Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-02-02
DAILY SHORT STORY
THE MISSING LETTER.
tOriGinal.l

Jennie GeVeriy. Dareiy eiShteSH' hau
the care OF five brothers and sisters.
And lucky it was that Jennie was SO
capable. for her mother was delicate
woman. with no faculty whatever Tor
managing children.
One morning the postman brought
Jennie note addressed in Frank Free
mans hand. She was 1T the time pre-
pairing luncheon for the children 10
take with them 10 school, so she placed
the letter unopened Oh the sideboard
in the dining room till Il more conVeh-
lent season When the children had
been started Mrs. Peverly was sudden
" taken i'll and Jennie must go FOR
the doctor and for the rest of the day
WAS i'll constant attendance upon her
mother The consequence was that
she did not think OF her letter again
till she had gone to bed dead tired So
she went 10 sleep intending to read II
the next morning. She would doubt
less have done so had she seen the let
ter Oh the sideboard. but ii had disap-
peared. and there was nothing to re-
mind her of it: consequently, having
not only the children and Il sick moth
er to- take care of. she forgot all about
the letter not only for that day, but
for weeks.
At last Mrs. Peverly got better. and
one Saturday morning when the chill
dren were amusing themselves in their
own different ways Jennie went out II
do some shopping. Coming suddenly
upon Frank Freeman, he passed her
with his nose i'll the air, only liftlnS
his hat in Il most formal manner. For
n moment Jennie was ut Il loss to &c
count for this sudden change of man
ner; then the remembrance of her let
ter rushed upon her.
.Oh. Mr.. Freeman she cried. L am
so sorry forgot
Freeman stopped. turned and waited.
Il forgot-to-to-read your letter,
she blurted.
Then" h. said coldly. II must ask
YOU not To read ii. or IL You do TO con-
slider all that / said in il unsaid.'
With this he turned on his heel and
walked on.
Jennie went directly home and look
I'll lbI lfttti IN ah' is'F'N i''ANN 49,
remembered TO have seen il. the side
board. IL was not there. She looked
behind and under and in the sideboard.
but found no letter. BY this time her
curiosity was excited. and she devoted
all her spare time To thinking about IT,
She was soundly lectured by her moth
er for what Mrs. Peverly termed her
carelessncss. especially since that lady
knew that Frank Freeman's father was
IL rich man and Frank his only child,
whereas the Poverty family hadn't n
cent in the world. The poor woman
did not know If there was anything
OF Importance i'm the missing note. She
only desired that her daughter should
not repel any attention the young man
might offer.
You have doubtless missed an in
vitation To some delightful amuse-
mcnt." said Mrs. Poverty. Its too
bad. considering that you never get a
chance to- 20 any where"
Never mind. mother" replied Jennie.
IF Frank wants my company very
badly he'll ask me again"
But Franks manner whenever he
met Jennie became more and more
constrained. more naughty. till ut last
his recognition of her on the street was
scarcely perceptible. Jennie did all
she could do: she wrote him the circum
stances about the loss of his note, to
which he replied that the matter WAS
of consequence. There the affair
rested.
Then several things happened in the
Freeman and Poverty families. In the
first place Mr.. Freeman failed in bust
ness. and Mr. Poverty. who was Il pro-
moter. Il title given one who spends his
time organizing impracticable corpora
tons while their families are starving,
organized company 10 manufacture
Il patent churn, which UNEXPECTEDLY
made him rich. A third thing that hap
pened was that when the Peverlys
moved into Il mansion more in keeping
with their altered circumstances the
sideboard. being shaken up. dropped
Franks letter. 1t contained an avowal
Of love and q proposition of marriage.
Jennie read the letter. their positions
being reversed from what they had
been when il was written. She was n
sensitive girl. and Franks treatment
Of her had cost her many u bitter hour.
Ostcnsibly Ire was justified. for she had
certainly been unintentionally rude to
him. The finding Of the letter did not
OF Itself mend matters. for Frank had
recalled anything he might have said
in it. Resides even il he felt as lac did
wien lie wrote il. now that their posi-
tious were reversed lie would not re-
new the offer
Now. any girl who il level headed
enough To assume the cnre Of her broth
ers AMI sisters should be able tn take
care of an overSensitive lover and now
that Jennie knew that Frank had been
her lover she did not, as many girls
would do. assume that he had changed.
She took il for granted that his mimi