'-" Recently heard in our courts attracted a great deal of attention owing to the fact tTJJ g her a piano. We wuuiu noi nave nau uLLabiuu lu reLoru mis miesi divorce case. ? shown by our increasing business from ut Would be one f 4 . . 4 c ? : ; S "" I Hardman I : ' Prospective buyers who want a first-class Piano at a fair price should call and look over our stock. We will not mention any prices further than to say we can supply your wants in Pianos from $150.00 up. The grade you select will determine the price. Do not put it off. Buy to ' day. Our stock of Pianos and Organs was never more complete. 1 During Your FINN it Piano Tuning IMMtMIMftflMMIM J d i l J i ociety's (W(fy(f)(tMtMt)'f(tw(W(tyi(0(iMi?t(i(MW(tM(t)W(iV TALBOT came blundering Into my room with the news Just as I was hitting down to dinner. The old boy was dearly out of his mind with excitement, and wouldn't Btop for a drink, or, what was vvot.se, let me have one, but dragged me down stairs and bundled me into a cab. The rest of the night was spent In diivlng ubout London to hunt up police ngencleti. Finally, at S o'clock In the morning, wc landed at his flat In Kail's couit, thoroughly dead beat. And tho papers bilstled with It. I suppose It came as a godsend in the Black time, for most of them gave ua a couple of columns. The Journalists had done It thorough ly. They gao a highly decorated ac count of Talbot's private career and an analysis of his character nnd dis position. They did the same for his vanished wife, with a pteclse account when and wheie she disappeared. Then they speculated as to the ieas-on. "Wan It murder, lobbery, suicide or an elopement? It seems that Talbot ararnged to meet his wife at Waterloo at 4 o'clock tho previous afternoon, on her return from a country visit. When the train came In tho compaitment in which she had traveled contained a magazine with her initials Inscribed on It. a novel. ' Society's Verdict." a small handbag nnd an umbrella but not Lad) Doll) r FOR CHRISTMAS Fine Umbrellas Endless variety of Handles, Tied Oaks, Natural Crooks, Sterling Silver, Etc., iu Taffeta, Puritan, Gloria and Fine Twill Silk. Great variety of Pocket Books, Card Cases, Shopping Bags, Boston Bags in Seal Alligator, Morocco, Rtissia Leather, Etc., Etc. MEARS & ANOTHER are sure that if he had of our Pianos and you f 4.4. f -. rfnAC ItlflllWI E? -- 4 James & Holmstrom, Fischer, McPhail, Malcolm Love and Others, Holiday Shopping f Ji i l i i d& Verdict Talbot had Inquhed of the guaid That intelligent functionary remem bered the joung lady quite well, but hud not hcen her get out. "Then where the dickens Is she".'" 1 oared Talbot. Tho gu.it d looked under Un seat and tefetied him to the station mastet. After wiring in eery dliectlon with out getting any tidings except that she had ceitalnly entered the tialn, Talbot concluded that .she was the lctdn of foul play. Theie was no doubt that she had Mauled alone and that she had her little Jewel case with her. The Jewel case was now miss ing, while all the at tides which wer" ptactlcall) valueless weie undistutbed Theie was no sign of a .stiugglo. Ho Talbot diove down to my place diagged me away fiom dlnntrand then went to the police. "I suppose there wasn't an little tiff or misunderstanding between ou?" I asked suggestively. "Not a bit of It," he said, heartily "Wo weie never so thoioughly united as we were last Thutsday when I saw her off. In fact, old man, I don't mind telling uu that It's only dining the last month or two that we have begun to undei stand one anotlu i You haven't any Idea what a good little woman Doll) is. On the suiface she seems to be a tilde vain and frivolous, but at heait she s as true as steel. She wasn't PRESENTS. LSAQCIJ 415-417 Hnul.11, Lick Mnna Ave. THE SCRANTON TRIBUNE- known at what reasonable prices and on what easy terms we sell day to day. can make your selection from any of the following makes : Gome in. Look Through Our Store, No er fond of me when we first mar iled I admit It but I'm certain It's all right now ' "I suppose theie were no mone) troubles'" I said c.uelessly. "Nothing moie than usual,' he said with a faint smile. "As you know, m) income Is small, but I won't let her drop out of the set she has been usi d to, because 1 don't think It would be wise, consequently It's a bit of a pinch to keei) ntlo.it." I guessed as much. ' But that hasn't anything to do with It," he said waimly. "That little wo man has been decojed away and robbed. I hope no harm has come to her. By Geoige' Cliff, I give )ou my word I'd saciilice my life to save hei's." 1 Knew he meant it llteially, and vvn3 rather sony to see him so much In earnest, for I belleed that within th next few dajs lie would have a nasty shock "Why man," ne went' on, "at the eiy moment It happened she