Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-01-11
81 CAN STAY ONLY ONE MINUTR. u sHR DN-

81 CAN STAY ONLY ONE MINUTE" SIZE DE
CLARED.
It's pity il the girl fellow is engag.
ed to can't occasionally shed the light
of her presence upon the dark path
way Of his TOLL
"The elevator man stared at me-"
said Edith.
Il don't blame him." replied Jack.
"You look absolutely stunning. But, of
course, you know that, so we won't
talk about 1t. Come here and let me
show you the prettiest forgery you
ever saw in your life.''
So Jack showed Edith promissory
note with somebody's signature at the
bottom artistically written by some
body else. He illustrated the measure
ment Of angles. curves and pressures,
and Edith became very much inter.
ested.
Presently, however, he noticed that
her eyes were wandering away from
his demonstrations. and he succeeded
in tracing her glances to certain part
of his big desk. There lay heavy
book, and from under one side Of II
projected sheet Of paper on which
certain words written in feminine
hand were plainly visible.
MY dearest Jack" the letter began,
when, oh, when shall see you again
My heart
Whatever the lady had to say about
her heart was hidden by the book.
ttT eyn$ hat In ~,;4 -
Howard will case," said he, indicating
the letter.
'You-got-thatw said Edith.
Surely" he replied. tits speci-
men Of Mrs. HowaFd's penmanship-
letter to her husband, John Howard.
The question was whether she wrote a
certain codicil in her husbands will
and also signed It incidentally. Happy
to say she didn't" -
"Oh. that's how you got it!' Edith
said, with a queer bit Of a sigh.
"Look here, little GIRL" said he. IT
didn't know you were jealous. You
never showed it before"
"I'm not the least bit in the world, .
she protested.
Just then the postman pushed some
letters through the hole in the! door,
and Jack picked them up. The first
one his eye lighted on was addressed
in an elegant feminine hand, and the
envelope was of the best quality. It
might be from prospective client,
and then again 1t might not. The writ.
ing looked somewhat familiar. Could
it be Millie Weston's?
Jack was on the point of slipping the
letter into his pocket, but that would
be fatal If Edith saw him, SO he mere.
ly put it under the others and laid the
lot carelessly on the table.
Edith spread the letters apart on the
table and scanned the addresses with
true feminine curiosity. Jack felt him
self suddenly growing warm. II that
letter was from Millie. there might
possibly be tender line or two in it.
They had been. rather sweet on each
other one summer at the seashore, on
~ little Irritation and no hearts bro
ken, yet it was possible that Mile
/, might just have heard Of Jacks en-
gagement and been moved to say some
thing silly by way of congratulation.
Girls will do those things.
Here's letter from Coles" said
Jack briskiy, picking up the first that
came to hand. "Coles is attorney in
the Howard case. suppose he wants
to hurry me up. This is from Clark,
the handwriting expert of Boston, and
thls"-he picked up the suspicious
looking envelope-"is only an adyer-
tisement. I've had em before"
And he tossed 1t into the waste paper
basket unopened.
"Why. Jack" said Edith, at didn't
look like an advertisements!
mo, of course not" he replied glibly.
IF 1t did, nobody would be caught.
The trick nowadays is to buy good
stationery and get girl to address the
envelopes. Pm on to those games. And
now let's see what Coles has to say"