The Washburn leader., 1911-10-13

Wu6u rcCuEueu luc t1uS was s,Ouc r
was liable to be considered thief
and of having appropriated to myself
the property Of girl to whom had
already given the biggest part Of my
heart. was sufficiently cool to think
before acting. What would be the
safest course for me to pursue?
While weighing the pros and cons of
different courses dinner was announc.
ed
once knew very successful man
who said, reversing common adage.
II never do today what can put of
till tomorrow" l was much impress
ed with the idea, and rather than de-
eide hastily In this instance conclud-
ed to defer decision till after dinner.
Idecided dead wrong. should have
brought the matter out at once. While
had been in Jim's room the house
keeper had gone into mine to leave
some towels and had seen the ring on
my mantel Miss Wotberspoon missed
It and ran to the bathroom. Not find
ing her property, she made her loss
known to the hostess. The hostess
communicated with the housekeeper,
who said she had seen the ring on my
mantel. Had I, on going down to din.
ner, made the facts known my story
would have been believed. But. not
saying a word about the matter. 1t all
looked very singular to my friends.
Nothing was said about Miss Woth-
erspoon's loss. and at first there was no
constraint at the board. but before
the dinner was finished noticed a
considerable GOODNESS toward me on
the part of every one.
Knowing we'll the cause and begin
ming to realize the position l was in. l
grew embarrassed. saw that I had
made mistake all around and did not
see any way to vindicate myself. l
did not know that the ring had been
seen in my room. but it was plain to
me that my connection with 1t was in
some form known. had but one
theory as to the disappearance Of the
property-that some one. probably a
servant, had gone into my room and.
seeing the ring there. had stolen it.
After dinner took Jim aside and
told him the whole story. He looked
very serious. He said that he didn't
doubt word Of what had told him.
but he didn't see how we were to
convince the women of the family.
''They don't take the same views of
things that we do" he said. ''They
Judge in accordance with their feel
ings. That's the reason we men don't
let them into the jury box. The main
trouble in this case is that all our
servants have been with us long
while. and. although we have left val
uables where they could have been
easily stolen without detection. we
have never missed anything. But I'll
do the best can for you"
You never know what different
views different persons will take Of a
mystery in which you are implicated
until you are the subject Of 1t. The
only person in that whole household
who thoroughly believed my story was
who? :.
I'll tell you. v
After talking with Jim I went out
for a walk in order to leave him to
tell my story to the others and to get
quieted down. When I returned no one
was about. but on going into the
dra wing room Miss Wotherspoon ad-
vanced and, putting out her hand and
fixing her honest eyes on mine. said: y y
ST have heard your explanation and
80 49, .os.htns4 Ao,,1St Hhat ovARv
word Of 1t is absolutely true"
BY Joye! What do you suppose !
did? opened the sprinkler In my
eyes.
Pretty soon I went up to Jim's room
to tell him the good news. He listened
to me. but without that enthusiasm I
! had expected. When ! had finished hs
said:
..eayges must md the thief. That's the
only: way to exonerate you. told
you that women are prone to decide
| such questions In accordance with
their feelings. am not surprised at
Miss, Wotherspoon's action. for both
my wife md L have noticed decided
partially on her part for you. =
/ Thank God for that"
.My wife is more unprejudiced. I
wish her to feel perfectly satisfied In
/ the matter and shall take measures to
discover the thief" 4
II left the next day under cloud
at least with Mrs. Peabodr Six
months from that time the thief had
not been discovered: Miss Wother-
\ spoon and were married. but Jim
/ and lfs wife were not invited to the
j wedding In another slxS months the
Ithief turned M ~ servant =. 3. q to whom
they esSea 4 conn dence they denied me,
4 Thsy tried hard to wipe Oh the slate.
but have never had anything to Do
wteA - alacs. SS Nj