The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-04-18

morning, as before, to keep clear of
the drawing room. Alas! for my
resolution.
Happening to pass the door--quite
By accident, of course-I heard a
sound as of some one choking with
In. Mary Ill, perhaps, thought to
, myself, and at once opened the door.
| Yes, there she was, sitting on the
/ sofa with her head buried in the
/ cushions, sobbing as If her heart
would break
! What is the matter, Mary, my
! dear?" | exclaimed, drying her eyes
with her own duster as | spoke.
"Oh! go away--go-a aw-a-a-y,"
she sobbed.
mo, no; tell me what is the mat
ter-what are you crying for?"
said |.
"Oh! Mister Jubber, l-o-o-ve you
| 500, and you're $3.50 cruell" she
replied, sobbing away louder than
| ever.
Well, here was pretty GO OF
| course, made fool of myself, and
swore loved her in return, and all
the rest Of 1t, If only to keep her
quiet.
And you will be k-kind to me,
and let me help you clean the
p-p-plate, as you promised?" said
she
"Oh! yes, of course | will, Mary,
my dear" l replied, sealing the
| promise with a kiss. And now be
off, and I'll finish your busting for
you"
Well, I busted away at the china
ornaments, thinking all the while
what a fool l had made of myself,
and was about to leave the room,
| when by the sofa on which | had
found Mary reclining, | caught sight
of crumpled piece of paper 1t was
letter, and as 1t commenced Dear
Poll" | guessed at once who 1t be-
longed to. So | pocketed It, mean
Ing to hand 1t to Mary when | next
saw her alone
Now, | am not an inquisitive man,
as a rule, but before I got to my pan
try l could no more resist reading
that letter than a moth could avoid
going at candle. This Is what II
said
Dear Poll-Hasn't that there old
/ Spooney let you have sight of the
plate yet? Get to see II immediate,
as Bill and me want to do the crack
next week. and divers (the writer
alluded in his slang, to the moon)
hold of the old girls diamonds, you
can do 'em up ready for us at the
same time. Further pertiklers on
hearing from you.
The kids is all we'll, and so am l,
and l remain, yours affectionate,
Joseph Maggs.
P. SIS there a Barker on the
premises?
1t didn't want much acumen to
understand this precious epistle. 1t
was as plain as day that the party
who wrote 1t meant carrying off my
mistresses' plate, and that the newly
found treasure (D, Mary Blake, was
in with the thieves.
The next thing to be done, thinks
! to myself, is to see whether "Old
Spooney" can't get the best OF Mr..
Joseph Maggs. With that in view,
after making a copy OF the letter, my
f1rst act was to go and replace 1t ex-
actly where / found It. And 1t was
lucky | did, as It happened, for just
as I came out Miss Mary Blake
bounced in She came to look for her
duster, she said, and It was quite re-
freshing to note the dash she made
for the letter the moment she saw 1t.
OF course, / pretended not to notice
that part OF the performance.
Apparently much relieved in her
mind, she now turned her attention
to me.
'Is my dear old Johnny-you are
my Johnny now, aren't you-?-going
to show me his pretty plate. as he
promised to-day" says the artful lit
tie mink. looking up into my face
with those great blue, innocent-look-
Ing eyes Of hers. and putting up her
face for a kiss, which I hadn't the
faintest objection to giving.
"Of course. l will. my dear" I
replied. Come to my pantry about
11.30, and III show you the lot"
Dear old thing!" exclaimed she.
"I'll come never fear"
At the time appointed she duly
made her appearance in the pantry,
when out came the plate for her edi-
fcation. There was a tremendous
lot, and showed her every bit OF It.
Directly after luncheon, finding
that several things were wanted for
the house from town. | volunteered
to go myself and see about them.
Now Mr.. Benjamin Bagshaw. who
was an inspector OF police at that
time (you recollect he retired last
year?) was particular friend of
mine. So straight to Ben's house I
went.
John. my boy" said Ben, when I
had told him my story, and showed
him the copy Of the letter to Mary
Blake, give us your flipper." Ben
was always bit slangy when ex-