Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1912-01-04


peoples business"
This latter assertion I made with
toss OF the head and left my employ.
er to read the note by herself.
So far so good. | had got over the
danger Of showing consciousness TO
Mrs. Gonagle, and this was great
aid. She would doubtless tell Mr..
Constable that so far as she could dis
Germ had stood the test. This would
incline him to infer. unless | duailed
under his searching gaze, that had
stood 1t. Emboldened by my first sue
cess, determined that ! would de-
ceive him if IT took all the talent for
deception there was in me Besides,
now that my blood was up for the
fight. | would teach him that he could
not play such a game on me with i'm
punity.
Nevertheless l knew that unless
could at my next meeting with him
throw up a dust as ] had done with
Mrs. Gonagle would be beaten. What
was my CONSERVATION when Mrs. Con.
agile came into the room where | was
writing, not ten minutes after my ar
rival, with n note in her hand and told
me that must so right back with 1t
TO Mr.. Constable. She had telephoned
for an auto and it would be AT the
door in a few minutes. Il will trust
TO your high sense of honor" she said,
'as Mr. Constable has done. leaving
my note unsealed"
lit doesn't matter about that. Mrs
Gonagle." | said Il won't feel hurt
il you seal it,"
But she didn't. and | sealed it my.
self before her eyes, had no use for
what it contained The plot was to
send me right back to Constable so
soon after my guilt-if indeed | was
guilty-that he might the better detect
it. There was no time to form or
carry out plan for his deception, GER
tainly not another breakdown Two
such articles would be a dead give
away. | resolved to march straight up
TO him, driving all embarrassment out |
of my head, acting with absolute ap
parent indifference | made another
resolution. | resolved-but never mind !
what resolved.
When ! was ushered into the room
where acain found him sitting be-
hind his rosewood desk | think could |
have enacted any part-l could have
announced to him that he was TO be |
decapitated in ten minutes without /
showing the slightest trace of emotion /
The gray eyes were brought to bear on |
me, but | met them with an inquiring |
childlike wonder as to why he looked |
so hard at me Then, as If my modesty |
had been touched by such gaze. call |
ed up a faint blush and turned my /
eyes away | felt that had conquered !
My pantomine would have deceived /
Satan himself
Still pretending thar Mr., Constable /
was another person than himself, the
secretary took the note out of the room |
and returned with another, which he
handed me unsealed He did not open /
his lips to me during my brief stay, |
but knew that he was watching me. I
! acted as though there was no one |
present except myself, looking most of !
the time out of the window The note |
he gave me dropped ut once into my /
bag without looking at it, pretending TO
be at the moment hunting FOR either |
my handkerchief or my purse.
From this time forward | felt that !
was mistress of the situation The /,
only mention | made of Mr. Consta
Bile was as THE old gentleman who
did so much for the DOOR" and this !
was not to Mrs Gonage but in her
hearing | think this took away any |
suspicion she might have had that ! |
knew of her plot She did not send |
me with any more notes to Mr.. Con
stable. but did send me to him with
verbal messages. When | went with
the first of these Mr.. Constable's pre-
tended secretary waxed affable and
endeavored to engage me in conversa-
ton / showed no indisposition to
talk with him, though he never gave
me one of those gazes Of his but that
] lowered my eyes. In one of our
chats | asked him if he were Mr.. Con
stables secretary. and he replied that
he was more than that-he was his
business manager
.Mr. Constable must be a splendid
old gentleman" l said, ito do so much
for the poor"
What else can he do with his mon
ey?' was the response He can't
spend it all on himself
Then the secretary began to come TO
Mrs Gonagle's on various preteNts
and every time he came she would
manage to leave us in her office room
together while she pretended to be at
tending to the matter about which he
had called | saw that he was bent
on wooing, and l permitted him to
WOO He took me ont several times
and one evening on our returning
from the opera on leaving me in the
vestibule be pressed my hand. There
was light enough for me to show him
that | was very much impressed by
the performance.
Time came when he proposed TO me.
/ laughed at him Il don't care to
marry man." | said, who began his
courtship with the idea that he was
a match for a woman.
What do you meanT' he asked