The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-05-08
His Angel
b SADIE oLcoT

"Good morning. Della"
Good morning, Margaret"
II . you have a letter In your hand.
I suppose it's for Howard"
1T H."
Its breaking your engagement With
him mayber'
mo, 1t isn't Why do you think thatT'
Can it be that you haven't heard
what every one else knows7"
whats that?"
II supposed, Of course. you knew IL
or I wouldn't have said anything"
Heard what? For heavens sake,
stop this fooling and tell me what
you're talking about"
"Why they say Howard IL engaged
to q girl in Akerville. where he lives"
"Who says it7'
Its common talk"
There was silence for a few mo
ments. Then Della said: "Yes, I know
all about it. am going to write How
ard what l think Of him."
She passed on, but instead of going
directly to the post0ffice she went to
her home by a roundabout course and.
sitting at her writing desk. wrote How
ard Benjamin q letter Of a different
kind entirely from the one she had in
tended to post
In a couple Of days Mr.. Benjamin
was announced. Della had had time
10 at least cool down and wished that
she might have taken more time in the
writing Of the letter she had sent him.
As she remembered It, her feelings
had run away with her. She was sur
prised that Howard should have come
to zee her after having received It, but
supposed he had come to return her
letters and: demand his own.
To her surprise Howard advanced
to meet her as she entered the room
with his customary smile. took her In
his arms and kissed her. She blushed
to think Of the disagreeable things she
had written him. wondering the while
whether he had received her letter or
whether there was any truth In the re-
ports a. to bis Inconsistency. She was
much pussied.
Il came down for the week end,
sweetheart. to be with you" he said.
II couldn't stand to be separated from
you any longer without one kiss" He
gave her Z dozen "But how cold your
hands arel II there anything the mat
ter with youf"
"Oh, no; I'm very we'll! I'm % glad
you've come"
Della trembled lest this were prelim-
mary to an announcement OF his de-
lection and his contempt for her on
aecoaat Of her complaint, Just to make
II more effective. Rut a. her lover
went On In the usual strain, inter
rupted only by an occasional kiss, she
became gradually treasured as to the
falsity Of the reports that had reach.
ed her. But her letter-Howard must
have como away Just before tn de-
livery. She dreaded to have him go
back and get Il. What would he think
Of her. he who had assured her time
and again that she was an angel, bet
ter fitted for heaven than this wicked
world?
Howard left his sweetheart thorough
" convinced Of his constancy, but in
terror at his returning to receive the
imprecations she had written. Every
time the postman left any mail she
went to the delivery box with dread
and grasped the letters with q trem-
bling hand 1t was several days be-
fore she received a missive from her
lover. and when she did she was afraid
to open It She took. It to her room,
and. after taking it up and putting 1t
down several times. she broke the seal.
It began by stating that to make up
work left und0ne, to visit her. he had
been busy day and night since his re-
turn. Then he went on to speak of
those happy hours they had spent TO-
gether and how he could count the
days till he would zee her again. Not
q word about that horrible letter Of
herx What could It mean7 Had he
received Il, and was he too high mind
ed, too generous, too magnanimous to
take advantage Of It knowing that it
had been written under a false impress.
ston1
In q few weeks he came again. and
this time Della felt sure that he would
speak Of the subject that troubled her.
She wished he would and have it over
with. But he did not He was just
a. ~affecdonate and kind and loving a.
ever and evidently still considered her
an angel.
Weeks passed and Della began to be-
lieve that her letter had miscarried.
She inquired Of the postman a. to
where undelivered letters were taken.
and he told her they all were sent to
the dead letter Office In Washington.
Letters misdirected or unclaimed or
without stamps were to be found In
the dead letter Office. Della wrote
there and received q card stating that
the letter she had written about was
there unstamped. and II she would