The suburban citizen., 1900-11-10

(( N ONS ArInur,' sald Mrs,
" N harrington as her hus-
v band put three handbags
q on the seat beside her in
the train and handed over her ticket,
Il want you to be sure and write to
me every day, and tell me everything
you think, how much you miss me,
and all about the way the servant get
along-don't omit any Of the details,
thinking that shall not be interest
ed, for every word that you write,
dear, will be precious to me. Put
plenty Of local color in your letters"
'Oh, I'll keep you posted" he re-
piled. "You have q good time, and
don't worry about me. I'll get along
somehow. OF course, it'll be lonely
and all that, but I'll manage to pass
the time. It'll be rather dismal for
me to sit in the garden alone when
1t begins to get dark, thinking of you
In the gay crowd having a good time,
and never giving a thought to"
Arthur" his pretty wife interrupt
ed, 'if you continue to talk that way,
just shan't go. You know l shall
think of you every minute I'm away,
and If the doctor hadn't said the sea
air would be good for me l wouldn't
have thought of accepting Aunt
Laura's invitation. Please don't fret
me, love, will you? Remember that,
wherever l may be, and no matter
how gay my surroundings, 1 shall be
thinking Of you"
They threw kisses at each other as
the train moved away. Then Barring
ton went to his office and began writ
ing letters, They were to his wife.
He wrote fourteen Of them-enough to
last for two weeks
In general outline the letters were
about the same. He started each by
filling a sheet with endearing words
and declarations that he was very
lonely without his darling. Then fol-
lowed the local color she wanted, in
the form Of comments on occurrences
Of the day in and about their home.
The letters were not dated. but he
sealed and addressed them, and ar
ranged them in a pile so that his lady
clerk could take off the top one day
after day and drop it into the letter
box.
Then he went off with a male COM
panion, determined to have a good
time for ten or twelve days
He had been gone nearly a week
when there came a telegram for him.
OF course, kilograms had to be
opened, and when Miss Wlldreth, the
lady clerk, read the message, she turn
ed pale.
"Why don't you answer my ques-
tions about the housemaid's ankle and
your liver? Am awfully worried"
! That was what Elizabeth Darlington
had telegraphed.
After studying the matter for
while, Miss Wildreth decided that it
was necessary for her to act She was
clever enough to hold q position that
not more than one man out Of fifty
could have filed, and she had the hab-
it of keeping her eyes and ears open.
Still, she said to herself:
1.-THE housemald's ankle? I can see
how he might know something about
his own liver, but-and why should
his wife, of all people, want him to
see about it? Well, if ever get mar
ned-"
But instead of finishing what she
had started to say, she wrote the fol.
lowing dispatch:
"Leg and liver o, X. Don't worry"
1t was about ten o'clock the next
day when another telegram for Arthur
harrington was received 1t read:
Yesterdays letter contradlcts tele-
gram. Why are you decelvlng me?
Are you better to-day? Shall l come
homer
The lady clerks reply was as fol-
lows:
"Am true as steel. Don't think of
coming home"
Miss Wilreth had just begun to feel
that she had succeeded in settling the
disagreeable business, when a mess
enger boy arrived with another tele-
gram, in which her employers wife
said:
Don't understand. What do you
mean by being true as steel? Some
thing tells me you are worse. Wire
Immediately"
"Never mind reference to steel. Am
all right"
Mrs. harrington watched eagerly
for the postman on the following day.
and when he handed her Arthurs let
ter she opened it with trembling
fingers Eagerly she scanned the first
page and was about half through the
local color when she jumped up and
! ran to her aust, crying: