The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-11-30
THE FOOTBALL OF FATE.


Arthur Billings rose from the light
Sunday evening supper. which supple
nented the heavy noon dinner on that
day at the hotel where he boarded. and
hurried to fis room TO hold telepathic
| conference with his sweetheart n an
ether state who was supposed to be
holding 1T the same moment telepathic
communication wit hhim. The hour be-
tween ana S p m had been agreed
upon by letter, and Arthur had not missed
the claire-audient privilege once, al
though no results had indicated any
wave of thought transference betw cen
their souls. IL lis sweetheart, Kitty
lincoln, had-but her experience viii
come later.
Arthur was one OF those excellent
youths who ere born to he the foot
| balls Of fate. He did right, not from
conviction bat simply because he could
not do otherwise. Goodness was tenn
| peramental with him. He was so anna
bic that ne would not strike back for
tear of hurting his enemy. Old ladies
and babies adored him. He was locked
part of his salary every day. while he
was rescuing the perishing from under
the feet OF fractions horses or from troll
| lev cars. Ii was natural for MIN to do
| all these things besides going on innu-
nerabIe errards for idle people who knew
of ais good temper and his utter ina
/ bility to say no
It is not a saving grace TO be obliging
I and self-effacing and amiable. especially
| if these cardinal virtues are exploited al
the expense of those possessing them,
and the generosity that exceeds justice is
seldom appreciated AS Arthur Billings
left the supper room he encountered an
old lady carrying n handful Of railroad
folders. She intercepted nam.
oh, fMr. Billings, I was just looking
for you. am going 10 California TO visit
nv daughter, and 1 want you 10 show
me the best route and figure up just
how much it costs and how long the trip
viii be, and where the eating stations
are. You have been there and know al
about it,
Now, Arthur was working overtime on
his telepathic hour, but he could not say
no to the inconsiderate demand OF a
helpless woman. So. ne sat down and pa
tiently traced on the railroad map the
route to California. marked the stations
and stopping places with a red pencil,
figured up the cost Of the trip. and an
swered all questions with that considerate
gentIeness which he had acquired with
his hair and eyes. Then the clock struck
s. His telepathic Circuit was broken.
What If Kitty felt his detection and
missed the transference of those thought
waves for which she waited. He would
explain in his letter.
This Sunday night letter had not bump
ed UP against any snags of fate since
their engagement. 1t held all the news
OF the week that interested them, as
well as the love Of his heart. Il often
barely escaped not being written. or was
written at railroad speed in order to be
mailed that night, and the one he was
writing on this occasion was rushed as
usual. Actors and sporting men who be-
| lieve in hoodoos have a panic if they en-
counter a black cat on the eve of an
event. Arthur Billings was not waylaid
by any black cat, nevertheless he en-
countered a hoodoo, when he stepped out
with his sweetheart's letter addressed and
stamped in his hand. If it went out that
night it must be mailed at once, and he
was hurrying to the postoffice when he
was nearly upset by man going the
other way at a high rate of speed. He
recognized a fellow clerk
Hello, Billings" he cried, heard the
news? Sterling has been run over by
an automobile and is dangerously hurt. "
Sterling was their head bookkeeper. and
a popular man. Billings was immediate
" crushed. I'm go with you." he said
as soon as l mail this letter.
"Oh. never mind the letter; come along
and drop it in the first box we see"
The last mail has been taken up. Here
boy to passing youngster, take this
letter into the postoff:ce ard drop it in
the box at the door. And here is 10 cents
for your trouble. Do you understand"
TIE boy looked at the letter and then
at the 10-cent piece.
You bet L do he said. with grin,
and ran off.
When the two men reached the book
Il
greatly misre presented, the victim being
NOR frightened than hurt. No bones were
broken, and the bruises would easily heal.
Billings stayed to comfort him, and was
honestly glad to be Of service What
that service was costing him he never
dreamed
y week passed and he did not hear
from Kitty Lincoln. He wrote. asking
# she were III, and received no answer.
Then he wired. and a laconic telegram,
''Al we'll" came, signed with her name.
He knew no more than the man in the
moon what was wrong. and waited for
enlightenment with his accustomed pa
thence and sweetness.
In her home in Ohio. Miss Lincoln was
waiting for her Sunday letter from her
lover in Illinois. She had skipped the
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. vigil on that even
ing because sch had no faith in it any
way, and two girl friends had asked her
to go walking, which she much preferred
TO shutting herself UP alone with bogy
thoughts. Dear Arthur was a little queer
at times, and rather hard to take seri-
cusly. When Monday failed to bring a
letter she was piqued. Tuesday. she was
angry at :ts non-appearance; Wednesday
the delayed letter was handed TO her in
the postoffice. It looked like a tramp
.nissive. soiled and GIlapidated. but ad-
dressed in Arthur's familiar writing. But
across the top of the letter were some
words in a strange hand. The envelope
read: