Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1900-05-03
The girl looked him full in the face,


the God given intuition of her sex.
There goes your dance with Miss
Clark" she broke in. You must not
keep her waiting"
but | cant leave you, Virginia, all
alone here"
please do. Then come back to me
after the number. want to be alone
for awhile"
And Fairfield reluctantly left her sit.
ting on the fartlcst corner Of the broad
piazza, which had been made gay for
the party by long festoons of colored
paper and II multitude of candles in
fantastic paper cases. Virginia sat In
Il brown study. The bandmastcr. with
an ingenuity nearly akin to sacrilege
had made the interinezzO from "Cnvai
leria KuSticalu" into Il waltz. The girl
knew that the music told Of mans
love for Il woman, OF the great joy that
had come into her own life.
\ solitary breath of wind stirred the
festoons along the front of the piazza.
The coasting sailors knew Il storm was
brewing. \ sharper breath Of wind
came and swung the feStOons near
where Virginia sat The candle in one
of the paper lanterns topplcd over In
II second the tissue paper ease was all
ntire.
The girl saw the accident. In seq
ond she realized the danger to the great
hotel, its wooden frame as dry as tin
der. Virginia saw the peril of the hun
drpds of men and women 1t held. Then
she realized her own helplessness. Dick
had taken her crutchcs and placed
them in corner of the building beyond
her reach. While she thought with the
full raplity of her active mind the fire
spread to the festoons. Then she con-
ceived her plan.
In Il second she was upon her knees
She half-cra wlel across the piazza floor
until her olltstretched hand could reach
her crutclles. She slipped them under
her shoulders and swung back across
the piazza. Not a soul was near to help
her. and her quick instinct told the girl
that scream would create II panic in
the crowded ballroom. The fire danced
along the paper festoon.
How she ever did 1t she could never
afterward tell but it seemed Il divine
strength aided her strong arms rs she
climbed upon the piazza rail. With one
arm grasping the pillar for support. she
stretched the other toward the blazing
decorations. She thought she caught
the sound of hurried footsteps along
the piazxi. She could not reach the fes
toon by several inches. In a moment
the dry dead vine along the caves
would he nblaze and Il would be too
late. But Virginia had kept her head.
She coolly reached down, and, srasping
one Of her crutclles by the arm rest,
stretched it up and twisted it In the
blazing paper decoration. A sharp.
quick pull--somethlng broke, and in Il
moment the whole blazing mass lay
burning it out in the grass far from
harm.
She turned and saw Dick standing
beside her. He gravely helped her
down and carried her to a chair.
Your opportunity came quicker than
we expected. You did very brave
and very gallant thing" She heard
Dicks voice speaking in her ear, and
she turned and gave him her hand
without saying Il word.
1t is needless to tell what followed
Virginia Howper found her popularity
had swept into fame. People called
her the heroine Of the hotel, and new
,vt,, 10 tn 1ln oil
day newspapers sent for her photo
graphs, and the tales of her achieve
ment went far and wide. Virginia
laughed at 1t and took 1t most good
naturally. TO her the praise of II GER
tain westerner was infinitely more de-
sirable than the entire lOud-vOiced
plaudits Of the eastern contingent Of
the hotel.
Richard Fairfield returned to Cor
dona, Iowa, after his fortnight's rest
in the south. To certain of his friends
he gave condolences. He limited very
vaguely Of general dislike for the
customers he had met at the Florida
resort. He described them vigorously
as cOld-blooded and disagreeable. Then
lie would lower his voice and hint that
there was one exception to the rule.
Two months later when he returned
from a flying trip to Baltimore that
seemed strangely suspicious in view
Of his previous opinions, he gave more
condolences. This time he allowed that
he would make no exceptions In the
future. The only exception in the east
was going to move into the west.-New
York Evening Sun.