Page:Elizabeth Jordan--Tales of the city room.djvu/50

 would like to see you for a minit," could he not sign the note "Yours fathfuly, James Vance Cuthbertson"? He did this with unction, and Miss Neville read and laughed and forgot in the one moment.

Emboldened by the success of these efforts, Chesterfield made his next note a little more ambitious. This chef-d'œuvre read as fol lows:—

The success of this billet-doux was instantaneous. Within three hours it had made the rounds of "The Searchlight's" editorial rooms and Chesterfield found himself famous. He was effusively complimented on his literary style. But the largest drop of bliss in his overflowing cup was to see Miss Neville tuck the note away in her belt "to hold and to cherish," as he inferred, forevermore.

By the irony of fate, it was at this time, when his sky seemed clearest, that a thunder bolt struck Chesterfield. The rumor of Miss