Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-12-20
THE DAILY NOVELETTE,
CROSSED WIRES"
By Hazel B. Cummings

THEY had been married two months
Il n the secret was "out Of the bag
now-the secret that often has a strins
Of tragic results tied to hooking. Or,
more specifically in Mabers case, bak-
ing.
She knew perfectly that the thing
Jimmie adored, next to herself, was
good cooking, and so there followed in
sad succession apple, pies, spice cakes
and many kinds Of mysterious war
bread. But as the weeks passed tho
disappointment in Jimmie's eyes gradu-
One crisp Wednesday morning he
arose with a rare crouch;
No eggs2" he queried briefly.
why, no, dear, 1 thought-well you
afraid you might miss your train IT,:
She, hesitated and fingered tho table,
cloth nervously.
He selected a muffin sullenly, bit, into
you put in these things?' And rising
from the table he continued angrily.
DO you expect me to go In and do a
mornings work on those salt buns? I'll
be a hopeless case from indigestion In
mother week."
He strobe into the hall, calling back
With old Significance. IT won't be home
She sat there for a long time: the
mullins looked harder and more forbid
ding every minute. Then as her eyes fell
upon the morning paper she read and
reread a certain passage, and setting
her lips tightly, a mysterious resolve
formed itself in her mind.
The passing hours and a good lunch
Jimmie's wrath. and late afternoon
found him thinking regretfully Of his
harsh words at the breakfast table. He
could hear the chemist who occupied
tho Annr nhAxVa hlr, rwArlgt-- H. IL
laboratory. and whistling cheerfully !;
suddenly he remembered that he had
said he would not be homo for supper.
He began to wonder what Mabel was
thlnklng and was forming a resolution
to atone for his u%nkindness by calling
her up and telling her they would take
supper In town, when the phone rang
Soairpiy on He tSo an r1y. IT, There were
peated Jimmie impatiently, and then
the disorder of voices died away and a
maj spoke quickly:
"Hello thought I'd better call you
a while & and forgot her umbrella !:
we delivered a small quantity of arsenic
to her, but she was in a hurry and
LETT the line was cut off abruptly.
terror was flashing In Jimmie's ewes
Arsenic! He signaled the operator
wildly.
you've cut me Off he fairly shout
He felt strangely weak as a. fev mo-
ments later he found himself being borne
In a ~mud-splashed taxi-at the hiRhesI
rate OF speed allowed by the law, to he
Every moment of the Journey in
creased his agony of suspense-arsenic :
Bitter regrets for his thoughtlessness and
lll-hufnor OF the last couple of weeks
crowded his mind, and all of the deep
love FOR the little woman who had tried
SO hard n was perhaps even then lost
to him forever brought n mist to his
eyes; Twilight had long set in when he
finally arrived. He mounted the steps
sloWly-his heart was pounding and his
forehead felt cold and damp Il seemed
years before he stumbled into the dark
hall. Silence reigned, save for the tick
Ing of a clock.
Then an odd sound reached his ears
there was a peculiar odor, and turning
ne saw a thin ray of light under the
door leading to the kitchen. He flung It
open, and there in a blaze of light, with
a background of pans and measuring
tins. stood Mabel, in a big apron her
lscheeks rosy with the heat from the stove.
She was Just lifting 2 cake from the
but a beautiful, delicately' Drowned one !
Jimmie stood disheveled and wide-eyed
In the doorway.
gan, out In a second he strobe toward
her and caught her in his arms, to the
evident peril of the freshly baked cake.
THANK heaven you're here-you're all
no lOOhtu III Ht htPnlY and
kissed her again and again. She drew
away from him in puzzled establishment
at his odd words.
"0f sSurss I'm II, all right, Jimmie
He tried to laugh lightly. "oh I
nothing! Were you out this afternoon
shopping? Did you-er-forget your
umbrella; Leave 1t IN a ,store-T
my umbrella back all right. l could
hardly permit myself the extravagance
of losing 1t, because 1t Is a perfectly
good silk one" Then h forgot his
ment and continued: 81 attended a little
baking class which Mrs. Grant, who is
an expert cook. is conducting to instruct
people how TO mix flour and -four sub
stitutes for the best results in baking"
Then he looked down at Mabel and
wondered who the other unhappy man
was-the one whose wife had bought ar
senic n forgot her umbrella.
Next morning Jimmie stood waiting
for the elevator to carry him to his Of
flee on the sixth floor. As he stepped in
somebody followed him.
Nice wet morning" remarked the
big, cheerful voice of the chemist up
Right =" agreed Jimmie. viewing his
dripping companion sympathetically,
you look nice and wet yourself"
Yes, thanks to The dear. thoughtful
go over TO the laboratories yesterday
and get some arsenic and other stuff
that / was In a special hurry or-to
busy to stop myself--and she comes
back and leaves her umbrella there
had to give her mine this morning"
Jlmmie's eyes suddenly grew bright
with mirth, but just at that moment
the elevator girl said, Sixth u so he
stepped out and as soon as the elevator
had passed up he laughed long and
heartily to himself.
Tomorrow's complete nevolotte-Bless
That stove.