| Show To PleQse Mr 0 Ptkflii 1 BY TOM GALLON 1 I could only find something tbatd bring em together I think Id really face Mrs PitkIn and put up with the consequences In that remarkable sentence Mr Joseph Jo-seph Pltkin summed up at once his ambitions his hopes and his fears I you had known Mr Joseph Pltlcln and had ulso been acquainted with Mrs Joseph Jo-seph Pltkln you would have been astonished as-tonished at tho sheer audacity which prompted him to do anything which should offend her For Mr Joseph Pltkln was small and mild one of those longsuffering Individuals whose chief mission In life Is to wed large ladles and thereafter to pay a dreadful price for that one Indiscretion And Mrs Pltkln was a very largo lady indeed in-deed Mr PUkln was a smnl man with what can best be described as a blown about appearance H had weak grayish hair at the sicls and back of his head brushed back so strongly that he always looked as though he were facing n heavy wind and that the heavy wind in earlier years had absolutely blown his hair off the lop of his head to carry the metaphor further he spoke In gasps as though battling with thc wind and had watery blue eyes as though that same wind had been too much for him Ir Pltkln was of large and stern aspect tiling her household with a rod of Iron and apparently despising Mr Pltkin Mr Pltkln was the ostensible os-tensible proprietor of Pltklns Private Hotel but Mrs Pltkin could have told you another tale Mr Joseph Pltkln wont out in the morning and was supposed sup-posed to dabble In vast financial affairs af-fairs somewhere east of the Mansion House he came home at night without with-out any direct results In his pockets and listened for an hour or two afterward after-ward to a long recital of Mrs Pltklns woes and an oftreltcratod inquiry as to why she had pver united herself to him himAt the time this faithful history begins be-gins Mrs Joseph Pltkln had gone on a visit to 3 sister reputed to be even more firm and forbidding of aspect than herself and Mr Josoiih PItkin was free More than that a diabolical scheme had matured In the brain o Mr Pltkln and he meant to carry It out He trembled a little when he thought of it but his resolve was taken and he was not to be shaken from It Ill bring em together said Mr PitkIn boldness wondering a little at his own Aa a matter of fact Mr Pitkin had suddenly found himself involved In a romantic episode Of course he need not have touched It but despite Mrs Pitkin he was of a romantic nature himself and was rather pleased than otherwise to find himself mixed up In the affair Such a very pOOl and ordinary affair it was I had happened some years before that Ir Pltkln had taken Into I her establishment as n matter of charily she declared a young girl to I assist her In regard to Pltklns Private I Pri-vate Hotel and had from that time tm onward got a little more out of her than she could have got out of two average servants and had been able to abuse her in a way that no selfro spectlng SCant would have stood for five minutes Little Deborah Rendle had stood It for the sake of bread and butter for three years had seen the great world to which under happier circumstances she mlcht have belonged be-longed slipping away from her had done everything for Pltkins from the keeping of accounts to the making of beds on an emergency She was a plait girl and what is bolter a nice girl She was always cheerful and bright and kind nhe had L long ago subdued what spirit had been left In her she had long igo forgotten I apparently that there was any world outside Pitkln3 And strangest I thing of allshe was n ladyhi thought and feeling and manner Suddenly Into the midst of her life had como that ono element of romance A certain nephew of Mrs Pltkin one Frank Dornton paid an unexpected visit to his aunt He was a young journalist struggling and fighting to plant his Uttlc banner of nine somewhere some-where In London full of hope and L buoyancy and bringing with him a breath from the great world that was not bounded by Bloomsbury and Tot tenham Court Road And of course In the very nature of things Frank Dornton foil In love with little Deborah Rend lie was poor and KO was she he was friendless and she was nearly so and both were very young S that it happened that ho I came oftener to Pltklns than his desire for the society of Mrs PJtldn I seemed to warrant Now the mid and gentle Joseph Plt kin had eyes to see matters of which L Mrs Pltkln would never have dreamed I Perhaps In tome faraway corner of a heart which Mrs Pitkin had merely dipped into Mr Pitkin held a vaguo desire to give some a better chance in L Loves lottery than lIe hal drawn himself him-self Bo that VLB it may ho became vastly Interested In this little aqt ltle affair caw possibilities In it that he had not grasped himself and determined to do what he could to bring it to n happy conclusion Of course he