The suburban citizen., 1901-08-24

John his book for signature. John
recognized the handwriting Of the ad-
dress and hastily tore 1t open. A large
bunch Of vlolets me. his astonlshed
gaze and letter. which read as fol-
lows
"Mr. Hobbs:
"Sir-Allow ms to return your prop
erty, which by some mistake was sent
to me. AS to my style, l consider It
presumptuous on your part to pass
any comment on what cannot possibly
be of interest or concern of yours. 1
most heartily lndorse your desire to
discontinue all future correspondence,
as your insults are only less clever
than your compliments. Yours, etc,
"Mabelle Whitney"
Poor John read ii with sinking heart
too utterly miserable to express the
surprise 1t merlted. Another riddle to
read, he thought; was the whole world
turning topsy-turyey, and with it his
powers of comprehension? First, a
letter of acceptance for an invitation
which he had not given, and now this
whitening refusal and the return of
his poor desplsed vlolets Well good
bye to his dreams Of love and future
bliss, and the castles he had built in
his vain ambition. The dlsappoint-
ment he would bear so bravely no one
would suspect It's existence, but how
explain to Miss Davenport her mis-
take, and, picking up her letter he
carefully reread It, Her quotation OF
the word accept was a bit strange;
its blindness suggested his own use OF
the word. What If he had made a
mistake in the letters and inclosed
them in the wrong envelopes? In
that case he could understand all but
his own asinine stupidity. Was ever
man in such a box before, engaged by
letter to a girl he did not love and re-
fused by the woman he did love and
in way that left no chance for ex-
planatlOn that he could see Perhaps
later he might find a way to enllghten
Mabelle as to matters, but how to eX-
plain to Miss Davenport without cru
ely wounding her pride and making
matters worse? or course, he must
call tonight and take her to the con-
cert, trusting for some chance to
straighten out this tangle.
John Hobbs never forgot that even
ing, and how he avoided actually COM
mittlng himself by asking that ques-
ton he presumed he was expected to
ask, but in spite of his uncomfortable
position and unenvlable frame Of mind
he found himself enjoying the music,
and could not but notice his compan-
IONS attractive face and charm Of
and that her well-bred compos-
ure was enhanced by a quiet modesty
and seriousness Of manner to which
he had beer blind before.
Somehow or other John found him
self saying ne would call on Sunday
evening, which he did, and really en-
jOyed the companionship of these two
refined women. This call was re-
peated several times during the fol-
lowing month, and still John had not
asked the question, but on the con-
trary had begun to wonder why he
had not before noticed the many at
tractive qualities Miss Davenport pos
sessed AS no word of explanation
had passed between him and Mabelle
Whitney it was useless to anticipate
any hope in this direction.
AS for Mildred Davenport he had
grown to admire the many beautiful
qualities of her womanly sweetness.
AS a daughter she was devoted and
thoughtful, and then the thought grew
in his mind, would she not make an
ideal wife to the man who should be
fortunate enough to win her? Had
he really any chance, he asked him.
self, a dozen times a day, ard one
night soon after he quietly told Mil
dred the whole story, saying: "And
now that my mistake has been the |
means Of my finding out what real |
love is and should be, will you, know. !
ing all the story of my stupid blunder |
and happy awakening to a better,
truer affection, accept a devotion
which l will prove by my whole life
is yours and yours only?" and Mil |
dred's acceptance was given and not |
lmplied.-Boston Post.