The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1903-01-09

the missiye and instructed Samuel to
have it mailed without delay. Then,
with his mind much relieved, he
turned again to prosaic business
matters. After luncheon it occurred
to him to glance over the names of
those whose bills were in arrears.
Bring me the list Of delinquents,
Samuel" he directed. He was run
ming his eyes hastily down the col
mn when he stopped suddenly.
"Are-are those letters i'll the mail
vet, Samuel?" he asked, with an eff
fort at calmness.
"Why, yes, sir; got 'em in a couple
Of hours ago." answered Samuel
briskly.
And that other letter, 1 suppose
you have mailed that, too" Abbott
went on in the uncertain voice of a
man who is afraid to hear the an
swer to his question.
"Of course 1 did, sir. I saw it was
going to the same address as one of
the others, so l just slipped it into
the big envelope with the notice, to
save that much postage" Samuel
was a Jealous youth, who had the in
terests of the company at heart.
ooh, you did, did you?" cried Alb
bott, rising to his feet. "What in the
name of" He stopped, being accus-
toned to control himself. sect back
to your work now, Samuel, and here
after when l tell you to mail a letter
just do it in the usual way without
any Improvements of your own"
Abbott paced the floor. For Miss
Hayden to receive from him a per-
emptory notice that he would shut
off the supply of gas unless she paid
the bill, and at the same time a dec
laration of love, was terrible, and al
SO ridiculous. His vicious chewing of
the end Of his cigar was interrupted
by short laughs of scorn at himself
for permitting such a thing to hap
pen. If he could only get that let
ter back!
He knew the postnan would never
give it up to him. He thought of
waylaying him, and smiled grimly at
the idea of the secretary of the
Evans City Consolidated Gas COM
pany turning highwayman and rob-
bing the mails.
He glanced at his watch and made
a hasty calculation. 1t was four min
utes past three. There was a three
o'clock delivery and the letter was
probably in it. But Miss Hayden was
not yet home from school. The ses-
sion was over at three o'clock, to be
sure, but what conscientious teach
er had no unruly boys to keep in, nor
other after-school duties to perform?
Abbott decided that she would not
be home before $3.50, at the earliest.
1t would take him about Is minutes
to reach her house. This would give
him at least ten minutes grace in
which to bride the maid, to obtain
possession of that letter by hook or
by crook, and get away unseen by
the mistress of the house. The en-
velope was fortunately stamped with
the company's name, which would be
a help to him. He felt that his
chances for success were good, after
all, but there vas that contingency,
appalling to contemplate, that Miss
Hayden might be at home with his
two communications in her posses
sion. He dismissed from his mind
as hastily as possible the thought
of meeting her under these circum-
stances.
Eyes, sir, she's just come home
from school," said the Irish girl,
cheerily, in reply to Abbott's anx-
ious query. 'Come right in and I'll
tell her you're here
From mis- seat on the edge of the
parlor chair the young man gazed
distractedly at the unsympathetic
furniture and the unresponsive brio
-brac If he could only get out of
here some way? How could he face
her? The clock licked loudly, with
no regard for his state of mind, and
every tick vas hurrying on the or
deal. He frowned at the clock, and
as he did SO its tick suddenly seemed
to have become a voice of c
for it had called his attention to a
familiar-looking envelope lying be-
side the clock on the mantlepiece.
In three strides he was across the
room and was clutching that letter
i an eager grip. He had just time
to thrust it into his pocket before
he heard her footstep on the stairs.
Red and agitated he took her ea-
tended hand.
IL beg your pardon, Miss Hay
den. Pm. glad to see you. I
thought l would drop in to see if you
wouldn't-if you wouldn't take a
walk, that is, a ride. I am feeling ID
little worn out, you know, and a trip
to the park occurred to me as a
bracer. Won't you come, too?"
Miss Hayden's blue eyes were fixed
upon him wonderingly for an instant.
1t seemed TO her a little odd that an
active business man should be want
ing to go to the park at this time.
then she couldn't understand his
embarrassment.
Why, you see, my father" she
began, doubtfully. Then she remem-
bered that her father had noticed
the paleness of her cheeks, and had
har caro,o1 4:-...I