The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-05-17
The Euening Story
A Matter {: Teeth.
Arabella was all in a flutter.

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little bit excited.
And Miss ArabeIla's life had con-
tanned SO little love, SO little personal
interest, that the fact that some one
thought enough of her to show her
little attentions, bring her gifts and
defer to her timidly expressed opinions
seemed to bring the dawn of a new ex-
iStence.
Mr.. Jenkins had come unostenta-
tiously into his place at Miss Cross's
boarding house two months before. At
first, he had attended rtrictly to his
own affairs, but, as he was a gentle-
man of leisure, this soon grew monot-
onOuS. Then, in casting about for hu-
man companionship, he passed over
the younger women and the girls and
began to cultivate an acquaintance
with Miss Arabella. First it was just
short conversations in the parlor of
evenings. Then it blossomed into Of
ferings of a new magazine, a bunch of
violets, or a box of candy. From this
was short step to an invitation to go
occasionally to the picture show in the
evening or for a walk in the nearby
park on Sunday afternoon. BY the
time spring blossomed into summer
the boarders had accepted the in
c1p1ent romance, and no one thought
of intruding on Miss Arabella's corner
on the evenings when she and Mr..
Jenkins sat in the parlor. talking little,
but beaming at each other beatically.
And now it was June, and the day
after tomorrow would be Mr.. Jenkins's
birthday. And he mad invited Miss
Arabellas with an air which there was
no installing, to motor with him to
the beach for an evening dinner. The
middle aged wooer had not yet declared
himself, but Arabella was morally
certain that she would come back
from the beach trip an engaged wom-
an Her heart-even at forty-fiVe-
thrilled at the prospect.
Alas for human hopes. On the very
morning of the birthday, after Miss
Arabella had timidly presented the
gift she worked for her admirer with
her own fair hands, she bites into a
piece of hard candy taken from a box
the evening before. and snap! went
the plate of her upper teeth. They
were beautiful, but deceitful teeth.
Without them, Miss Arabella looked
every one of her forty-five years.
With them, she could easily have
passed for ten years younger.
Miss Arabella was in despair. But
she did not ponder long over the sit
uation. Stealing out of the house I'M
seen, she fastened to the dentist who
had made the teeth.
No, declared, that autocrat, he
couldn't possibly fix the teeth while
she waited. 1t might be possible to
get them done by five o'clock. He
wouldn't promise.
p But he did promise finally. Miss
Arabella's agony moved even his hard
heart. He agreed to send the teeth
before he cIosed%up that night Miss
Arabella went back to Miss Cross's.
As she neared- the house, she saw
emerging from it the figure of Mr.. Jen-
kins. He seemed to be in, a hurry
Lucky for Miss Arabella that he was.
she lodged quickly into a doorways
and breathed sigh of relief when
Mr.. jenkins had passed and she
emerged undecided.
Miss Arabella lunched on a glass of
hot milk and a sponge. biscuit, brought
70 her room by the chambermaid. She
put in the afternoon watching the
CLOCK and praying that the dentist
would not fail her At $50, the auto
mobile would be at the door.
At O'Clock, in a tasty new gown
and hat reserved for the occasion, she
heard knock She opened the door
just enough to permit the dentists
boy to thrust in small box. Then
Miss Arabella breathed again. She
hastily undid the paper, opened the
oox, took out the teeth-and almost
collapsed on the spot.
They were not her teeth Thev ba
longed to a much larger mouth evil
IDENTIFY than Miss Arabella's. she
gazed at them horror-stricken. Then
she burst into tears.
Strange to say, in Mr.. Jenkins's
room a similar scene-minus the
weeping and plus few harsher words
than Mr.. Jenkins usually used-was
pelng enacted. That very morning.
Mr. jenkins had broken off a front
tooth. He had persuaded-not with
out d1fflcu1ty-his dentist to reDair
the damage and deliver the teeth tha1
night.
But they were not his teeth. Imag-
Inc a good dinner without any upper
teeth! Imagine proposing to the lady
OF your choice, whose teeth were per
rect with an empty upper Jaw!
Mr.. jenkins gave himself up to de.
SPAR. And just at that moment the
chambermaid knocked at his door and
handed in a note.
1t was from Miss ArabeIla. In
terms of the utmost regret it an
she could not explain, would be I'M
able to help him celebrate his birth
day that evening.
Ordinarily Mr.. Jenkins would have
felt hurt over this failure on the part
of his lady love to keep her appoint
ment Now, however, his first feel
ing, one of satisfaction, was quickly
succeeded by. one of fear that Miss
Arabella was sick. For obvious rea-
sons, he could not go down to dinner
so he did not know that Miss Ara
bella's place at the table was also va
cant.
He spent a sleepless night, and the
next morning he slipped out early to
the dentist, with something little short
of murder in his heart
With the little box which had
caused all his troubles clasped in his
hand, Mr.. Jenkins was laying down
the law at a great rate when the door
behind him opened. He turned-and
confronted Miss Arabella.
A little box. the exact counterpart of
tho one he held. was clasped in her
neatly gloved hand. She gave one
deSpairing look at Mr. jenkins. Then,
faint for want of the food she had
missed at dinner and breakfast, she
sank -helplessly into a chair
Explanations followed, of course
Miss Arabella and Mr.. Jenkins walked
home together, both with their we'll
sitting teeth in place. The dinner was
postponed only till the coming eve
ming. And Miss Arabella's heart.
which had only thumped painfully for
the past twenty-four hours, began to