had a very dreadful fear that Ir Pitkln would storm and rave and muko his life a misery ter afterward but that didnt mat Watching with wistful eyes Mr Pit kin saw many things Jle saw that tho patient girl conscious only that she was poor and shabby and of no account ac-count thrust away from her any hope that the young man cared for her he saw on the other hand that Frank Dornton for his part was shy and difildent about saying anything to the girl Mr Pltkln trembling at the idea of that dreadful scheme of his yet determined to put it in opera tionThe The absence of Mrs Pltkln on the 1 visit to her formidable sister gave fIlm an opportunity Rules were relaxed at Pitklns at that time Mr Joseph Jo-seph Pitkin took l turn up and down the street and smoked a pipe In comfort com-fort the while he thought about his young friends And there coming toward him was Frank Dornton Frank Availed at the door until tho strolling Mr Pltkln should return then he asked casually for his aunt Gone away for a day or two said Mr Pltkln You must miss her srM ventured Frank Thing arequieter said Mr Pit kin wIth n sigh And then he added with a careless casual glance at the sky above Pltklns Deborah Is Inside In-side ycuIl find her In the little room at the end of the hall It Is quite surprising how soon you can get along 3 hal If you arc In a hurry Frank Dornton did it In record time And then it was that Mr Joseph Jo-seph Pltkln with a fluttering heart knocked out tho ashes from his pipe put the pipe in his pocket and went into PItklns with a stealthy stop Ho waited five minutes and then ho went along the hal ant opened the door of the little room at the enc Deborah De-borah Hendle sat making up accounts at a little table Frank Dornton was looking nt her as though making up his mind to say something Mr Plt Icin thrust back that blownabout hair of his a little more and smiled and addressed them resec When I married Mrs P was his first surprising remark Mrs P gave me no time to iciloct I had a chance to do that afterward In confidence con-fidence 1 might almost say that Mrs P rushed me into i If I had reflected re-flected he sighed and shook his head solemnly but thats another story Now my dears youve had time enough to reflect and it ecems to me Deborah looked up suddenly from those eternal accounts and caught her breath the boyish face of Frank Dorn ton Hushed and he looked at Mr Pit kin klnI I dontI dont understand began Frank No of course you dont understand said Mr Pltkin with a new note In his voice You dont understand cont that understnd there may be such a thing a waiting too long waiting In fact until tho brightness has gone out of young eyes and the softness and tenderness out of young voices waiting till the might havcbcon Is all there Is left to sigh over My dearsthls quaint little mail stretched out his hands toward them with a great hunger In his eyes this kind o thing never happened to me sometimes I wish It had Now If you and the lad here have n thought that youd like quite apart from Mrs P I to set up together In a small way and I use If a matter of 530 would be of any useDeborah Rendle had closed the books In a great hurry and was bending her face over them Frank Dornton had Mr Pltkln by the arm and was forcIbly forcI-bly taking him out of the room Outside Out-side In lime hal he first vigorously shook hands with him and then asked him whnt the devil he meant by I And Mr Pltkln chuckled and then remembering re-membering himself paid It was a hard world There were whispers and mut cringe and another shaking of hands then Mr Pltkln went off to the kitchen his usual place at night > for tho sako of peace and Frank Dornton went slowly back to the little room and opened time door Deborah Rendle was not busy with the books on tho contrary the tired head was down on her hands and she did not know that Frank had come In When the muttered exclamation on his part called her to herself she sprang up with a white faco and drew back from him Im dreadfully sorry MIss Rcndlo he said yet thoro was a twinkle In h eyes That old Idlpt had no right to talk like that Oh I isnt fair to call him names said Deborah gently Let uslet us forget all about It or at least remember remem-ber i only only as a Joke Well you see thats the difficulty Im afraid wo cant forget all about I Mr Dornton Im dreadfully sorry Miss fondle but Its Just a question of whether wo shall be brutaland selfish and all I that kind of thing or whether we shall study the feelings of other people Please explain said the girl In a faint voice Thank you I will You see poor old Pltkln Is one of the nicest fellows breathing although Im afraid he do shave s-have a bad time of It Now It happens I thatit Just shows what funny mistakes mis-takes people make doesnt ithmaving seen us together once or twice old Pit we always cal him Pit for short because be-cause there Isnt much of him you