The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1903-11-26

W AUUV Oh uOT V0Sy 004toDI It10000 30Q
four Of her most esteemed" male &C.
Nuaintances.
Tom brought Cousin Horace home
with him that evening. and Mrs. Kings
Hand went on over him as fondly %
- young pullet over her nrst chick. He
wa BIG, sweet-yoiced. solaierly man.
with yellow, curly hair and the man
nersoi q boy. Coming from the tigor-
ous,weather Of CalXda. hs looked. very
|ruser In his fur sreatcoat. cap ana
mittens, for thetday was almost warm.
They had . merry time ct supper.
Kate was ct her best, and Tom, de-
lighted ct the FIRST chance he'd had In
. year to take 20 flyer" with man
his wife could. trust. 80 !.
Kate. DEAR" he said 1t last, wink
ing slyly at hiE cousin, Horace has to
go downtown to look after his lug
gage. It won't take us long vs.
All right. Tom. I'll trust You with
Horace. know he'll take care Of you.
Besides. want you to mail some let
tiers for me-the invitations. You
know. Tom"
She slipped the eight; envelopes into
his hand and gayly slapped him on the
back. The men smoked & Few cigarettes
In the parlor, chatting with Kate, be-
fore they started.
BY Jove!" snorted tho Canadian,
boxing ct his fur coat in the hall, aIll
wear no coat. It's a blooming tropical
place. Chicago"
"Oh, no. 1t isn't, Horace" chimed
the solicitous hostess; you must take
q coat. One Of Tom's-the raglan,
Tom. It's too big for you. and you
can wear the top coat
So they, bundled Cousin Horace into
the raglan and away went he and
Tom.
Mrs. Kingsland was sure Of her
guests and incidentally sure Of new
sealskin coat (for she. meant to hold
Tom to his wager, but just the same
she began to get bit nervous at five
O'Clock Thanksgiving afternoon when
she noticed that not one Of the seven
young folks had arrived. She remem-
bered explicitly having asked Martha
Dinwiddie to come early. Dinner was
to be at six, and as she had received
no notes declining her invitations she
was yet confident, but
Tom and Horace, oblivious Of her
growing misgivings. were listening to
her very latest and most glowing tri-
butte to the beauty, wit and grace Of
Martha Dinwiddie. and the handsome
Canadian, well satisfied Of Mrs. Kings
lands judgment and appreciation, was
beginning to feel yearning desire to
meet the much-vaunted Martha. Six
o'clock came and struck without either
of the men noticing the change that
was coming over Kate. At .6:15 she
was In nervous tremor; she made re-
peated trips to the kitchen, and at in
tervals stood by the window watching
the street. Finally Tom pulled out his
watch, whistled softly, looked up and
blurted:
by lingo, Kate. your guests are
either late or they're not coming"
She stood before him ready to fly
into . rage or weep. The tempest Of
her disappointment. however, re-
solved itself into tears, and in q mo-
ment she was sobbing ON Toms shout
der.
II didn't think they'd do 1t, the,
heartless things!" she ssobbed. S.'.Ands
Martha, too, the mink! She at least
knew that had my heart set on this.
COMPOUNDED dinner"
It was all out now. Too late to
guard her modification from Cousin
Horace. too late to evade the silent
sarcasm Of the waiting servants, too
late even to avoid the distressing scene
before her guest. But he as well az
Tom came bravely to the rescue. $
Their loss. not ours" laughed EIor-
ace. Let's eat up the whole, dinner
ourselves. Pm ravenous, and, excuse.
me, Mrs. Kingsland, don't know but,
on the whole, I'm gladder to have our.
dinner privately together. You know
I never was beau. Ha, ha. hi-yi!"
So they fled out rather mournfully
to the dining room. Tom managed to
whisper message to his wife as they
stood to let Horace pass. and when she,
took her place at the table she was .
little brighter for the knowledge that.
she was to have the seal coat anyhow.
The wine and meat, the wholesome
humor and hearty laughter of Horace
gave zest to their merriment, and be-
fore the coffee came on they decided to
have an impromptu theatsr party and.
make night Of it." as Tom said. He
was half sorry a moment after he had.
awkwardly suggested that '.impromp-
to things IRE always happier but,
Kate. who noticed 1t, forgave him with
look. 81 ga s.ss8a
But the theater party didn't turn out
exactly we'll, either. for ~ the men;
were getting into their coats III the
hall Horace said: n 5ss,;.
..Aw. by the way. Tom! There's lot
Of letters here "A this box coat of yours;
that I'm wearing. intended to turn
them over, don't you know, but pom
my word didn't think Of It till
now" co
And he pulled out poor Kate's bunch
Of invitations.
Tom looked at her and she looked at