Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-11-06
DAILY SHORT STORY
After the Ball.
'lOHgtnal.l

Lasttnight was the end of the house
party. There was, dance, and cham
payne flowed like water.
What did we. do after supper? 1
haveta confused remembrance of some
thingl going on in the bachelor quar-
tiers. Was II boxing or,fencing?
Where is my handkerchief? 1 reach
for my dinner jacket on chair beside
my bed and take my handkerchief
from the,pocket. With it comes slip
of paper. On it is n hasty scrawl in
pencil in a,feminine hand:
Consider our acquaintance ended. NJ.
Heavensi 1 have disgraced myself,
and Mollie has discarded me. How,
when, did it happen? After supper,
when we were romping in the drawing
room? 1 don't remember Mollie being
there. must get up ut once, go TO
her andsbeg forgiveness. Where is my
watch? Only 6 o'clock Not person
will be down before 8. Meanwhile l
must toss about in bed, banging the
pillow with my head. which aches more
and more every minute. oh, that
man should put an enemy into his
mouth to steal. away Ills brains! 1
have not tastedi alcoholic drink for six
months before last night. and 1 sol
EMMY resolvetnever to taste it again.
What could 1 have said or done to
offend her? Doubtless talked thick
and showed in other ways that 1 had
been drinking. No wonder she wrote
hot clin I'm n1l har Ilurifv IN
mate with one who could so forget
himself! But when did 1 receive it?
Who brought it to me? How can I
expect to remember that since can
not remember other matters? 1t is all
over between us. NIollie will never
overlook my conduct. I'm ruined.
l turned over, buried my face under
the bedclothes and groaned.
l looked at my watch every ten min
utes The intervals seemed half an
hour. When It was 8 o'clock. 1 got,up,
dressed and went downstairs. The
house was as still as death. At 8
o'clock / heard n servant in the dining
room, and, going in there, l asked for
cup of coffee. This made me feel
somewhat more comfortable. Return
ing to my room, l lay down and dozed
till 10 o'clock, then went downstairs
again. Most of the guests were ut
breakfast. 1 Joined them, drank an
other cup of coffee and swallowed
piece of toast with difficulty. Then
went into the smoking room. Mollie
had not yet come down, and 1 wanted
to get out of the way. avoiding meet
ing with her in the presence of others.
1 lighted n cigar, but it tasted bad, and
L threw it away. Bob Anderson came
in and sat down opposite me. He lit
cigar and sat smoking ruefully. 1 saw
that something was on his mind. and
as Bob is a communicative fellow i
felt sure it would come out. Presently
he came and sat down by me. .ter.-
az made an awful ass of myself last
night" he said.
Indeed you did," 1 replied. 1 re-
membered nothing about him the night
before. but it soothed me to think that
he might have disgraced himself worse
than L had done.
'"rhat was an awful break 1 made at
the supper table,
Eyes. it was" 1 replied.
''The COMPOUNDED bottle slipped out of
my hand. Is there no way to get n
wine stain out of silk?'
None. But you can buy a new
dress, suppose"
BUY Marion Hunt n new dress!
That's what made all the trouble. l
offered to do so, and she resented the
offer, taking it as an insult. Her IA
ther is rich, and she has a fine income
in her own right"
"Well. Bob, don't worry. I'm in a
worse fix than you. 1 offended my
fiancee, and it is all over between u.s."
"How did you do that? You GER
tainly were not booty. You drank
nothing but a few glasses of cham
payne"
Don't know what did" handed
him the slip.
How the deuce did you get hold of
thatr"
Found it this morning in the pocket
of my dinner jacket"
"Why. it's the identical paper Marion
Hunt sent me-"
"Whatr'
"When I covered her dress with a
whole bottle of wine, she went upstairs.
very angry. i scrubbed few words to
her begging permission to present her
with another dress. She tore off a
piece of my note and wrote that ON it.
But. really. how did you get it?'
1t seemed as if a thousand pounds
were taken off my shoulders.
"What did we do after supper" 1
asked.
"Why, you and 1 played with the
foils."
"And took off our coatsr
Certainly"
"And hung them upY'
'No; threw them on chairs"
"We're about of size"
every close indeed"
"After our tussle must have put on