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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 1903)
23 THE IIvLUSTIJATED BEE. Tale of the Crimson Sock M (Copyright, '.xa, by Marian West.) I.'RIKIj wan lute, an tisuul. iinln Riven a Blow, chiwUIy nort of name, he never runit? on time to anything. 1 don't suppose Muilil could be alert anil huliii'SHllke any more th;in a Kiite could he v.itfuc and dreamy. Hut hIk- inlKht liuve fought against the name n little, especially on her own weiMiiitf day. The Krixim had walked u tr.uk Into tlie vestry carpet ami 1 was Kltlrif? uticjinfortMlile myself wh'-n the ir;iin gave h great thump of relief and the turn, turn, tiium! of tin; welding march told ine it WaM time to take l.uuU out and Htand him up to he tnrilcd. The dent man always has a supcrlm- to:l of air In the chancel. . He isn't gnlng to make u little show of himself t') amuse a church lull of people and (lien strut dow.i tlie uisli', arm In arm, with a white moirid of tluff, lookliiK and feeling like a toy liguie on a wedding cake. He cm get hehlnd the palms If he m cnilinrnisscl, or Htmly the white rllihon guests If he haa (lone It often cnouth hefore, or mak ' eye ( at the maid of honor, if he'B Interested In the irl In the fifth pew. I wasn't es pecially excited over this wedding, Mmkl hclng the least congenial of my sisters, and Louis riot a hit my sort (though n goo 1 fellow In his way, and the front of the. church heing all Jammed wltli relnlves, wlio Home way always look Jay en mas-e. btlll, It wasn't a hul show. Wo took our laci s, Iviuls and I, ami everybody rustled around to roc the bridal jirocesslon which was crawling up the hlsle, the kids leading off, very in nidi pleased with themselve-i, then Muriel, look ing vague and heavenly, b it appircntly all there. At . leant 1 thmmht bo . the llrst Klauce; the. second nviih1 me uneasy. Hurcly It wasn't 'right that her feet, ns they came out from. under her skirt, should be different -color. 1 c nildn't make It out. One foot would come forward while and mall and shiny, and then the other, red and climiHy and twice a big. Louis was too nervous to notice anything and most of the people .didn't look down, but I. Haw several girls turn and pinch the' perHons next to them and bite their lips. When the procession was nearly at the chancel the truthKudflcnly dawneil'on me.. Muriel had put on those; led, - woolly, knitted things she calls bed socks to Have h:r slippers, and, of course, had forgotten to take them off. One was probably between Us and 'the sidewalk and the other had tayod nobly by her. An Louis, prompted by a dig from me, went down . the steps to meet her, Hhe Kuvo him on a lovely, nngel look, then dropped her eyes. ' The Harvard foot was Just eominir forward. She n'tofped short, and hor face became unrapt as If. she. hud Htepped Into lee water. She. looked dlsmayedi. tlie.n, for. the first time In her life,, almost practical," and started oil In a latching fashion,' ho that only the while foot phowed. All through "I, Muriel," and the rest of It Hhe wor''d one foot gently against Hie other, and when he turned to go down he gave me an expressive glance. She didn't know whether she had been mar ried or not, but she knew thut the thing Was off. I looped as though to straighten Iier train, picked up the Bock and stuffed It into my pocket; then we all sailed proudly down, I with my eyes on the maid of honor, since Kate In the fifth pew was badly in need of discipline. As I put Muriel Into the carriage she. caught my arm. , "Oh, did any one see It?" she whispered Imploringly. ' . . ' "Not a soul." I answered promptly. What's the good of spoiling 'a girl's wed ding dayT "Having real lac saved you, for nobody looked at anything else." And I shut the carriage door, knowing that I bad restored a bride to her husband's arms for she had forgotten all about IjouIs You could not have fooled Kate like that, even for her own comfort. : This explains why the next afternoon, as I was hurrying up to take Kate to the dog show, a bright, crimson sock flew out of my pocket, where I was exploring for a handkerchief. As a knitted sock is not the bort of conveniences a man usually carries with a frock coat and a top hat, I put It back rather hurriedly. A po llcemnn who was ruminating on tlie cor tier motioned me to stop. "Will you be kind enough to let me see that?" he said. ' I gave htm a look that suggested I would not be kind enough, and started on, but he put his hand on my arm. I diUn't care for a scene, so I stopped. "It Is nothing that concerns , any one else." I said Impatiently. "Merely a thing of my slsttr's." And I gave him the red sock. lie looked at It Inside and out, and tried to do the same with me. . "I have no objections to your keeping that, but I wish you" wouldn't keep me any longer," I exclaimed. Kate Is not Inclined to be easy on people who are late to ap pointments with her. "I have an engage ment." "It will have to wait." he Interrupted. I must ask you to come along and ex plain this." ' "Juxpluln wuatt To whom?" I de manded, so evidently amazed that he be came suddenly deferential. His explanation was not flattering. It Hcems that the evening before a woman had Invited herself to