The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1915-10-08
Barking Up the
Wrong Tree
BY MARTHA v. MONROE

singular way. One day while shopping.
in order to examine goods, l laid my
bag on the counter. l was hunting for
something difficult to find and visited
several stores. Finding what l wanted.
l opened the bag to take out my purse
and at once discovered that had
changed bags with some one else. My
portemonnaie was not there, but instead
l found SIG in bills. Among other ar
ticles was an unsealed letter addressed
to Evelyn Tewkesberry. general deliv-
cry of the postoff1ce.
Thinking that the letter would help
me to find the person with whom l had
made the exchange, l took the letter
from the envelope and read it. 1t was
short and to the point: :,
viii be at the corner Of Eighth and Lo-
Gust streets at 1880 tonight, made up for
seedy individual with green spectacles.
wear thick veil and carry violets in left
hand. STEWART.
Great heavens! Could l have stun
bled on a letter my own Stewart had
written to some other woman appoint
ing a clandestine meeting? l trembled.
Whether it was through force Of imag-
ination l know not, but l recognized
my Stewards handwriting. To further
confirm my suspicion, there was a post
script, Gamma is watching me-" My
name is Anna.
Here were three elements pointing to
my lovers identity with this Stewart
whose name was signed to the letter.
though one Of the three, the handwrit-
ing, was doubtful. l had not been long.
familiar with Stewart Barnes writing;
and could not be sure that what l saw
he had written; nevertheless l had no
doubt of it. At any rate l determined
to profit by my find. But how should
proceed? l shrank from ~interrupting
the meeting as beneath me. Instead
put the letter in a new envelope, read
dressed it, and, inserting u slip of paper
stating that I had. exchanged bags with
its owner, giving my address, l drop
ped the letter in a mailbox. l also put
in q note to Stewart breaking our en-
gagement.
The next day Il messenger brought
me my bag containing the articles in
it when it was exchanged and q request
for the one in my possession. / return
ed it. and, so far as the owner was on
cerned, l was at quits. There remained
to settle with Stewart. I presumed he
would come to see me posthaste to
learn what was the trouble, for l had
given him no inkling as to my discov-
cry of his perfidy.
The day after the one on which l had
my letter to Stewart passed, and
he neither appeared o wrote. I had
assumed that If his conscience was
clear he would come to me at once; If
l had really caught him in a delin-
quency he would recognize the fact
that l had discovered his deception and
would either try to beg of or would
accept his dismissal without a word.
Then, too. he might really prefer the
Tewkesberry woman. in which case l
should probably not hear anything
from him.
Three days passed without a word.
Nothing is SO tantalizing as ignorance
of some important matter one is very
much interested In knowing. Every
day that passed left me in a more agi-
tated condition than the preceding.
Why had l not stated to my lover my
reason for breaking my engagement?
had not foreseen this result. One of
two courses was open to me. either to
call OF Stewart for IN explanation Of
my discovery or to write to Evelyn
~Tewkesberry to learn from her If her
correspondent was my Stewart. Think
ing the latter curse would be the
easier for me. I followed 1t.
For several days I waited inpatient
ly for a reply and then broke down
completely. l was ready to forgive
my lover. innocent or guilty. But my
pride held me back from doing what
l should have done in the first place
that is, stating the case to Stewart
and asking him If he was the writer
of the letter l had stumbled on.
Since. I could not bring myself to do
this. l determined to try again to reach
the Tewkesberry woman. l wrote her
a note and hired a boy to watch
the general delivery for the claimant.
He reported that the letter had been
taken from the postof1ce by an old
woman. who had given her name as
Evelyn Tewkesberry. He had follow
ed her from the p~ostofice and had
noted the house where she lived.
This was a surprise to me. But
upon ferreting out the matter I went
to the house and asked for Mrs. or
Miss Tewkesberry. An old woman
came into the room where I vas and
asked me what I wanted. Was she
Evelyn Tewkesberry? She was. Did
she know a nan Of the name Of Stew.
art Barnes? She did not. I then told
her that I was the person who had
taken up her bag by mistake and ask
ed her to explain the letter It had n
tained. She berated me for reading
the letter and declined to explain 1t.
I left her no wiser than I came. x
cept that I was conscious Of having
made q fool of myself in sending away
q lover without a hearing. It would
have been even wiser for me to APP
noov oA %h> uono<arn ~onno6u<oA IN tho