The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1904-02-05
G. A UDIA'S
RETALIATION
Copyright, 1903, by w. r. Hearst.

up! cried aud Silburn as the
whirring tinkle of the bell made itself
heard from the small room at the end
OF the hall. He is about to leave the
office and he wishes to tell me that he
will be here a little before the agreed
time, 1 expect"
A later Mrs. Silburn heard
the following remarks through the two
open doors:
Yes, l am Miss Silburn!" A pause.
OH" In a tone Of mingled ~disappoint-
ment and vexaton; thank you'll I'M
derstand! Good-by!"
II won't tolerate It'll" Claudia de-
clared hotly, as she unanimously re-
entered the sitting room and threw
herself in her chair. II wonder If Har-
old thinks he can play with me in that
way!" This last remark was uttered
In a s%cornful tone.
Mother" she continued, turning to
that worthy lady. who still sat placidly
at her work, c you imagine any
thing $3.50 rude and offhand? Here
Is Harold actually getting his office
boy-his office boy!-to ring me up and
tell me that he is sorry that he cannot
keep the appointment for this evening
because he wishes to attend a meeting
of he directors Of his company, the
Neverdull Paint Co.!
H is commencing rather early, I
think! Here have we been engaged
n week only. and he slips away from
the office early to keep an appointment
which has more attraction for him-a
music hall. very likely!-instead Of
coming to see me, as promised, and gets
his office boy to ring me up at the
proper time and tell me that he must
attend a meeting Of old directors!"
She ceased speaking, and Mrs. Sill
burn said a few words in her usual
calm n
Your father slipped ava while we
were on our honeymoon in order to
play a game of cricket with his team,
my dear, and he has turned out to be
a very creditable husband, as, I sup
pose, you will admit"
"Oh, yes. But, then, papa is differ
ent from Harold and-I don't care If he
has gone cricketing or anywhere else.
l call it downright neglect, and If I al
ow it now, what shall I have to put up
with after marriage. I should like to
know? And he has the audacity to
say, through the office boy, that he is
free of engagements for tomorrow eve
ming!
Free Of engagements" she repeated,
as the significance of the phrase struck
her. Il will see to that! He shall be
quite free; he may conclude that our
engagement is broken and that he
can look out for another girl to deceive!
I'll write to him so that he knows it
lrst thing tomorrow morning.
TIL girl had seated herself at a little
writing table and vas viciously dipping
the pen in the ink. She forgot the usual
form OF letter writing, and began at
0nce, without address or date:
MY dear IL
mo, that wont do" she decided. HE
ISN'T that any longer. L can alter the
II into NJ and make it Mr. quite
EASILY"
She did so. It did rot look very we'll,
and moreover, Why should she call him
My dea MI. Churchill?" She tore up
the sheet of paper. took another n
dashed off the following:
Dear Mr.. Churchill-I received III
message through the intermediary Of
your office assistant. 1 understand
that you are, or wish to be, free Of all
engagements tomorrow evening, so I
hasten to let you know that 1 shall be
too busy tomorrow evening to see any
body. Yours truly, C. S."
"There!" she cried, passing the letter
to her mother, that will teach him
that he mustn't play with the young
ladies of the present day. 1t may have
been all right in your time, but this is
different"
It's rather stiff, isn't it, Claudia?"
ventured Mrs. Silburn. 1T looks as if
you don't want him to call again"
II don't mind That it looks like!"
said Claudia. Her mothers words
caused a peculiar little sensation to
strike her in the region Of the heart,
but she crushed it ruthlessly. 1T
means that l am not easily hoodwinked
and not to be trihed with. I have read
a good many things about husbands
having to stay late at the office, and all
that, and shall nip it in the bud"
She folded the sheet Of paper with
much emphasis. pushed it into the en-
velope, sealed it, and took up a postage
stamp.
She ran out with just her hat on and
jerked the letter into the slot Of the
wall box about fifty yards from the
house. She had just missed the 7:1O
collection, so 1T would go by the 8: 25.
That was rather a pity as the letter
might have reached him the same even
ing If she had caught the 7:1O. Well,
1t will make him uncomfortable at
breakfast!
She went back to the sitting room
and took up her sewing once more.
NeedleWork is a soothing occupation
Tor those who are end of it. Claudia
liked 1t, which was somewhat surpris-
Ing in a girl Of such impulsive dispo-
sltion. n after half an hour she began
to feel that she had been too hasty.
She tried to crush the feeling, but It
rose to the surface in spite of her ef-
forts, and her cheeks began to burn.
A sound caused her to start. It was
the We'll known ring Of the telephone
bell. For the second time that evening
Claudia dropped her work and fastened
to answer the summons.
She hut the door behind her. so
Mrs. Silburn could not hear any of he
conversation. Three minutes later
Claudia returned with her face
wreathed in smiles. 1t was the old
happy look, and Mrs. Silburn smiled
wisely.
"Oh, mother, I wonder how I could
have thought SO i'll Of dear Harold. He
has just rung me up to explain. The
directors meeting was uneXpected; it
was called by telegram this afternoon.
and Harold thought 1t would be a good
idea to take advantage of the occasion.
He tried to ring up this afternoon, so
as to tell me himself and in good time.
but the foolish girls at the exchange
kept telling him that they could get no
answer from us. At last he got
through, but just at that he
was called into the room where the
directors of the Neverdull Paint COM
pany were sitting, SO he had to give a
hurried message to the boy. 1Ie wished
to attend the meeting in order to get
the directors to settle on his leave of
absence for our wedding, because, SO
he says'-this with a deep blush-"he
is not going to wait! I am so sorry
that l.
What's the matter, dear?" asked
her mother, disturbed out of her eoua-
nimity for the first time by seeing
d cheeks Id lose thair