Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1905-04-10

STU
..yo. no. the man. But on her
way to linn lie met the mans sister
in-law-the cousin of the school
friend-and she told her that her
school friend was dead"
Dear. dear" said the author.
"ADd that decided her to return
home to her husband, Of course"
Really" exclaimed the girl, Il
think YOU have a very poor idea of
plots. considering YOU write stories
Yourself
occasionally" admitted the au-
thor. But I'm sure beg your par
don if l Anticipated your climax.
What did she do them"
why" said the girl, "she put
herself in her school friends place"
Great heavens cried the au-
thor. do you mean in the coffin :"
"Of course not. l mean she as
sumed her dead friends name and
and personality, | think you call it
and pretended she was her"
"She," suggested the author, with
the connivance of the cousin ?"
""No. She told the cousin moth
ing about it. She left the omnibus
and drove straight to the mans
house in cab and rang the bell and
walked in. The man was standing
on the hearth rug alone in the room,
and she ran up to him-remember,
she hadn't seen him for ten years
and, with wild gesture, exclaimed,
Save mep
EYES," observed the author, ''you
have hit upon a strong dramatic sit
uation there. What does the man
say, thought"
"The man replies, 4 will proclaim
your innocence with my best BREATH
or something of that sort, and she
falls into his arms. After soothing
her for a few moments he inquiries
I who she is. She tells him she is her
dead friend, his sister-in-law's cous-
in, but the man replies that there
must be some mistake, as he has no
sister-in-law. The girl fixes her eyes
upon his face intently for several
minutes before remarking, Then
YOU are not James de We're? The
man answers, No; my name is
JONES' and the girl discovers that
she has come to the wrong house"
"Ah, that, too, is fine situation, .
murmured the author for the
girl"
eyes, l do not think it is bad.
But the strange part is that Jones
and De We're are both members Of a
club where ladies can be taken as
guests, you know. There are such
clubs in London, aren't there?"
''0h, yes; several" said the au
thor.
so Jones offers to conduct the
girl to this club and hand her over
to De We're, and they drive off to-
gether. Meantime the girls hus-
band has discovered her flight and
starts in pursuit. Having heard her
once mention the name of her dead
school friends cousin, he first seeks
out this lady and from her learns
that his wife and she met that very
morning in an omnibus. That re
assures him, and he goes home to
dinner. Jones and the girl reach the
club, and Jones finds De We're tax
inc afternoon tea With-whom do
you think ?"
{ Il am at a loss to conjecture"
said the author, permitting his eyes
to dwell dreamily on the girls flush
ed face.
r ''Why, with the school friendp'
: exclaimed the girl, clasping her
hands.
), :'The school friend?"
eyes. She wasn't dead, after all.
t 1t turned out to be merely a mali
cious and unfounded report. On
a the contrary, she was engaged to be
! married to De We're"
al, lucky De We're! And is that
all?o
NO; that concludes the first hall
e of the story. The rest is principally
explanations. [ want to know how
r, it ought to be written said the
i girl.
Its TOO exciting for me to give
d an opinion straight off," rejoineo
t the author. "You say the girl knew
the man for ten years?"
Sc "1es.2
But the man didn't know the
20 grip"
% ''No."
'It was his loss I" murmured the
~ author. pray, how long have YOU
known me-"
n ooh, ever since l was fifteen OF
D thereabouts," answered the girl, ex