Carolyn Wells

The Diamond Pin Carolyn Wells

Ursula Pell leaned back in her chair and shrieked with laughter."She will have stuffed dates and fancy fixin's, will she?" she cried; "I just guess she's hadenough of those fallals now!""It quite spoiled her pretty frock," said Mrs. Bowen, timidly remonstrant."That's nothing, I'll buy her another. Oh, I did that pretty cleverly, I can tell you! I took alittle capsule, a long, thin one, and I filled it with ink, just as you'd fill a fountain pen. Oh, oh!Iris was so mad! She never suspected at all; and she bit into that date-oh! oh! wasn't itfunny!""I don't think it was," began Mrs. Bowen, but her husband lifted his eyebrows at her, andshe said no more. Though a clergyman, Alexander Bowen was not above mercenary impulses, and the merereference, whether it had been meant or not, to a jeweled chalice made him unwilling todisapprove of anything such an influential hostess might do or say."Iris owes so much to her aunt," the rector said smilingly, "of course she takes such littlejests in good part.""She'd better," and Ursula Pell nodded her head; "if she knows which side her bread isbuttered, she'll kiss the hand that strikes her.""If it doesn't strike too hard," put in Mrs. Bowen, unable to resist some slight comment. But again her husband frowned at her to keep silent, and the subject was dropped. It was fully a quarter of an hour before Iris returned, her face red from scrubbing and stillshowing dark traces of the ink on chin and cheek. She wore a plain little frock of whitedimity, and smiled as she resumed her seat at the table."Now, Aunt Ursula," she said, "if you've any more ink to spill, spill it on this dress, and noton one of my best ones.""Fiddlestrings, Iris, I'll give you a new dress-I'll give you two. It was well worth it, to seeyou bite into that date! My! you looked so funny! And you look funny yet! There's ink marksall over your face!"Mrs. Pell shook with most irritating laughter, and Iris flushed with annoyance.