The suburban citizen., 1902-11-08

Mrs. McKeever was plainly nervous
through the preliminary handshaking
when they met on Saturday afternoon,
but Dudley had braced himself for the
occasion and acquitted himself as be.
came the literary trustee of noted
| General
Il must confess" said Mrs. McKeev.
er, that l was astonisbed when Henry
Grant proposed your name as an ac
| compllshed historian. ] did not know
that you aspired to fame in that direc.
tion. Furthermore l didn't know that
you and Henry were such close
friends"
"Oh, yes" said Dudley, carelessly
"l've known Grant for years
$50 he tells me. He seems very fond
of you. l really did not know ii was
possible for one man TO care so much
| for another. l hope that your are
equally devoted to him. His praise of
you is unstnted. He says that you are
the best friend he ever had, and that
he likes you better than anybody else
in the world"
"Does he?' murmured Dudley
| Dear old Hankw
| "And, besides he is so very proud Of
your literary attainments, II didn't
| know Henry to be such level-headed
fellow | should accuse him Of gushing
l should be afraid that his judgment
had been warped by the heat of friend
| ship. and that his recommendation was
not entirely reliable. However, | have
decided to take his advice, and if you
are willing toto enter upon the proba-
tion which l explained to him would
be required of you-why-"
She shifted her eyes uneasily. Dud-
ley felt that he had skated safely over
the thlnnest parts of his duplicity, and
he filed up the pause buoyantly.
"Now. see here. Luella." he said,
''you ought TO know pretty well how
feel about the matter. put the ques.
tion TO you six years ago, and you
turned me down most beautifully. ]
swallowed the dose, 1 flatter myself,
with fairly good grace, hut l kept on
thinking Of you pretty constantly, even
after you married General McKeever
and went to Chicago to live. Ever
since you've been single again I've
been aching to sound you on the sub.
ject, but felt rather afraid of you and
thought I'd better go slow, I want
you, Luella, and want to write the
Generals biography. Are you willing
to let il 90 at thatY'
EYES, sighed Mrs. McKeever; "if
you're satisfied. am"
In the first thrill of victory Dudley
felt that the only way he could honor.
ably square himself was to confess his
double dealing. Many times in the
course of the afternoon he was on the
point OF making n clean breast of it,
but modesty always forbade.
"If l hadn't spread it on so thick in
my own behalf l shouldn't mind" he
argued. "Since did think I'd better
let things go as they are. I'd feel pret-
ty sneaking TO have her know that |
blew my own horn so loudly"
Grant came home that evening, but
Dudley was too busy pondering ov&
the outcome OF his epistolary enterprise
to say much to him. Just before they
rwent TO bed he remmbered that he
must caution Grant to keep their
scheme secret.
"By the way, Grant, you haven't told
anybody about our exchanging letters,
have you?" he asked
Grant yawned mo" said he. "only
one person. ! told her the evening the
plot was hatched, but she doesn't
count She'll never say anything about
it,"
"SheY echoed Dudley. "Who is
she?"
"Oh, nobody but Luella McKeever,
! She's all right"
Dudley caught his dropping head in
| both hands.
"Good Lord" he said. 1--WE got a
plot, now with n vengeance" New
York Times.