CLOVERDALE COURIER.
CLOVERDALE, TILLAMOOK QOUNTY, OREGON, OCTOBER 29. 1915
VOL. 11.
A Biter
Bit
By F. A. MITCHEL
[ I t la obvious from tbla sto ry th a t th e
sto ry teller w a s a y oung m an b en t on
an ad v en tu re.J
One m o rning tire postm an le ft m e a
le tte r w ltb tb e Him nam e of O uteault.
H a rd y
& D unn,
atto rn ey s-at-law .
stami>ed on tb e left h an d co rn er of th e
envelope. 1 opened it a n d road tb e
follow ing, sig n ed by th e law y ers:
T o u r p ro p o s itio n t o u n ite th e p r o p e r tie s
so lo n g in le g a l d is p u te b y m a r r y in g M iss
A u c h tn c lo 8 s h a s b e e n r e f e r r e d to h e r w ith
o u r a s s u r a n c e s t h a t th e ta n g l e b e tw e e n
th e tw o c a n n e v e r b e u n r a v e le d e x c e p t by
s u c h a u n io n
P r e s e n t c ir c u m s ta n c e s If
c o n tin u e d w ill in tim e e a t u p a p r o p e r ty
w h ic h re m o v e d fr o m litig a tio n w o u ld p ro
d u c e a n In c o m e o f $5,000 c le a r o f a ll e x
p e n se s.
M iss A u c h in c lo s s . n e v e r h a v in g
se e n y o u . d e s ir e s u s to se n d h e r y o u r p h o
to g r a p h .
It w as ev id en t to m e th a t th e letter
d o u b tless in ten d ed for a n o th e r An
th o n y P ag e had com e to me. 1 in
closed my p h o to g rap h in a , n ote s ta t
ing iu su b sta n c e th e note I had re
ceived from tb e q tto rjie y s a n d adding
th a t I did no t c a re to uct fu rth e r
th ro u g h them , but w ould be pleased
to form h er a c q u a in ta n c e d irect.
1
chose th is course, th in k in g th a t the
real A nthony P ag e m ight be know n
p ersonally to M essrs. O uteault, Harc’y
& D unn an d m y photograph If sent
to th em w ould g ive m e aw ay.
In d u e tim e I received a note signed
B erth a A uchincloss acknow ledging th e
receip t of my p h o to g rap h an d in
closing one of h er ow n. It represented
N e stu c c a
a young girl of eighteen or nineteen.
! p re tty as a peach a n d in w hose eyo
lurked an in ex h au stib le fund of mls-
chief. T his w ill be a case of diam ond
| cut diam ond. I said to m yself, a n d I
see a lot o f fu n ahead. T h e le tte r w as
very short, s ta tin g th a t the w rite r
ag reed w ith m e in d ire c t actio n in stead
of th e “ tjorrid law yers" and Inviting
m e to call.
W ithout p ro p er co n sideration a s to
th e risk I ra n of being horsew hipped
by som e of th e young lady’s re la tiv e s
I w e n t to see her. S he cam e Into th e
room sm ilingly a n d ex ten d ed h er hand,
w hich I g ra sp e d and pressed. W e be
gan our ac q u a in ta n c e w ith o u t the
slig h te st re fere n ce to th e su b je c t of th e
union of p ro p erty an d . so fa r as th a t
first m eeting w as concerned, m ade
no progress In com ing to an u n d er
sta n d in g w ith re g ard to a union of
properties. T h is w as g ra tify in g to me.
for th e m om ent we should e n te r into
d e ta ils I w ould betray m yself. On
leaving I asked perm ission to call
ag ain , w hich w as graciously accorded.
H a v in g m ade no reply to th e note of
th e law yers, 1 did not h e a r from them
again.
So delighted w as I w ith my success
th a t on m y second v isit to M iss Au
chincloss I v en tu re d to m ention the
o b ject of my calls. She d ropped her
eyes to th e floor and said th a t be
fore th e m a tte r could be considered
sh e m ust ta k e tim e to have Inquiries
m ade concerning me. She could not
even co n tem p late such a ste p w ith o u t
know ing m ore about me. 1 w inced at
this, for it seem ed im possible for her
to m ake such in q u iries w ith o u t dis
covering th a t 1 w as au im postor
N evertheless I brazened it out and
offered to give her references. To this
sh e replied th a t she alre ad y had the
n am es of som e persons who could give
her the req u ired Inform ation.
