Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 November 1885 — THE LOST LETTER. [ARTICLE]

THE LOST LETTER.

BY ERNEST TRAVIS.

A beautiful afternoon in a great city, the month, August, the scenes, an extensive clothing establishment, where the constant clicking of sewing machines, the low hum of the operatives engaged in desultory conversation, and the rattling of the vehicles on the streets without, made life, temporarily, a babble of strange noises. Of all the pretty girls in the establish* ment, there was one who, as she bent over ths? cutting table, busily engaged in sorting out some heavy work for the corps of tailors in the room below, smiled quietly, and, humming a low tune to herself, seemed, at heart, in perfect harmony with the blue, spotless sky, and the fresh, balmy air of the beautiful summer afternoon. She hadreason io be happy, too, for there is no period in a young girl’s life so delightful as when a first love is reciprocated, and its object is tendered a proposal of marriage by the hapy suitor. Such a proposition had Jennie Arlington, the pretty sewing girl, received, and the unique manner of her reply had been the cause of much secret enjoyment on her part. It seems that on the floor below, Edward

Barnes, a quiet, unassuming young fellow, but devotedly in love with pretty Jenny, had charge of the department. All the materials cut at Jennie’s table were here made up, first passing through Jennie’s hands. He had written het- a letter that morning in which he told hei; how earnestly he loved her, and asking her to reply that day to his proposal of marriage. Her heart beat with Joy as, at the noon hour, she indited him a brief, modest note, asking him to call upon her at her'home that night, and intimating that his attentions were not regarded in an unfavorable light. Her timid, shrinking nature* prevented her from making any one sufficient of a confidant tp take the note to Edward, but the happy thought coming into her mind that if she sent it down with the batch of garments she was cutting, he would be sure to receive it, as all such came directly under his supervision before being apportioned out to the operatives. With a happy smile she laid the little missive between the folds of material, and as the boy carried down the parcel, thought blissfully of her new-found joy and happiness, It was with a light step that she tripped down the stairway when the day’s work was over and hastened home to arrange her hair and dress herself to look her best upon the expected visit of her betrothed that evening. Her heart fell and a cruel surprise paled her flushed face and dimmed the happy lustre of her eyes as hour after hour went by and Edward Barnes did not come. The tears came bitter and fast as she began to believe that his proposal was a farce and that she had been made the object of a cruel deception.

Her suspicions were confirmed whjn she came down to the store in the morning. Instead of his usual smiling welcome, Edward bowed with cold reserve to her, and, although she fancied she detected a sad reproach in his eyes, she did not break the silence his manner enforced. So, as the days went by, these two hearts drifted farther and farther apart. Jennie’s rosy cheeks grew pale and her bright eyes dimmed, and Edward Bames from a lighthearted youth developed into a sad, thoughtful man. Alas! what bitterness and woe that single word of explanation, unspoken by either proud suffering spirit, might have saved. But how could Jennie Arlington have surmised that her tender love missive never reached its intended destination? Instead it had met a strange and unusual fate. Edward Barnes was absent on a mission for the establishment when the parcel of clothing sent down containing the note had been brought to his desk by the boy, and the work had been apportioned out by one of the operaatives who carelessly handed out the material Amid the quick manipulation of the garments by deft fingers the little note lying between the folds of lining had lain in its snug covering and had been sewed inside the garments by the unconscious operative. The goods made were part of a large orders for a country clothing house, and the garment containing the note was a portion of the order. So it went upon its way leaving two , severed hearts, pining in dispair, victims of a sad mistake. But the end was not yet.

The scene changes to a country clothing store two months after the occurrence of the events just detailed. The store referred to was well crowded upon the afternoon in question, when Mr. Edward Spriggins, a well-to-do citizen, entered for the purpose of selecting a suit of clothes. “I would like to look at some clothes, said Mr. Spriggins to a clefk as soon as he was disengaged. , “Yes, sir. We have a new stock to select from, made especially for our trade,” and Mr. Spriggins was soon deeply immersed In looking over an assortment of ready* made clothing. “It fits me exactly,” he murmured in a tone of satisfaction, as, having selected and donned a suit of clothes, he viewed himself before the mirror., He paid the bill with a broad smile upon hie face which a delighted man always exhibits When fie is well pleased, and walked home briskly, bent upon astonishing Mrs.

