Evening journal., 1907-12-02
PEACH.
IorisinaLl

set in, I got out my winter overcoat
Thrusting my hand into the pockets
I struck a small bundle. am par
ticular about my clothes. always put
ting them away carefully when the
season changes and taking everything
out of the pockets. / was therefore
surprised at finding anything and
drawing forth the bundle, quickly and
curiously unwrapped it. found a
package Of letters. On the top was a
photograph Of a girl with the lowell
est face and the sweetest smile ever
beheld. 1 took her right into my
heart.
'Pretty enough TO kiss" I remarked
to myself. and kissed the card.
Looking at the tailors name sewn
on to the inside Of the collar of the
overcoat, 1t was unfamiliar to me.
Then 1 examined the coat critically. 1
had never owned 1t. / must have
changed coats at the end Of the previ-
GUS spring with some man in some
public place. 1 slipped a couple of
elastic bands Off the letters, hoping to
find a clew to the owner Of the coat.
The envelopes were not there. Each
letter, written In a woman's hand, be-
gan Dear Ralph" and was signed
Peach" They were usually dated
merely with the day they were writ
ten, viz-"Tuesday evening" "Wednes-
day afternoon" Some gave the
month, day and year. but none the city
from which they were written, though
a few, evidently written while the
writer was visiting, mentioned differ
ent places In the text. In hunting for
a clew 1 unwittingly got interested In
them. / couldn't help It. 1t was evil
IDENTIFY a case Of lonely woman writ
ing to a lover who did not understand
or appreciate her.
Since the exchange had been made
some eight months before there was
no great hope Of finding the owAer. l
wrote the tailor who had made the
coat asking if any word had been left
with him about It and received a re-
ply that there had not.
This was all could do in the mat
llAF A0A 4 kUQA4 nut AEAAEAnUEL nO AAl
back any place where I might prob
ably have taken the coat IN exchange
All that winter 1 used to read the let
ters and look at the photograph till
came to fancy that / was the lover to
whom they had been written.
But no man can be satisfied with en-.
dearments that are passed. Besides, ]
was constantly remembering that the
man who was manifestly untitled to
possess such a noble girl had finally
become aware OF his unworthiness and
her superiority and had made a sufh
ciently respectable fellow of himself
to warrant a union between them.
became desirous of finding out what
had been the result, but there was not
the slightest means Of doing 50. l new
er went anywhere without hoping that
I would see the face Of the photograph
which l always carried In my pocket
book
One afternoon, while l was looking
over the pictures in a public gallery
in passing from one room TO another
came face to face with one I was
sure was the original Of the photo
graph. Ny heart stood still. 1t was
fortunate that she did not look at me
for she would surely have been EN-
barrassed at seeing a strange mar
stare at her. She passed on. and
turned and followed her.
Later she was standing before pic
ture, with her eyes fixed on it intently
There was no one else in the room
Standing in the next room where
could get out Of the range Of her view
before she could turn, said aloud:
"Peachr'
She started and turned, but not il
time to see me. A moment later she
entered the room where was, to fine
me studying a statue. / turned ant
gave her a view Of my face. This evi
IDENTIFY satisfied her that 1 could no
have been the person who had called.
But did not propose that she should
get away from me. Never did detec
tive do a better job of shadowing thar
l and from a greater distance. / saw
her at last go into a dwelling house
and while waiting for her to come ou
saw her, dlvested OF hat and coat
at an upper window. Then knew
had tracked her to her home.
was not long in discovering hel
name, with other information, includ
ing the fact that she was unmarried
Then used to watch for her to 2,
out with a view to discovering il sh,
would stumble on any one 1 knew.
spent a long while at this with no re
suit, but one day met her on tn,
street with a lady whom I counted on,
of my best friends. Quick as a fasl
I invented an excuse to stop and ad
dress my friend and secured a casua
Introduction. walked with then
several blocks, when / left them. feel
ing that my hunt and my detectiv,
pranks We're over. A week later ha,
an opportunity q had made It my
sclO to ask permission TO call on her
I found that Peach" was a hickman,
which had been given her by her IA
ther when she was a child for her rud
dy cheeks.
A year later I wrote her an anony
nous letter. stating that by reason o
an exchange Of overcoats had com,
into possession Of package Of let
ters she had written and would return
them for a consideration. A repl,
came Immediately, Offering to pay an.
reasonable reward and inviting me t
bring the package to her home thl
next evening.
At the hour nnnnintad rang thl