The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1904-07-13


business in a civil but firm manner.
Instead she drew back with start
"Sibylw
"Jack-Mr. Allinghamr'
IL heard OF your escapade, and that
Is why / came in person, though l
did not expect the pleasure of meeting
YOU"
He held out his hand, and she turned
away contemptuously.
"You are spying upon me-" she cried,
her anger rising. "How dare you come
here lilre this?'
"You forget the house is my own."
"Oh-er-so it is. You-want the
rent? am afraid we cannot pay you
just yet. If you will give us time. a
few days, Or"
"In a few days, nay, in few hours
the bailiffs will be in unless the rent
is paid at once" he replied, firmly.
"But, Ja-Mr. Allingham, you would
not be so cruel?"
"Cruel? We're you never cruel?
What was my fault, and how much
mercy did you show me? Now it is
my turn, and no mercy will I give.
Can your companions or whatever
they call themselves pay me now?:
mo, they cannot"
Every well. Good morning."
He turned away and she slammed
the door.
"What did he say" asked Miss
Tabbs, anxiously, when she entered
the room.
"He is every inch a manw replied
Sibyl, significantly.
III.
Before two more days had passed
the Spinsters' Society were acquainted
with the worst. The members were
not afraid of the opposite sex, antago-
nistic though they might be, but they
had to acknowledge q terror of the
law. When one morning the house
maid answered q knock at the door
| the landlord promptly pushed himself
| into the hall. He was accompanied
by man, who held in one hand a
brown paper parcel and an official
| document in the other.
Good morning, Miss Cathcart," he
said, as she came out to meet him.
You expected me, of course?r
II don't understand you"
Really? There is nothing much tC
understand. l am, in fact, my own
bailiff, and only immediate payment of
the rent will prevent my being quar-,
tered upon you. This gentleman here
will prove the truth of my assertions
as he represents the law. Just run
over this paper, please"
"You brutew she calculated.
"Sorry to inconvenience you-very
A debts a debt, you know. But ]
don't think you'll find me a very trou
blesome tenant. l shall come at o in
the morning and leave at in the even
ing, until the money is paid. That
parcel, jenkins. please" he added tt
the man, and discharged him.
The girl hid her face in her hands
and burst into tears.
4 always knew you were cowardr
she sobbed. "And now you've proved
it."
II hope not. If come as my owl
bailiff you should congratulate your
self upon having escaped SO lightly
Tor commoner man might have mad,
his presence intolerable. And besides
l have brought my own food, which NJ
ordinary bailiff would have DONE"
The bursting of this bomb in tn,
headquarters of the Spinsters' Societ,
did not tend to draw the members to
ward the male sex, and immediate
steps were taken to realize the money
matter of some difficulty.
ITS nothing short of scandal
piped Miss Tabbs, between fits of hys
terical weeping, when the news wa
conveyed to her. 1T will be the tall
of the neighborhood. If it had beel
a commoner man it would have beei
different, but him! And to have +
cook his mutton chops-ughw
And he stands in the doorway 70
ten minutes wiping his boots SO tha
the neighbors shall see him enter!
gasped Miss Franklin, to the groans O
the other members.
But the calamity fell more severel
upon the neau OF Sibyl, though no on
) dared to imagine that she had ono
nearly become the wife of the oil
, noxious individual. Her one though
! now, as she sat in the little study Sc
s apart for her own use, was how to gt
r rid of him. Giving open battle onl
S ended In signal defeat therefore, VIII
e not try strategy? He had always bee
r swayed by her influence. so. perhap
!! might be still amenable to persuasion
And she could continue to hate hii
r all the same. The experiment, at an
3 rate, was worth trying.
She rose to put her plans into ex
b cution. when the two domestics entere
g without knocking. They We're dresse
In their outdoor things and appeare
y anything but pleasantly disposed t
: ward her,