The man she hated : $b or, Won by strategy — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The man she hated : $b or, Won by strategy
John Stuart Mill · en
But still she could not remember to whom the voice belonged, although a
wild hope came over her that perhaps some of her friends were searching
for her--a wild hope speedily dissipated, for when she laid down upon
the floor and placed her ear at a gaping crack she discovered that the
conversation, which began to grow loud and threatening, related to the
larceny of sundry shirts and collars.
“You failed to bring the right number last week, and this week it is
the same, so I determined to come myself and to force you to give
up the missing things, for I will not be robbed in this wholesale
fashion,” said the voice; and then Sadie’s hopes fell into ashes.
“It is only one of her customers whom she has robbed of his shirts,”
she decided.
But so keen was her curiosity over the owner of the familiar voice that
she stationed herself at the window, hoping to see him emerge from the
house.
She was not disappointed, for presently the furious war of words below
came to an end, and a man stepped out into the street with a bundle
under his arm--the missing shirts, which the dishonest washerwoman had
yielded up on being threatened with arrest.
Sadie Allen screamed with joy and pounded furiously on the window to
attract the man’s attention.
It was Waverley Osborne, the young clerk who had been in love with
Fairfax Fielding, and for whose sake Belva Platt had plotted such a
wicked revenge on the innocent girl.
The young man looked up at the noise above his head, and quickly
recognized the face of the good-natured girl whom he had seen so often
at the factory.
“Good gracious, Miss Allen, what are you doing here?” he exclaimed, and
she answered:
“I am a prisoner, Mr. Osborne. Oh, please, please make that wicked old
woman downstairs release me, and I will bless you forever.”
“All right,” replied the young man heartily, and he instantly darted
into the house again.
A furious altercation ensued, but the end of it was that Waverley
Osborne burst open the door of Sadie’s prison and took her away with
him in triumph, although the old woman fought, scratched, bit, and tore
like a hyena in the effort to keep her prisoner. The young man was more
than a match for her, however, and got away in triumph with Sadie.