was leading my own novel." "Your novel?" I said. "What on eaith do ou mean'.' You don't mean to say that you have written a novel.'" He blushed Use a school boy. "She made me do it," he said. "She said It was a quicker way of getting on than waiting foi lulefs. But don't tell c-veiybody. I have published It under an assumed name for fear It would damage me, and between ourselves. It's shocking iot." A copy of "Society's Veidlct" w is 1 Ing on the table, and I picked It up. feeling iu a vague way that It had something to do with I.ady Dolly's dls nppcaiance. "Wh.it Is It all about?" I asked. "Oh. don't ask me," he said, bash fully. "It's nothing but sentimental twaddle. The usual business, you know a woman who hoveis on the bilnk of the unspeakable." "And what becomes of her?" "She bolts tuns away from It all to escape temptation, and begin life again In an obseuie countiy village." "I suppose Lady Dolly suggested It, mine or less?" I asked. "We talked It oer together," said Talbot. "I told her that If I wiote a stoiy It would be all about her, ns she is the only woman I know anything about." "And Lady Dolly Is practically the heiolne," I suggested. "The chaiucterlstlcs hip the same, but the Incidents aie purely fictitious. ' he teplled, sulkily. "But why do ou ask these absurd questions ubout i lotten novel when I'm neatly out of my mind with anxiety?" "Because, you silly old Juggins," I said, "don't you un'V-i stand that what is fiction to ou is fact to I.ady Dolly' rihe has ill annulled your stoiy In real life and dlsappeaied Talbot raved at me for suggesting such a thing, but the coincidence was too stl iking to be dlsiegarded. Til fact, two days latei no news of I.ady Dolly having been received In th meantime a smart Journalist, who had taken the trouble to look through tho booK, pointed out that her ells ippear ance coincided with the action of the "heroine," and hinted that her lady ship had been can led away by a h sterlcal deBlre to Imitate her. Al though this was precisely my own view, I was sorry to see It, made public, on Talbot's account. But that was not the worst. An In dividual signing himself "A Sturdy Briton" felt called upon to send a long letter to the Dully Paragraph, headed "Is Novel Heading Dangeious?" In which he kindly assumed the truth 3f tb "hysteria" theory, and went on to MONDAY, ine various lines we - t - 4 n M 4 -- : I IIIIEW III 1N Illlll. ,111 uciuu 4- A New 4 -- prove that "Sodet's Verdict" belong"' to the most mischievous tlas.s ot liter atuie. Up concluded by showing that novel leading was only a mild foim of suicide. It was the silly season, an 1 tho edltoilal mind appeared to have urn amuck, for the following morning a "leader" was published, In whlcr. one of the I'aiagiaph's splilted young men wrote seventeen dlffeient Instan ces of oung people having been led by sensational lomatues Into acts of folly, and warned patents against the so-called "society fb Hon " Next mm n Ing a letter signed 'T.ilr Pla" up peaied. In which the w titer laid him self out to piove that "A Stuuly Hil ton" was an unspeakable Idiot, rio'i that moment the fun became fast and furious and tho "honois of fiction" be came the topic of the day and was dis cussed whet ever two or thtee lovely people gatheted together Talbot was furious. He was unpaidonably tude to inteiv loweis, and was not even de cently gtateful when they clesciibel him ns a "handsome and Using ou-k banister." I was quite anno'.ed with him. "Will nothing satisfy you"" I asked "lleiv nre a number of young fellows telling 11-s about vou giatultously, your photogiaph Is In the Dallj Cii iphlc and et vou giowl. Pul yourself to gether man, and tickle vour briefs. Many n mm with less luck than this ahs leaih'd the woolsack and slept theie for yeats." Suddenly the case took a nev tuin. Mystetlous messages began to appear In the "nsonv" column of the Stnn dird. the Hist of which ran: Talbot of couise Insisted on leply anil adver tised: "Know of nothing to fotglve. Come buck, dearest. T." Two days later, one ran "I am broken heai ted and long to see you. Your ow n Dolly." And Talbot adveitlscd an nffectlomt and eouallv Inst ne teply. Then UiK mesage appeared: "t have benn veiy vvliked and extrava gant. Am ashamed to tell m debts, Dolly." Heie was the money question cropping up again. I asked Talbot what It meant. "Nothing." he said, with a good hu mored smile. "It appeals situ owes a milliner's bill. It ceitilnlv Is nther a wann one. but nothing to vvoity about. If that's the cause of the tumble I'll set her deal little mind at iet." He wrnlo cult an adveiMsemnt for the St uulanl and looked happier thin he had done for weeks, thoueh I felt confident that theie vvas mote la It than a milliners bill. In the meantime an enterptlslng Journalist had been watching tho agonv column, and. putting two and two together In bis mind, guessed It was the eelebiUed "I.ady Dollj" case, niid published a long and speculative account of It. producing all the nd voitlsemontH anil glvtn-j his leadeis to undei stand all th tiouble had atls en about n milliner's bill. One morning I went mound to Tal bot's plac- t- breakfast, and was startled to he-it- voices In the dining n nm, I pushed tho door open and walked In Theto was Talbot scuti'd at breakfast with a look of indlnnt bash fulness on his face am' opposite him his wife I.ady Dollv. She ueelv-cd wq ns calmlv anil nutuially as If nothing hud happened, nnd aski d me to Join them, which I did In silent wonder. 