The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1908-01-03
A SURPRISE.
lOrxinal.l

months when ! was Obliged 70 leave
my Marian on a business trip to thu
orient. / expected to be gone three
months at the outside. hut was absent
eight. had frequent letters from my
wife and knew that she was In ex'
cellent health, SO l had nothing u
worry about.
/ reached New York at Q in the
morning by steamer and at 10 drove
up to the door Of my house. / had
carried the latchkey with me on my
key ring and let myself In. Seeing nc
one below, l ran upstairs to my wife'l
room, thinking only of the transports
Of sur meeting after my long absence
/ was surprised to find the door locked
/ 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 Of the door:
go away"
The voice was not my wlfe's, but II
was q woman's. had no mind to BIZ
thus treated on my return after 81 long
an absence and kept or knocking and
rafting the knob. Presently I heard
a sound inside that resembled nothing
| had ever heard unless 1t was the
first effort Of a young rooster to crow
| was puzzled. What could 1t mean
I gave a kick at the door with my
foot. In another moment / heard thu
same voice say:
do stop that noise and 20 away"
what does 1t all meanT l shouted
But there was no response, and after
giving another kick l concluded to ac
cept the situation and went down
stairs. I touched a button In the II
brary for Peggy, the maid I had lef'
at the house when l went abroad. bu'
Instead OF Peggy a new girl answered
the summons.
Where's Mrs. Budd7" l asked.
Don't know"
Don't known You're the maid
aren't your
Don't know"
do you understand EnglishT
Don't know"
Never mind. Thatll do. Go back
| don't want you"
It took these four sentences to &c
her out Of the room, and I was trying
to think up some other method of solv
ing the riddle when I heard the from
door open. I went into the hall, blu
not In time to see who had come In.
heard or thought I heard a footstep 90
Ing upstairs, but city houses are al
ways dark, and mine ID darker thar
most Of them, so I couldn't SEQ who !
was. l heard a light knock on a doc
(my wlfe's, perhaps). The door wa
opened long enough for some n t,
pass In; then 1t shut.
This vas maddening. A woma,a ha
my wife a prisoner. and oil the knoci
Ing of which I was capable would nc
gain me admittance. yet here was
person-the step sounded like a mans
whose llghtest rap was AM open sesa
me-" No one In the house, but a mai,
who could say nothing >but don
know"-at least I, supposed there wa
no one else-hnt to make sure I wen
upstairs and looked Into every room
While passing my wife's room I hear,
that spring chicken Growing again.
went back to the library and paced th
floor, resolving to waylay any n VIII
might have gone into the room from
which | was debarred-that Ia, II an,
n had gone into the room--when be
she or 1t came out--that Ia. II he, she o
1t yer did come out.
! didn't have to wait long before
heard the door open and a mans ste,
coming down the stairs, l c~onfronte'
him In the hall,
"Well, sir" I said, "what are yo'
doing hereY"
what are you doing here2" he n
torted, bristling,
II am the owner Of this house"
"The deuce you are" with eviden
surprise,
Eyes, | am, and I'm kept out Of NJ,
wife's bedroom. There's nobody to to-
me what 10 going on and I
"You must excuse me. sir; I'm tn
hurry" And be went out and shut tn
door,
"Well. I'll be hanged" l said to I'M
self. This Ia agonizing."
went back into the library
wasn't than ten minutes tucr
before ! heard a ring at the teiephon
upstairs. A woman's voice answere'
the ring. This was ons-haif the dia
logue, the half I heard:
Eyes, I'm Miss Arbuckie."
"You don't mean It"
"Ha, ha, ha! Cleverly managed"
"All right. Goodby."
Another ten minutes passed when
heard the door open again ami a voic
called to me to come up. A uniforme,
nurse ushered me into my wife's room
Marian was lying on the bed and b
side her a zine pound chunk Of nesh.
After I had taken both mother an,
child In n embrace, nearly smother
ing the child, I asked = few questions.
"She wished to gtvs yoti 4 pleasan
SURPRISE" said the nnrss.
ut was certainly a surprise" I n
piled. "The biggest part Of It was m,
treatment In my own house after m,
long absence. I suppoYs tho man
met in the hall was thsfinctor."
"Yes; he called me u BY telephon,
and told me how hs kept ths secret"
"And you're the woman who told m,
to 50 away from my own door,
II was bathing tAs tAby."
crnwedSW