see old Pit has set his heart on well oa getting UK married But Mr Dornton low perfectly absurd Mad I call it But people do get such bees in their bonnets However it seems that poor old Pit has actually been scraping money together In order toto give us n start as he calls It I The girl made a movement toward him then stopped But dont you see Mr Dornton what a terrible position you place me I mean he places usIn 7 Perfectly horrible said Frank earnestly still and tried to keep his lips Because of course such a thing such an Idea never entered our minds How could it But then you see thats not the difficulty Poor old Pit doesnt have much pleasure in his life coc lfe Mrs Pltkln my esteemed aunt you know isnt too kind to him Im afraid But what has that to do with it Mr Dornton asked Deborah Everything The poor old chap has been saving up for it looking forward to It and now In a moment we cut the ground from under his feet and show him that Its all a blunder More than that hes afraid hes offended us I dont quite see what we can do Mr Dornton You can only disabuse his mind in regard to the mistake Frank shook his head I must decline I de-cline Miss Rendle to break tho heart of any confiding man In that callous I fashion I fool that It would be impos sible for me to go to poor old Pit In lie kitchen and say to him Look here you old blunderer Its all wrong and youve been scraping up your 50 for nothing No Miss Rendle I cant do I I But Mr Dornton you must there no other way Well there IH another way said I Frank slowly without looking at her We can adopt a sort of pious fraud I protend that what he thinks Is true Dont shake your head Its only for five I minutes and you send poor old Pit away happy Of coursuhe smiled whimsically there are n hundred ways out of it afterward You can Jilt mo or I can Jilt you or you can find something out about my pant that you dont like or you may object in daylight day-light to the color of my hall Oh Itll be quite easy I assure you And you mean to do all this to please Mr Pitkin asked the girl Absolutely to please poor old Pit I replied Frank steadily I Of course Mr PItkin has been a I good friend to meabout tho best friend Ive over had said tho girl softly And If you really think Frank Dornton waited for nothing more He hurried out of the room and presently returned with Mr Pltkln having subjected that gentleman to I some rough usage In the shape of sundry sun-dry thumps nnd digglns in the ribs on his way through the hall Very demurely de-murely and quietly he informed the delighted de-lighted little mal that they had ben under a misapprehension In regard to what he hud meant that thoy would be glad of his assistance quite In a temporary manner but that they wished the matter kept secret for the present You see Deborah what a wonderful wonder-ful thing It was to be able to say that name aloud for tho first time Deborah and I have really been in love with each otherOh practically l since wo first met havent we Deborah 7 Frank was standing very close beside tier and quite In f casual fashion and probably because he thought ahe nccdcM support ho put his arm round her waist She started as though to spring away from him caught night oC tho beaming face of Mr Pltkln and decided de-cided that the arm might remain there an n purely temporary arrangement Yes for quite n long time paid Fll Deborah In a faint voice and It was rather n nice thing after nil to feel that strong arm about her and t have her head so close to his shoulder Well you certainly have hid It pretty successfully said Mr Pltkln Why I remember when T said yen to I Mrs Pno of course 1 melT when she said yes to me It was all l over th town In about five minutes Mrs p took care of that and dont you be Ito before me my dears Give him a kiss Deborah Youd better whispered Frank with much earnestness Seems more I like the real thing youknow The girl stood upright with a burn Ing face 11 couldnt site whispered and then for the benefit of Mr PltMn said aloud Not now Mr Pltkln afterward af-terward We were always like tills when anybodys present said Frank 1 Youve no Idea how shy I amand as for Deborah J When n little later Frank Dornton walked into the kitchen of PItkina j Private Hotel and found Mr Pltkln sitting alono ho was smiling very 1 much They shook hands In Pll nco for quite a long time and then Frank paid r say old Pit I couldnt think ot taking that that 50 I Im rather glad of that paid Mr I Pltkln with n chuckle because I 11 havent ot It Mr Pitkin has never told the story to Mi 18 P although that lady often wonders won-ders how It was that her nephew became I be-came so suddenly engaged to Deborah Rondell and what he possibly could have seen In liar to mar her Mr Pit kin slips out sometimes at night lie likes to contemplate their happiness and to foci that he Is quite directly responsible t I re-sponsible for It Black and While j |
