The suburban citizen., 1901-02-16
n is Impossible, utterly
impossible" said Mrs,

/
my daughter! Mr.. Mollison, do you
hear meE"
Mr.. Mollson's eyes were in the even
ing paper, but he said he was not deaf.
II should think you would have a
higher opinion Of Beryl's worth than 10
sanction such a match"
MY dear Dora. have not sane
| toned the match"
Yes you nave. You give the young
man employment in your Office, and
only last month you raised his wages
70 SIS week. That was giving him
fragment"
"Howy
"You know perfectly we'll When he
was earning only $50 he had all he
could do to pay for his board and
clothes"
"Well, 1t was Toms doing"
Mr.. Mollison was neither brave nor
generous so he sought refuge behind
his bachelor brother who was asso.
ciated with him in the firm of Sidney
Mollison * Bro. Ii was 4 retreat skill.
fully executed, however, for if Mrs.
MollisOn had one pei purpose in life
beside marrying her daughter to
wealth and position it was TO coddle
Brother Tom so NE would remain Il
bachelor and leave his share of the
estate to her children. Up TO this time
she had been successful. Brother Tom
was forty and pyemGtureiy old Ife
was persuaded that he had every all.
ment known to medical science Or
patent-medlcinc advertisements. lie
sometimes reached his Office by II
O'Clock in tho morning, but it was with
an effort and after Mrs. Moilison had
served his toast and coffee in his
room. He said to her often wlen she
brought his breakfast: Dear Sister
Dora, don't know how l should live
day without YOU There was q
streak OF laziness in MIN. Sometimes
l wonder he would add. If thare Is
another woman in the world who
would be so good to me-"
And Dora would answer: "You
wicked man! Have you been thinking
again Of getting married? You know
you could not live a month with q
wife whom you would have to wait
on"
THAT'S So RE always conceded The
point when she made MIN comfortable.
but, you know. there's no danger.
because I'll never find another woman
like you.'
All this passed through Mrs. Moll,-
sons mind when ucr husband shifted
the blame from himself TO Tom for
the undesirable attention young Mr..
Blythe was bestowing upon their
daughter. To offend Brother Tom by
asking for the youths dismissal or
by abruptly fOrbidding him the house
was not to be thought Of. She remained
in a silent study long enough for Mr..
Nollison to turn his paper inside out.
SD Mrs. MollisOn resumed in
softer tone that limited at crafty pur.
pose, GIVE decided what to do. It is
case requiring the exercise Of diplom-
acy."
you've got plenty of IT,"
"Beryl must give back The hand mir
ror; but to soften the boys disappoint-
ment l shall write him about it first
and invite him to come here for dinner
next Sunday. Then when Beryl has of.
Tended him by returning his gift
shall have girl at hand to console
him-Janet Craig. She is that blue
eyed thing whom Beryl went about so
much with last summer She's rather
old, l imagine, and will jump at the
chance of healing q broken heart If it
VIII bring her husband Then we
shall be rid Of the bookkeeper and
-jeryl will be cured Of her infatuation.
What do you think of the plan?'
Looks well on paper"
And it will be successful" Mrs.
Mollison was supremely conadent.
Il wonder" Mr.. Mollison paused
to remove his spectacles and regard
his wife cautiously before finishing the
remark
'WeilF' She smiled patronizingly.
Il wonder what will happen when
you meet n woman whose wits are
equal 10 your own. There'n be a pret.
ty hoW-d'-do. I'll wager"
My dear, 1 have always been able
TO take care of myself" said Mrs. Mol.
lison.
The Sunday dinner that was to be
The funeral feast Of the bookkecpers
untlmely romance was planned with
perfect exactness. But for some rea.
son the plans began to 20 wrorg be-.
fore the "bluc-eyed thing was in tho
house ten minutes.
Janet on entering ran into Mrs. Moi.
lison's arms and kissed her. Then
seeing Beryl looking sad, she ran awav
with her on the pretext Of removing
her wraps, but really to learn what tho
trouble was,
"Oh" Her blue eyes opened with
horror and amazement when she heard
tho story. THE Door fellow s invited
here TO be slaughtered"