Show A TELEPHONE 1 RIDE RIDD 4 I 1 she sh e hath a lovely voitto lisped raped simp I 1 kinson potter and she must be handsome remarked young gubbins with tt a knowing puff at ills cigarette it has always been my experience peri per fence ence that women with musical voices are sire good looking they were talking about their telephone tel girl she who flirted with them so naively over the clio wires she ith quite young too booy y know continued mr air potter picking a carnation to pieces be cauthe she confided conil ded to me that she SILO out yet just fan fant thyl hyll I 1 you fellows ought to warn your diana of the cross cros to bo be more careful growled barker head bead clerk and general diogenes in the famous law office of last will testament when his majesty the senior partner called up the law courts this morning she helloed hellord back and wanted to know it if that charlie the old man turned purple and threatened to see the superintendent she must have thought etwas it was charlie dennison said gubbins they are getting to be a great deal too thick of late and last night I 1 heard blin ask her to go out driving this afternoon bah jovel ejaculated potter of courthen she refused no she replied gubbins ibe because he be said no smith street all right miss bliss kellerby Mel lerby ill be there on oil time but hero cornea comes the man in question to speak for himself mr charles dennison entered arrayed in clothes of bewildering cut and wearing an eloquent box coat in the lapel of which reposed rep oFed a royal gardenia gard erlia my dear charles said barker 1 I trust you are not going to do anything rash dennison glanced around the office with ill III concealed triumph 1 I am going to take our telephone girl miss bliss Af Mel lerby ellerby out driving lie observed giving every syllable full emphasis to liis his surprise no one made any comment on this intelligence gubbins looked out of the window and Simpkin sou potter placed his ills carnation stalk between the ha leaves ea of a law book 1 I do believe he said at last that you knew all about it beforehand all about what queried barker oh lob yes you have to take some girl out daiv ing im sure we all sympathize with you ai yeth indeed charlie exclaimed potter ditth a nul nut chance old boy but never mind it will soon bo be over bo be sure to get on aa miss fiss Meller bys good side said gubbins gubbin Is my 17 experience la is that telephone girls are always deaf in one car dennison waited to hear no more you fellows are just jealous ho he said and a few minutes afterward they saw him driving a roan maro mare and a smart dogcart around the corner arrived at smith street charles dennison found the house to be a model suburban burban Bu cottage looking southward and overrun with flowering creepers just the place for young love be romantically mant manti cally leally exclaimed as ho lie hitched his roan to a fantastic green dragon on one of the gate posts 1 I wish to goodness gubbins finsand and that lisping idiot potter were here to watch my meeting with laura I 1 had ball letter better not call her laura at first by the way things that sound all right over a telephone wire may bo be quite startling when one is brought face to face alere charlie opened the gate and strode up the short gravel path everywhere in the little garden he be noticed the traces of a womans comans wo mans tender care andyes An and dyet yet bebur be murmured they talk a about telephone girls only caring for chewing gum and flirtation 11 ills ring brought a pleasant faced matron to the door mrs kellerby Mel lerby is it not asked charlie taking off his ills hat with his best air lie ile had a reputation for astuteness and was much gratified when the lady nodded a smiling assent to his question and you are mr charles dennison I 1 suppose she said we did not expect you quite so soon but earliness la to an excellent fault wont you come in ot of course charlie went in remarking to I 1 himself that mrs kellerby Mel lerby seemed much better than the general run of girls mothers she could not be more than forty he be thought eo so that the fair lauru laura was w as probably not yet twenty moreover mrs birs Meller bya bys plump figure and distinct traces of past beauty promised well for lauraa lauras appearance they entered the pretty little parlor and sat down then mrs kellerby Mel lerby laughed gayly and bald well charlie which shall we talk about first the weather or your our dogcart chaille laughed like wase although he lie thought the use of hf christian name a little odd le let us talk about the dogcart he bald add very well replied mrs kellerby Mel lerby under those circumstances I 1 fear I 1 shall have to begin with a dimp diss the fact la Is dear boy tho the girl who was to have taken my place is sick and au id I 1 a am obliged to