Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1914-10-01
A TRIFLING
MISTAKE
BY THOMAS R. DUNN

very sweet feminine voice say:
"Is that you, Mr.. PembertonT
Eyes, I'm Pemberton."
"You're to be at the corner of Eighth
and Walnut this evening at 8. Take
the cab you will find there and"-
"Who are youT l asked. not under
standing all this talk.
"Im Efie Strong. You will be driv-
en- to the park entrance. Go to the
fountain, where you will find Edith.
Carry rose in Oh, heavens. some
one is coming"
There was click and that was the
end Of these remarkable instructions.
1t was evident that there had been a
call for some one bearing my name,
and the telephone girl or the person
calling or some one had made a 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 / 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 EfIie might grow so desperate as
to drown herself in the fountain. 1t
| behooved me to set matters right.
l called up the telephone office and
asked who had given me the last call.
| might as well have asked the op
orator to tell me how many grains
there are on an ear Of corn. / look
ed in the directory for the name Penn
berton. 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 was somewhat curious to
know why a conveyance had been pro-
vided and what was to be the upshot
of the business. But / resolved sim
ply to state that q mistake had been
made and ask no questions. ! thought
II necessary to carry rose In order
that / should be recognized for the
. other fellow or / might as well stay
away. So on my way to the place
where l should meet the carriage
stopped ut flower shop and bought
one. The cab was in position. and
opened the door. The driver asked If
i was Mr.. Pemberton, and l told him
- that l was. Then he drove me to the
park. l alighted and went up the
walk to the fountain.
Two girls were standing looking al
). the dripping water, and one Of them
: on seeing the rose in my hand left
her friend and made straight for me.
81 have come to tell you" said. rails
= ing my hat, that there has been a
mistake"
Good gracious What's gone wrong:
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. Yor
are not expected to know her."
- You see. I'm not-that is. there's
G only one person of my name in the
. telephone book
You're Mr.. Pendleton, aren't your
Is Certainly I'm Pendleton. There's
l. no doubt about that, but
e Come. Let us hurry. Well be to-
y late. Maud told me that i'll failed he
y il would break her all up; she wouldn'
in be able to get through with it,
scarecrow or suspicious looking
- might have attempted further explana
ton. But she was as pretty as
V. peach. and If she wouldn't give me
OIL chance il seemed TO me that 1 wa
u excusable for letting her have her way
o. Putting her arm through mine. sh
hurried me to the cab. We got il
- and the cabman drove away withou
any instructions. presumed he ha
u been given them before.
ii Now I'll explain" said my kidnaI
er. "You see. Maud Farnsworth an
Ned Bigles have been dead in loy
with each other for long whil
7 Maud's parents think they know be
,s, ter whom Maud wants to marry tina
Id she does herself she and Ned are
VS. be married secretly, and you and al
he to be the witnesses"
"Oh! That's allY'
= THAT'S all. Why, isn't that goC
deal?"
But please tell me what have
n do with IT,"
U. "Why. Maud has made all the a
rangements. She asked me whom
would like to take me to the parsonag
and said 1t didn't matter to me; 81
OF. might find some one herself. She sa
IN she would and made all the arrane
ments."
l leaned back on the cushion al
chuckled.
"What amuses your asked my col
panion.
81 tried to tell you that mista
has been made. but you wouldn't list
TO me. am pleased to learn that
harm has been done. On the contral
have made very pleasant
quaintance."
told her the whole story. Mt viii
cha waa praatly unused. rpmnrki