The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-09-04
A THRILLING
MISTAKE
By THOMAS r. DUNN

lAS WHICH TIE lciel'uOic Ocn tang.
Stepping to the instrument. l heard q
very sweet feminine voice say:
us that you. Mr.. Pemberton p
Yes. I'm Pemberton."
You're to be at the corner Of Eighth
and Walnut this evening ut 8. Take
the cab you will find there and
"Who are you'll asked. not under
standing all this talk.
I'm Efie Strong. You will be driv-
en- to the park entrance. Go to the
fountain, where you will find Edith.
Garry a rose in Oh. heavens. some
n is coming!"
There was q click and that was the
end OF these remarkable instructions.
1t was evident that there had been a
call for some n bearing my name.
and the telephone girl or the person
calling or some n had made q mis-
take.
Now, | would not on any account
take advantage of such a blunder to
crafty curiosity. pry into other peo-
pies affairs or for any other purpose.
But l felt it incumbent on me to cor
rect the error if possible. This other
Pemberton would not get the message
intended for him, the driver Of the
cab might wait all night on his box.
and Etfie might grow so desperate as
to drown herself in the fountain. 1t
behOoved me to set matters right.
| called up the telephone Office and
asked who had given me the last call.
| mfOhk oS ny0l1 hovn oclyoI %h1 Dn
orator to tell me how many grains
there are on an ear of corn. | look
ed In the directory for the name Penn.
bert0n. but mine was the only one
there. ,
There was nothing for it but that l
should go to the corner Of Eighth and
Walnut streets. take the cab, proceed
to the fountain and tell Edith that she
needn't wait any longer because the
real-her real-Pemberton had not
been informed of the meeting.
l confess l was somewhat curious to
know why a conveyance had been pro-
vided and what was to be the upshOt
of the business. But l resolved sim
ply to state that a mistake had been
made and ask no questions. l thought
1t necessary to carry a rose in order
that l should be recognized for the
other fellow or l might as we'll stay
away. So on my way to the place
where l should meet the carriage l
stopped ut a flower shop and bought
one. The cab was in position, and l
opened the door. The driver asked If
vQC Mr. ponnhorkOn o~H I <oOS hi~n
that ! was. Then he drove me to the
park. l alighted and went up the
walk to the fountain.
Two girls were standing looking at
the dripping water, and one Of them
on seeing the rose in my hand left
her friend and made straight for me.
II have come to tell you" l said. rails
ing my hat. that there has been a
mistake"
Good gracious! What's gone wrongY
Is it all OFF,"
"A telephone message came to me
this afternoon from a lady whom /
don't know"
Certainly you don't know her. You
are not expected to know her."
"You see. I'm not-that ia, there's
only one person Of my name in the
telephone book ...,
you're Mr.. Pendleton, aren't your
Certainly I'm Pendleton. There's
no doubt about that. but
Come! Let us hurry. Wen be too
late. Maud told me that If l failed her
1t would break her all up; she wouldn't
be able to get through with it." .s
II this young woman had been q
scarecrow OF suspicious looking I
might have attempted further explana-
ton. But she was as pretty AZ a
peach. and II she wouldn't give me q
chance 1t seemed to me that I was
excusable for letting her have her way.
Putting her arm through mine. she
hurried me to the cab. We got in.
and the cabman drove away without
any instructions. l presumed he had
been given them before.
Nov I'll explain" said my kidnap-
er. You ee. Maud Farnsworth and
Ned BiEles have been dead in love
with each other for q long while.
Maud's parents think they know bet
SCl WuVAJ "0At0 W A10AAy SA0n
she does herself. She and Ned are to
be married secretly, and you and I are
to be the witnesses"
''Oh! That's alp
That's all! Why. isn't that u good
deal?'
But please tell me what l have to
do with it." .
why Maud has made all the ar
rangements. She asked me whom
would like to take me to the parsonage.
and l said 1t didn't matter to me; she
might find some one herself. She said
she would and made all the arrange
ments."
leaned back on the cushion and
chuckled
what amuses. your asked my COM
paniOn.
II tried to tell you that y mistake
has been made. but you wouldn't listen
to me. am pleased to learn that no
harm has been done. On the contrary.
! have made a very pleasant &C.