Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1905-08-30
ONE GIRLS TRAGEDY.

The girl with the chilly smile eyed the
young woman with the dropping mouth
keenly.
Been taking antifat?'' she asked at
last. "You look thin and washed OUT
Thank you for your kind words re-
sponded the girl with the dropping mouth
with considerable asperlty. Your dys-
pepsia is worse, [ observe. Only that
would make you so truthful and frank"
ooh! come now, what's the trouble?
Don't waste your time being sarcastic.''
We'll said the girl with the dropping
mouth, Il do feel rather unhappy that's
the truth. There's nobody to blame but
myself. You've heard Mabel talk about
that cousin of hers who has been study
ing abroad, several years, haven't your"
Haven't l." acquiesced the young
woman with the chilly smile. 'I'd like
to know who could escape him-Albert
Howard Graham The family lust wor-
ships him.
Eyes, he lived with them when he was
a small boy. 1t seems he's going to drive
Marconi into oblivion when once he gets
started. Really. he has done some won
derful things, and Mabel always prom
lsed she Would-er-''
Give you the first chance at him 20
We'll, you know, I'm her dearest
friend, and she always has said that he
and l were made for each other. Nat
urally, [ got interested in him. I rather
looked forward to meeting him. too 1t
seemed so romantic to think maybe he
was my fate.
So you can imagine my state of mind
the other afternoon when Mabel called
me up on the phone and said Albert
Howard had unexpectedly arrived home
from France the night before, and she
was dying for me to meet him, and that
she had just sent him over to my house
after her purse she had forgotten the
day before. She said he had business
GRAND he must attend to on the way
but she thought he'd be there in an hour
i was so excited, and [ had tons of
things to ask her. but in the middle of
our talk the bell rang and | had to 90 to
the door. / saw it was the man to over
haul the kitchen stove whom we had
been expecting for a couple of days, for
ne had queer long bag and some wire
things in his hand.
L didn't want to lose Mabel. so
called back over my shoulder for him to
sit down and wait till [ could attend to
him, and rushed back to the phone. /
asked Mabel if her cousin knew she had
sent him over to meet me, and she said
no, and then [ had to ring off, for [ had
to get into decent dress and do up nv
hair It was struggling all over my face.
and [ didn't want Albert Howard to get
bad impression Of me.
The stove man sat meekly in a corner
started n md
to stop minute I told him to come
with me, and opened the kitchen door
You'll find the stove there [ said,
airily, and [ suppose you know what to
do-clean it out SO that it'll burn Then
[ flew upstairs.
Il got dressed and sat in the reception
room for two hours, and Albert Howard
Graham never appeared. [ got angry at
last and thought I'd teach him a lesson
when he did comet was some of his
foreign affectation, [ supposed, making
a girl wait
II hen l suddenly remembered the man
in the kitchen, and wondered what he
could be doing, for | hadn't heard noise
from the basement the whole two hours.
L went down to investigate. The man
sat calmly on pile of wood smoking a
cigar. He seemed so much at ease and
so self-possessed, and eyed me so strange
ly that | just stared open mouthed. 1t
was the first time | had taken good
look at him-my mind had been so full
of Albert Howard.
Then it flashed over me-for Mabel
had shown me his picture-he was Albert
Howard Graham himself! The bag and
wires were electrical things he had just
bought. And | had ordered him into the
kitchen!"
Il suppose he wasn't thoughtful enough
to clean the stove as you requested him,
either put in the girl with the chilly
smile
you can't appreciate tragedy when
it is thrown in your facet" the other
waied.-Illustrate Bits