a big wedding In the house on the corner and had tried to walk off with Honu" wedding presents. She had been caught, but a confederate was sus pected, Hlnce a diamond star und several other valuables had not turned up. In Iier pocket had been found a red nock Bii'iplcloiisly likt' the one that had dropped out, of mine. And the policeman would not be doing his duty If he did not take mo down .ind have the matter looked Into. "To be mire, I may be on my way to nnother wedding." I suggested. "IVrhaps you will lind a whole ring of us carrying thesi the Order of the Crimson Sock. It Is the llrst time I was ever considered to look like a thief." "Well, sir. If they always looked their trade, we'd have less trouble,", was the dubious answer. "I don't for a moment say It's you. but my duty," etc. It was clear enough to me. The woman had been in the sidewalk crowd a few hours arllcr. when Muriel was married, find had picked up the other nock as it dropped off. Hut I couldn't get this through the man's head, so, very savage, I took him to the police station to get him discharged for ofllclousness and stu pidity. At least, that Is the way I ex plained the trip to myself. Tlie magistrate laughed good naturedly over my tale. "I guess you've barked up tho wrong tree tills time, Sam," he said. "That's tlie other sock, Hiire enough. It probably happened Just us the young gentleman sa . s 'she picked It up ut the church. 1 wish you would go up and take a look at her, and see if yoii noticed her there yesterday. 'She's' nn odd looking fish. You'd remem ber her." '.'I'm In a good deal of a hurry," I pro tested. . : , ."Oh, it won't take a minute. We want to find out If there was any one with her nnd you may Just happen to have noticed. She won't open her head." I followed, u -(willingly enough, through A Short Story by Marian Wcsf the dismal stone corridors to a door whlc'.i was unlocked and flung o-ieu. "Here's your partner In crime," said the magistrate, facetiously. It was half a moment before the .girl sitting on the narrow bed lifted her face and looked at me. When she did die sprang to her feet, then rushed toward me and Hung both arms about my neck. "Oh, Tom, Tom; I knew you wouldn't go back on me!" she cried. "I knew you'd bo true to me and not let me take all the blame. Ah, Tom, I knew It!" "What the d?vll!" 1 exclaimed, pushing Iier away. "What are you trying to do? Who do you take me for" The magistrate's face was a study. "Do you know this young man?" he asked, Hternly. She looked straight up Into my eyes and an odd look crossed her face. For a mo ment she hesitated. Then she clutched me again. "Why, It's Tom," she said. And I don't blame any man for believing her. I shook her off and turnnj to the others. "I don't know what she' trying to do, but I know I never saw her before," I shouted. "I'm not Tom. It's tome sly game." "Oh, Tom! how can you?" came a wall from the bed. The magistrate eyed me coldly. "You will have to prove It," he said. "I have told, you who I am. I can get all the people, you want to prove It." "It Isn't a question of who you are. You have Hlmply got to show that you were not with this young woman between 8 and 10 last night, when the things were swiped. If you can prove tin alibi, well and good." "Of course I can." I began, then stopped abruptly. It was tho very thing I could not do. For Kate had been in a madcap mood that night, and we had run away ti svther and done a wild, bohemlan, unchaperoned thing that was always to remain a solemn secret between us, and, unluckily for me, we had not been found out. I had no alibi. "I can't say where I was without Involv ing someone I don't want to bring in," I explained. He looked as if he had heard that tale before, but I went on haughtily: Tho whole thing is an absurd blunder; Mid I 11 " "' nr' 1 1 r' '' ffW$ Mi M m m J- F. BLOOM & CO., Monuments, Headstones, Statuary and Mausoleums. Largest Stock of Granite Monuments in the West. CLASSIC AND ORIGINAL DESIGNS. Office and Showroom: IRIS Fimam r -n . Hall, Om.h., Nebr.k. fi.. vy Telephone 576 Wolfe-Lovett Electrical Co. s ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES. 1804 Parnatn St.. OMAHA. NEB. 504 First Ave.. COUNCIL BLUFFS. IA. Browning Motors and Dynamos in stock. Write us for prices. October 4, lJWfc t Farrell & Co. Any romprphensive nnd lnttlli,'t'nt re view .f Hi. Individual factors Unit have powerful aids to tTie material de velopment of Uie citj-s industrial pre- Farrell & Co. tipo will certainly assign a consplcn ous place to sueli an enterprise as the corporation known as Farrell & Co., one of the most important manufacturing concerns of Omaha and the largest one in the west in Its business lipid. Troin the huge structure this company's fac tory occupies at lil7 to 1!23 South Eighth street a building seven tdories high, containing 2:!i.(K square feet of floor space- these manufacturers and refiners output an immense quantity of food pro ducts and specialties, the Tarrell line comprising syrups, molasses, strained and comb honey, jellies, preserves, mince meat, fruit butters, cleaned fruit, bak ing powder, extracts, and other supplies of high grade for the grocery tradt. 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