The Ontario Argus. (Ontario, Or.) 1???-1947, 1919-01-02
MABEL'S MISSION
BY CARRIE oREENwAY.


The upstairs girl, answering his ring
for larger waste basket, almost feU
down the back stairs In her hurry to
spread the news.
Covlngton had come to board at
the Bradlcy's three years before, and
since then no one could recall having
seen the top Of the desk. A little
space in front, just large enough to
write upon. was kept fairly clear, but
for the rest Covington seemed to take
pride in the confusion he maintain
I'd and houstcd that he could find any
thing he wanted at moments mo-
tlce.
At the Office his desk was scrupu'
lously neat, but the roll top In his sit
ting room. used for his personal cor
respondence. was piled high with pa
'pers and books.
II might have continued 50 for an
other three years. hut COyington was
restless. He found the evening pa
pers dull. the theatrical advertise
mcnts made no appeal 20 him, ana
books were intolerable.
In his restless roaming around the
room his attention was attracted by
the desk. and sinking into the chair
hc began 10 clean up. Here, at least,
yns novel occupation, and soon he
was buslly engaged In reading over
old letters and discardlng those Of
no further interest.
q
In n DRIVER. the top one With the
Yale lock. Wei. perhaps II would be
wen 70 clear those out, too. Romance
was dead. lie had written her the pro-
posnl nc seemed nnable 10 mike In per
son. and had added: II shall moi write
again until your answer comes" That
had been fortnight ago.
Ills eyes caught line In nm adj
vertlsement IN y theatrical paper that
formed part of the litter OF his desk.
"Conslder silence polite negative"
it ran. That was what he was doing.
Mabel had not even taken the trouble
10 answer.
He vlclously thrust the paper into
the basket and caught up n letter. II
was that check for his tailor. lie had
been positive he had mailed that's the
subsequent argument had resulted In
transfer Of his patronage, yet here
was the check still inside. He was
rather glad that he had commenced
the cleaning up process.
There was another envelope under
the pile OF consular reports. He drew
Il out and his face blnnched. II was
the letter to Mabel. In some fash
ION II had slipped Into the tnngle on
the desk He remembered he had
written q number OF other letters at
the snme time. When he had done he
snapped n rubber band about them and
had given them 20 one Of the fellows
20 take out.
What could she think OF hlm3 He
had ceased his customary visits and
had not even written. He slipped out
OF his house coat and into his dinner
Jacket There was telephone In the
lower hall. Perhaps Mabel had not
gone out.
II was her mother who answered,
rather frigldly. with a certain note
OF dlsapproval In her voice. Mabel was
Ia, but she was III and had. gone to
her room She did not think that she
could see Mr.. Coylngton.
But COylngtOn was persistent and In
the end he gained permission 20 call.
lie found her pale. with nervous lines
In her face. She tried 20 laugh II on
hut he would not have II so.
~ have special delivery message
for YOU" he announced. ut should
not have been letter at all, but
guess I'm sort OF moral coward.
Anyhow. ! was cleaning up my desk
nt the house tonight and found this.
I thought II had been sent two weeks
ago"
Letters often 40 astray." she com
mented as she stretched out her hand
tn receive H..
"It was my fault" he said humbly,
"You see. I've desk up at the house
and I've rather prided myself upon its
confusion. Tonight | cleaned It up.
Just to have something TO do, and l
found this letter"
Something in his tone conveyed its
import aud she slowly broke the seal
and glanced through the contents. Al
last she looked up.
$50 that Is the reason have not
heard from you lately" she said. IL
wondered that you forgot the Apollo
concert"
"Thnt is only one count" he said
humbly, II did not bring the letter
expecting that you would give the
same answer l hoped for two weeks
ago. just wanted you to see that l
was not quite as bad as you think
am"
II did not give IL great thought"
she said, while the red, flooding her
face, denied her words. II thought
that perhaps you were engrossed In
some important deal"
This is the most important deal
Ia a mans life," he laughed lit
tie bitterly. "And l have bungled II
badly"