go tn to tho the office this afternoon I 1 am very sony sorry to break off our engagement but you see it is impossible for roe me to go out driving today to day to say any that charlie dennison jumped fully a foot from his chair at this speech a would bo be no exaggeration 1 I I 1 beg your pardon ho he exclaimed it if mrs kellerby Mel lerby noticed his ills startled expression of countenance ehe she mistook or pretended to mistake its cause 1 I know its atsa a shame she said deprecatingly ca but what can I 1 do they are very strict at the central office and I 1 am obliged to go when you called me up yesterday Cb charlie arlle I 1 felt ure sure of getting off this afternoon now I 1 am compelled to answer belles hellos from til all aarts of the city for six cary weary hours after all it 13 just na as bard hard on me as on you by this time charlie dennison had managed to collect hla his thoughts but what so this old woman was the laura of hla his dreams the tile fair telephone n choso whoso flirtations ions seemed buoyant with breezy girlishness how flow the boys would laugh it if they knew but they must never know it WM ao a kindly fate which had saved him from elds affliction in hla his heart ho he blessed that other woman who had fallen sick at such a propitious time please dont be mad about it charlie Cb arlIN caid said mrs Mel Bl lerby ellerby charlie was obliged to eay something 1 14 A ing inao an plea c cant n help being a little digap j I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 f t i 1 I I 1 1 I ali 11 I 1 I 1 i I 1 29 t J cpa I 1 W I 1 Z t 1 i 1 1 TEa yair ff nov V 16 he 6 miu 1 u a critically 1 I really c counted on taking you out dr driving lying now I 1 hall shall have to drive all n X alone I 1 here with something of his pristine spirit ho he cot contrived to make a awry wry taw suitable to the occasion occasion IN mrs I 1 m ellerby Af Mel lerby laughed suppose she bald said that I 1 were to provide a substitute it Is curious that in nil all our long telephone talks I 1 never remembered to tell you that I 1 am a widow willow but I 1 am and have the le arest little girl imaginable I 1 was going to ask you if it would not bore you too much to take her out for A short drive in my place she Is just wild to drive tn in something else besides a street car 11 poor charlies heart which had bad almost resumed its normal condition fell rapidly at thia this suggestion it was certainly a case of out of the frying pan pail etc lie ile had only escaped the horror of being obliged to fluiro mrs bira Bf ellerby Mol lerby through the city to find himself lilma elt confronted with the ev even en more obnoxious alternative of playing d dry ry nurse to that ladys dear little girl it if you are not afraid of tny iny mare he be said with a painful effort at looking unconcerned 1 I shall be most happy but I 1 fear the brute is decidedly restive re stive you are lire an excellent driver im sure r replied plied mrs Bl Mel ellerby lerby sweetly yes 1 I 1 think I 1 can trust my gertie to your care cam excuse me tor for a moment and I 1 will call her when mrs Al Mel lerby ellerby left the room char lio lie dennison covered his face with his hands this then was tho the punishment of his ills indiscretion he ile could yet escape but escape would bo be cowardly and besides mrs kellerby Mel Bf lerby might tell the story to the other fellows over the telephone on the whole it was better to remain and see the thing out his ills thoughts were interrupted by the mellifluous lie voice of mrs Bl kellerby Mel lerby charlie charile murmured that lady permit me to introduce you to my daughter gertie gertle charlie dennison Denn lson almost shouted when he lie beheld the dear little girl who stood in the door for the dear little girl was as fair a specimen of eighteen year old beauty aa as ever his eyes had rested on she was not so very little cither either being quite quita as tall as her mother and looking with her wavy brown hair and great gray eyes I 1 like ike a vivified portrait of that comely personage taken many years before charlies system felt by this time as if it had hall undergone a succession of electric shocks so that miss bliss gerties first impressions of him were hardly favorable it Is a needless to say that charlie at once fore swore any idea of flight he ile took his ibis lauras daughter out driving with the lightest light eat heart in the world and drove twice beneath the windows of Las twill testament to the unspeakable chagrin of both gabbins and potter 0 0 mrs I 1 ira kellerby Mel lerby no longer occupied her seat in the central telephone office yet when she wishes to send word to the boys in Las twill testaments she tells her son inlaw in law charlie dennison about it at the breakfast table leJohn tab john gerald drenan brena n in new york press |