Spriggins with a view of his hew suit and its fine adaptability in color, material, and artistic make to his manly form. Alas! amid the rapt of his wife and his own self-admiration, ho little realized what an interesting history that suit of Clothes was destined to develop. The Storm broke about one month later. For soxne time past, he had noted a strange reserve on the part of Mrs. Spriggins, but little imagined that the lovable little Woman was jealous. All Unaware of the fact that a gossipy neighbor, an old maid named Miss Smithers, had exaggerated his accidental meeting on the street with an old lady school-mate into a positive love scene, he went into the sitting-room one day after dinner to get his coat which he had given to Mrs. Spriggins to remove a grease spot he hrd accidentally got upon it. He started back as he entered the apartment in dumbfounded amazement, as his wife, the coat in one hand a letter in the other gazed at him wildly and bursting into tears cried hysterically: “Oh, you base deceiver —I have found you out at last, and Miss Sun-—Sun-Smithers was ri—right!” “Is she mad—is she crazy!” cried the mystified husband in mingled alarm and surprise. “Mad —crazy!” sobbed Mrs. Spriggins, “no only broken-hearted. To think after ten years of married life that it should come to this.”

“This,” seemed to be the coat which she thrust towards the stupefied Spriggins who glanced perplexedly at a long rip in the inside linning of the garment. “I knew there was somethingwrongwhen I felt that letter in the coat," continued the weeping wife. “Mrs. Spriggins,” said the mystified husband, beginning to grow mad. “If you’ll explain this abused nonsense I’ll be obliged to you.” “Nonsense!” screamed Mrs. Spriggins, hysterically. “He calls it nonsense to deceive his true and faithful wife, and receive letters from other women. Read that, sir, and then keep up this deception if you can.” She thrust the letter before his eyes as she spoke. His wondering glance fell upon the innocent missive, startled and surprised. “Dear Edward, "‘ the note ran. “If you will call at my house this evening I wil give you an answer to your declaration.” Mr. Spriggins face wore an expression of utter perplexity as he finished reading the note.

“Well?” he said, simply. “Well!” shrieked Mrs. Spriggins. “Oh, hear the wretch and see how cool he takes discovery of his perfidy. ” ’ “Mrs. Spriggins,” he said sternly, “if you can stop your raving long enough to explain what this note means, I will be obliged to you.” , “What does it mean? It means that I found it in the lining of your coat. You play your part well, sir, as if you didn’t know who ‘Jennie’ was.” “It’s a base plot!” cried Spriggins, excitedly, “I swear I never saw this note before.” “Oh, lof course not,” replied Mrs. Spriggins, scornfully. “It's an advertisement of the firm, a price ticket, I suppose. You are very innocent, indeed.” And expostulation and explanation only ended in more complication, and Mrs Spriggins growing more hysterical, Mr. Spriggins becoming indignantly enraged. “I’ll trace this up,” he cried. “I’ll seek out the vile calumniator and plotter against my domestic peace,” and seizing letter and coat he dashed from the house. He had no definite course of action in mind, but his thoughts at once accredited all his troubles to the suit of clothes. -There was nodoubt but that the letter had been in the coat when he bought it, for outside of removing it at night, it had not been off his back. He never stopped until he had reached the establishment where he had purchased the garment. With rapid incoherency Mr. Spriggins detailed the story of the letter to the proprietor. “And you are positive that this letter could not have been placed in your coat since you bought that garment of us?” he asked, incredulously. “I am,” firmly responded Mr. Spriggins. “Then we must trace up the suit. Let me see; it was one of a lot ordered by us. I will write to our manufacturers and see what they can make of it.” He did so. A week later the heart of Mr. Spriggins was made, happy by the true solution of the mystery of the letter. It had been sent to the firm and inquiry explained the entire matter. Mrs. Spriggins’ jealousy vanished, and two hearts were made happy, for Jennie Arlington and Edward were reunited and a month later were married. A suit of clotnes has made. many a man comfortable and joyous, but none ever did so fortunate a double service as the suit purchased by Mr. Edward Spriggins.