'When did you at live?" I managed to say at last, with tcletable compos ure. "Quite late last night." she said, with u chatmlng smile. "And, do you know, I was dead tired. It was such a nasty, long Journey." I tiled to make un Intelligent remaik but failed. DECEMBER 18, 1899. of the principal cause Handle are more popular than ever. The 44 -f Ml 1 S K3il itacrfiirriariTc :s ntr llMQO'f mm fVITS" d--k-v- 7VI - - ami viwnwiia itiusi, oiiccl italii flerchandise Importation of Fine Matter Whether You "Who Is going to tell him?" asV d Talbot. "You tell him," said l.adv Dolly, "but, of com se, It Is In sttlt t confident e You won't tell anbod, will you?" I pledged my woid and begged her to pioceed, because 1 knew she In tended te tell the stoiy herself. "You see, dear old Talbot has wilt ten a book," she began, with a pioud glancn at the brainy man, who looked half Inclined to ciawl undei the table, "and It struck me that If I disappeared' Just as the gill in the book does, and left It llng open, so that everybody should know why I dls.ipneated. It would be a lovely advettlsement for It Nobody would know I was tho wife of the autlioi, and I did not dale to tell Talbot, for fear he'd objec t. The dear old goose hasn't any head for business, ou know. Of couise I was awfully cut when I thought how wotrlcd he would be about It, but aftei all. n little worry doejii'l matter much, does it? Fancy, they have sold fifty thousand copies alieady. Isn't It .splendid?" "Pifty thousand copies!" I echoed, weakly, looking at her pretty baby face in nimuement. "Yes, nnd wasn't it a good idea writ ing that latter signed 'A Stutdy Hilton' and counteracting It next elay bv one slgne-d 'Fair Pla ?' Of c ourse adv ertls liiff In the agony column kept the Inter est up and comfoited Talbot, too." "It's a queer thing. Cliff." said Tal bot, "but I've had mote btiets In the last three weeks than I've ever had In my life. I do believe this mad escapade of Dolly's has been the making of me." And o it hail, for the ate living In a smait little house neat Patk lane, and Talbot has taken silk, and Lady Dolly gives the neatest dinner par ties in London And soclet' verdict Is that she is "quite the nicest woman In the world, you know." Ttuth. Caught the Czar. Peter the Oroat. pays the Colum bian was once veiy really caught In a Map by a jester attached to tho court. The Jestet was noted for his cleverness In getting himself and his f i lends out of clilllcultl-?. It happened one elay that a nu'iii of his had In clined the czui's dlspleasuie and w.u about to be executed. The jester therefoio pusentid himself befote his Imperial master to beg for a leptkve. On seeing him appioach, the car, divining his ennnd, ctlcd: "It Is no good to come bete. I sweai 1 will not giant what you are polng to ask." Immediately tho Jester went down on his knees, saying: "I beseech your Impel lal highness to put that scamp of a cousin of mine to death." Thy c.ar, thus caught In his own trap, could only laugh and paidon the con demned man. LOST. Dedicated to nuthcr and Jessie ("rule, by a llttlo filcud, ten cars old, On a cold and dlsntnl, dreary day In a city far anil far awav, Was a teirllilo knock ul tho door of Death, And the shock of the blow did slill our bteuth. O, sud Thanksgiving Day! Thej shall In a happier count!)- dwell Though never onco wo tould say faro well To wait for that lust tomorrow. Blnco they tuivo t'onu from our sight away, Oh, sadly wo think of euch sweet friend Tho life so liilof with the pitiful cud. O, dark Thunkisglvlng D.i. liultcll Hun Is. Wyoming being the lady's husband's refusal to bnv Pianos and Organs, 4 - f - f 4 ---f 4 -- -f-- A A of Every Description. Violins, Prices from Buy or Not, Everybody Welcome, I Lackawanna MANUFACTURERS OF Crackers Cakes iFine Cream Soda Crackers A SPECIALTY. M.J. KELLY, PROPRIETOR. 1031-1032 Capouse Ave., Scranton 5 iWfW& the daily papers fact that it is so is no ---- -f 4. i . ? rt , r JVJl . - S i - 1 aim xuuaitai g s3.50 to s100 t & -- Piano f. Moving 5i 5 and Confectionery
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers