The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-08-30
A PINK NOTE AND A RESOLUTION

Ing nor Al eXtenc2tlon OF the habits some
| women have OF searching their husband s
| pockets. Neither is it hint Of possible
subterfuges for men who. being married.
yet contrive TO find pink, pale blue or SAT-
from colOred envelopes in their daily mail.
Rut if you belong TO a lodge, if you
go through" your husbands pockets. Il
You get pale-tinted envelopes. or. 70 be
broader still. If you sometimes have a
| Misunderstanding, you may say row
il you like. with your. wife OF husba nd,
you ought to read this plain. unvarnished
tale OF domesticify.
In the first place Mrs TayIor's suspi-
cion was aroused by the manner IN which
J her husbsn nd dressed up after dinner.
He put on his black clothes. which. being
| his best" gave her a su5conscioUs saspi-
| eion that there was something doing.
To her nonchalant inquiry. Where are
you going, Theodore he had replied
with that time-honored but somewhat
| threadbare response. TO lodge meet
ing. my dear"
Now that announcement has been
worked" II was not the regular night
for lodge, and Mrs Taylor. who was des-
/ perately fond of theodore and who had
! lately been assailed with some misgiv-
/ ings as 10 her perennial sttractiyeness.
/ was seized with a vague suspicion that
/ she, too. was being worked. Up 10 that
J time he had not dressed up for mere
! lodge meetings. and, furthermore there
pas an air Of subdued and even melan-
| choly hauteur about his announcement
! that convinced her in advance her hus-
band was putting up "a job on her.
/ However, having kissed her goodnight
and insisted that she should not sit up
| for him. he departed without throwing
any further light upon his fraternal obli-
| cations or the particular business which
| summoned him from her side and his
! freside
hope that the romantic reader viii not
be disappointed if i is announced right
here that Theodores alleged lodge meet
ing was on the square. In other words,
there really was a session of the lodge
that night, convoked for the particularly
benevolent and fraternal purpose Of pass
| ing resolutions on the death of Brother
fernando Smith and arranging for the
funeral of that departed pillar of the or
Ger Theodore Taylor. being an executive
OF the lodge. was deeply and Officially in
| terested in the evenings business. though
"a fact that has nothing to do with the
salient features Of this narrative-he had
only a a casual speaking acquaintance
with the beloved deceased
However. when the business of the even
ing had been transacted and the friends
of the departed fernando Smith had en-
joyed their innings at the adjacent buf-
full of the consciousness that he had per-
formed his duty and other things. His
wife, as usual. let him in. and he quickly
retired after the customary act OF dis
robing all over the fiat. He had hardly
dismissed the subject of the evenings
meeting from his mind when he was
aroused from a preliminary mod by duh
If not sickening thud resounding from the
parlor. Rushing thither, he found Mrs
Taylor supine upon the velvet rug and in
state of partial coma. her face CHASTITY
and cold and at her feet his best black
coat and the scattered contents of his in
side pocket.
Having carried her into her boudoir and
revived her by the use of such simple re-
storatives as ice water and pungent salts
he was grieved and mystified by her cold
and even disdainful treatment. But he
attributed this to her sudden illness. and
being most weary. retired to sleep. IN
the morning. much to his bewilderment
and unrest she was even more unap-
proachable and even repellent in her man
ner toward him. and all his efforts at
unraveling the mystery or evoking an
explanation were met by the same arctic
and artificial rigor which is sometimes
popularity described as the post-mOrtem
countenance.
For the better understanding Of Mr.
Theodore Taylor's inexplica bic dilemma
II should be stated that he was a most
ardent. dutifui and loyal husband and
that beyond an occasional CAV session
with men he had never transgressed the
oonnubial code. On the night of his wife's
mysterious collapse he had readjusted his
clothing. and, in the hope OF a solution
Of the mystery. had searched himself
for suppesable. theoretical OF even i'm
aGinary evidences of misconduct But
he had found none. His pockets contain
Cd III
bills (some paid, a few lodge papers and
some odds and ends of neither value nor
interest TO anyone but himself
Meanwhile, days. weeks. 4 month passed
with no hint Of an explanation or a truce
from his wife. She never spoke to him
His food was almost dashed at him She
looked sullen, peaked. almost cadaverous
in her concealed but gnawing raneor Mr..
Taylor, who was an amiable man of ordi-
nary Wit. was grieved but utterly incapa-
bic Of solving the riddle by diplomacy.
Being mortal. and therefore open 10 sus-
p,cion, he worried. Not that he had been
indiscreet. hut-weH. he, too, had a past.
and with all his cirsumspection he was
Gevoured with an utterly unreasoning fear
that now, somehow. it was to come up
70 confront him. And so ne bided his :ime
TIL forbesrance ceased 10 be either a
virtue or prudential procedure. and then
1t was at the breakfast table-he sud
denly threw down his paper and with in
nccent asperity began:
Martha. what the h is the natter
That was. 70 say the least, brusque
Theodore" she replied that night YOU
lied To me about your hateful lodge"
I did not lie, Martha" giared Theo-
dore
But found the letter. just the same"
she sneered.
affa~7 What
"Oh. never mind what letter." she wag-
ged her splendid head. 7 suppose il was /
but one OF many. You were smart enough I
10 get it back and hide it while I was in
faint
You're taking leave Of your senses.
Martha" ne said warninrlv 7 had no
letter. got no letter. wrote no letter
thought Of no letter that would not show I!
you. T.
You forget the pink note. snesring
Pink note?'
Yes It commences with the loving !
epithet Beloved Who is Your Re
loved, Air. Theodore Wsatherby Tayiorg-'
his with whitening glance q scornfuI .
triumph
A sudden lisht. gray 1T first. bet widen
ing into radiant Intelligence. spread across +
Taylors face.
Beloved" he Erinned. pulling bunch
OF papers and letters from his pocket ani .
selecting folded sheet % pink note pa
FER. rs this it,
iess rowey, she snapped gray with rage
ard trembling
But look. Martha" be almost shouted.
Won didn't ~aaG Ne--~-T en- -. --s