Evening journal., 1907-05-14
A SURPRISE.
Iorisinall


orient. 1 expected to be gone three
months at the outside, hut was absent
eight had frequent letters frem my
wife and knew that she was in ex-
cellent health, so had nothing to
worry about
1 reached New York at in the
morning by steamer and at 10 drove
up to the door Of my house. 1 had
carried the latchkey with me on my
key ring and let myself in. Seeing no
one below, ran upstairs to my wife's
room, thinking only OF the transports
of'Our meeting after my long absence.
1 was surprised to find the door locked.
I knocked, ratified the knob-indeed,
made every demonstration of one burn
ing}to get in and take my beloved one
In my arms. Presently heard the
words on the other side offthe door:
"GO awayr
The voice was not my wife's, but 1t
was a woman's. had no mind to be
thus treated on my return after so long
an absence and kept on knocking and
rafting the knob. Presently / heard
a sound inside that 'resembled. nothing
/ had ever heard unless it was the
FIRST effort Of young rooster to crow.
1 was puzzled. What could 1T mean?
gave a kick at the door with my
foot. In another moment,I heard the
same voice say:
"Do stop that noise and5go awayT'
"What does it all meant" 1 shouted.
: But there was no response. and gafter
giving another kick 1 concluded to ac-
cept the situation and went down
stairs. l touched a button, in the H.
brsry for Peggy, the maid I had left
at the house when 1 went abroad. but
instead of Peggy a newSgirl answered
the summons.
where's Mrs. Budd7"ll asked.
Don't know"
Don't knOw2 You're the maid,
aren't your
"Don't know"
do you understandSE SEnglish7"
Don't know"
"Never mind. That1l do. Go back.
1 don't want you"
J 1t took these four sentences to get
her out Of the room, iand 1 was trying
TO think up some other method of,soiv-
: ing the riddle when I heard the front
door open. 1 went into the hail. but
not in time to see who had come in. /
heard or thought heaud a footstep go
Ing upstairs, but city houses are al
ways dark, and mine is darker than
most OF them, so I couldn't see who II
{ was. heard q light knock on, door
(my wife's, perhaps). The door was
! opened long enough for someaone to
pass In; then It shut.
This was maddening. A woman had
my wife a prisoner. and all the knock
ing of which 1 was capable would not
gain me admittance, yet here was O
person-the step sounded IKE aiman's-
whose lightest rap was an open sesa
me-" No one In the house but,a maid
who could say nothing but "don't
know'-at least I supposed there was
no one else-but TO make sure Invent
upstairs and looked into every room
While passing my wife's room heard
that spring chicken Growing again ]
went back to the library and paced the
floor. resolving to waylay any one who
might have gone into the room. from
which was debarred-that is, IL any
one had gone into the room-when he
she or 1t came out-thatis, IL he, she OF
it ever did come out.
1 didn't have to wait long before ]
heard the door open and a mans ster
coming down the stairs. confronted
him in the hall.
"well, sir" 1 said. "what are you
doing hereT
what are you doing hereT" fhe re
torted, bristling
Il am the owner OF this house,
"The deuce you areT with evident
surprise.
Eyes, 1 am. and I'm kept outtof my
wife's bedroom. There's nobody to tel
me what is going on and"-
"You must excuse me, sir; I'm in a
hurry" And he went out and shut the
door.
well, I'll be hangedP' said TO my.
self. This is agonizing."
went back into the library. II
wasn't more than ten minutes more
before heard a ring at the telephone
upstairs. A woman'c voice answered
the ring. This was one-half the dia.
logue, the half heard:
''Yes, I'm Miss Arbuckle"
"You don't mean it."
''Ha, ha, hal Cleverly managed"
"All right Goodby."
Another ten minutes passed when ]
heard the door open again and a voice
called to me 70 come up. A uniformed
nurse usheF1d me into my wife's room
Marian was lying on the bed and be.
side her a nine pound chunk Of flesh.
After 1 had taken both mother and
child in one embrace, nearly smother
ing the child, I asked a few questions.
"she wished to give you a pleasant
SURPRISE" said the nurse.
"It was certainly a surprise" I re
Piled. "The biggest part of it was nv
treatment in my own house after nv
long absence. suppose the man ]
met In the hall was the doctor"
Eyes; he called me up by telephone
and told me how he kept the secret"
'And you're the woman who told me
to 90 away from my own door,"