saw her sob as she
stood there, and his heart was rent
with anguish.
81 won't let Bob come In here" he
said. "You can have the whole place
to cry In, sweetheart"
Bob Wickham is a willy old bird IL
ever there was one. What he doesn't
know-and about half that he does
KNOWS not worth knowing. It's the
wisdom of the serpent.
Harry took his brother into a quiet
corner and told him all his trouble.
Easy" said Bob, perfectly easy.
You must confess"
Contest haven't done anything"
"That makes no difference. Find out