O.
course she m ean t frie n d s of th e real
V a lle y
B ank
CU O V BBD A U E, OREGON
Pay bills by
check and
Avoid all Li=
ability of
Dispute.
Open an account with this Bank and keep your money in
your own locality.
NE3TUCCA VALLEY BANK
E. L. McCABE, Cashier.
$
n
£
tii
w
»
NO. 16
Several of our customers are people we do not know by sight
though we have done business by mail with them for years.
We
believe wc have given them satisfactory banking service and can
give you the same satisfaction.
Mail us Your next Check or Checks
It saves jou time, and TIME IS MONEY, especially at this season
of the year. No need to come to the bank in person.
SECURITY AND SERVICE our Motto
G o t 1
U * W ° b ANK
I L L A M P O K ,‘O P E
Anthony P ag e an d 1 hoped he had a
belter c h a ra c te r th a n I. though I did
not ex p ress th e hope to her.
N o tw ith stan d in g th e perils by which
I w as surro u n d ed my hark sailed on
over an u n tro u b led sen. At tim es 1
w ondered bow I could eecaite th e dan
gers th a t beset me. but th e tru th is 1
w as falling heels o v er head in love
w ith B ertha A uchincloss an d w as in fa t
u ated no t ouly w ith her, but th e p a rt 1
w as playing. My calls grew m ore and
m ore freq u en t, h u t Instead of tak in g
up the m a tte r on account o f w hich w e
bad come to g eth er she not only re fra in
ed from m entioning it. hut disco u rag ed
my doing bo . T his, ta k e n w ith th e fact
th a t uothin g ad v e rse had com e from
her injuries, g av e me q u ite a c le a r
coast
P lu n g in g headlong Into love ns I was,
tbe tim e s o o n cam e w heu 1 m ad e a
declaratio n w ithout co n fessing my
identity
I told her th a t I loved h er
and w ere th e p roperty on acco u n t of
which we had com e to g eth er s e n t to
the bottom of th e ocean still w ould I
love her. still w ould I m arry h er if she
would e o n s e u t S he did not d ro p her
heud on my sh o u ld er Hnd w hisper
"Y es." She b u rst Into a laugh.
“T h e n e x t tim e,” sh e said, “you play
a gam e like th a t, keep y o u r w its ab out
you. My a u n t, fo r w hom I am nam ed.
Is th e lady you h av e supposed you w ere
visiting. Since you first cam e to see
me sh e h as m arried tb e o th e r A n th o u \
Page. She is fo rty y e a rs old. a n d he Is
fifty. I took an in te re st In th a t ease
an d re m a rk ed th e h an d w ritin g o f th e
letter he w ro te my a u n t and w hich w as
se n t h e r by th e law y ers. B elieving thni
th e ir reply to him m ust h ave fallen
Into th e h an d s o f a scam p— fo r th e
w ritin g w as not his— I sen t for your
photograph, th in k in g to h av e a little
fun. B eing pleased w ith It a n d rcaliz
ing th a t it ta k e s tw o to c a rry o u t a
lark, I Invited you to call. A ccept my
th a n k s fo r h av in g afforded m e th e m ost
am u sin g episode o f m y life.”
I w as m adly in love w ith n g irl who
had been fooling me. N everth eless. 1
began all o v er a g a in and in tim e ra j
tu red her. She say s th a t In m a rry in g
me she did b e tte r th a n her a u n t w ith
the o th e r A nthony Page, since th eir
property Involved only n h u n d red thou
sand dollars, w hile m ine Is h a lf n mil
lion.
Head “The Tinder Box.” It will in
terest you.
READ
READ
THE
TINDER
BOX
By
MARIA THOMPSON
DAVIESS
Author of “The Melting
of Molly“
C opyright, 1913. by th e C e n tu ry
C o m p an y
The First In
stali ment
in
# V
The Cloverdale
Courier
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