The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-02-27

This is the tale of a resourceful wo-
man horn Diplomat The men say II
never happened-that no woman u Cd
pabIe of such thing me WOiue1 =
well, most OF the women ADMIT Ia. tll1e =. -
is not what they would have done IN
sueh q case and their hints AT tneH
probable behaviour are enough 70 MAKE
any erring husband pause anu renect-
But here's the story You may Hi1EN7
-r On woman and her dearest
friend went to Kansas City not long
ago to see matinee and GO some shop-
mig The woman's husbands business
kaa0s him IN Kansas City most OF tne
49, and he was there that week How
ever. he did not know that his WE Was
coming to town and she did not expect
20 sac him But she did Iney ran
across him In a fashionable cafe where
thew went for luncheon and where ne
was sitting at q small table with very
pretty girl looking into her eyes as
though entirely oblivious OF everything
else, even the dessert IN front OF tnern-
The wOman's dearest fr1end-l&e mos
Of our dearest friend she IS something
Of a cat-saw them first and the woman
following her look OF aStonlsnnent anu
suspicion with perhaps mint OF ma
iicious enjoyment OF an anticipated
scene. took in the situation at q glance
She had never seen the girl before in
all her life, but she swept toward them
at once with outstretched hand and
smile OF surprise and pleasure w ny
how do you do. Lillian she exclaimed
CHow in the world did a name ever
occur to her2) How stupid of me 70
forget-but I had conpletely-that this
IS the day you were going through
Mrs -'' turning TO her dearest
friend, this is Miss Chance, Charlie s
cousin from Chicago I'm so sorry we
didn't let you know We were coming
down. Charlie. so We could all nave had
luncheon together. I see you are just
finishing and Of course you viii be IN a
hurry to catch your train, Lillian Don I
let US keep you. I hope you'll have a
nice visit, and do Try TO stop on with
US on your way back
seB1t that reminds me" said one of
the men who scohed at the story as
mere piece OF fiction, of a True story.
The principals IN this little comedy
have all lived in Topeka, and some OF
them are still here II I mentioned
names you would all know them, but
I will lust designate the drauaIfS per-
eonae as the Man. the Wife, the Other
Man and the Other Woman The
Other Man Is the Wife's cousin or sec
Ond cousin, or somethfng-just enough
relationship to furnish an eXcuse-and
the Husband was always somewhat
suspicious Of their friendship SO when
the cousin gave the wife sealskin
cloak one winter something she had
been wanting for q long time. she i'm
ElRl1arE4E began 10 DEaA some way OF
getting it into the house without arous-
ing her husbands jealous suspicious.
So she pawned it for SIS, took the
pawn ticket home and gave it to her
husband with some trumped-up story
Of how she obtained possession Of it.
She said she imagined the cloak was
worth more than SIS. and ii might be
q good idea for him TO go down and
take q look at IL and II he thought il
worth while redeem it The husband
acted upon her suggestion. but the
next day when he had the package sent
up you may imagine the WIfe'S rage
and disappointment when she opened
It to find an inexpensive cloth coat
and Of course it didn't add greatly &c
her peace of mind and satisfaction tc
notice the next time she met her hus-
bands typewriter on the street that
she was wearing g very handsome
sealskin, remarkably like the one the
Other Man had bought for her. Bu
what could the poor girl dO?"
Il know a cloak yarn, too" said an
other member of the party, but
didn't happen here This little dram;
was played out before my eyes at tn
biggest and most fashionable shop il
Chicago. I was waiting there in tn
cloak department one day when
short, portly nliddle-aged, bald-heade,
man came in with tall, stunning
T1t1an-haired creature whom 7 recOg
nized as one Of the show girls in tn
front row OF q musical comedy chOru
then running at one of the theaters
She was certainly & handsome woman
with big ravishing brown eyes and
FORM of willowy grace.
They wanted to look at evening an
carriage wraps and a saIesWoman an
model were soon busy bringing out tn
most expensive garments in the store
way up in the hundreds the price
were. too. The show girl had take
off her hat while she tried on some Q
the lovely creations and she was pro
menading back and forth before tn
mirrors delivering a running common
tary on the cut, style and becoming
ness of the different cloaks with fre
quent appeals to her companion, Whor
she addressed as Teddy for corrOboI
alton of her opinions Teddy didn
seem to be deliriously happy. exactly
you know the distressed look of tn
average man in a woman's shop-bu
he was standing the ordeal very We
and showed no symptoms of heart fail
ure when the saleswoman recited tn
truly astounding prices until the ele
Vator stopped at the floor and shor
stout, rniddleaged woman. with dye
hair and a lumpy makeup and fuss
clothes stepped out His face gre
purple. then black, his eyes bulged, an
when the woman saw him and wake