Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1901-01-30

weight vas largely resting on his left
shoulder. He stole glance out CT
the corner CT his eye, and made sure
that she. was intensely interested in
his tnisiiseribt.. He wondered why.
1t was a poor story, rs stsrses Fo'
&c oncenting it. 1t
he had no 1uca ". 49,
was decidedly below the average IN
plot and construction; yet there was
something In the style that he liked.
He thought the authof might do
better work after q time:
Ali These ideas flashed through his
EDITORIAL mind as lie read: Hs tSeT
he was: not, interested. in the story.
and :Hnder .ordinary icircumstances he
i%@oulan ta+e ssinsRed rapidly over the
remaining pngess but he was stransesS.
conscious that his neighbor was abb
sorbed in it. and it occurred to him
to let her read it through. If she
was interested in it, why would not
the average reader be interested like
wiser. He wondered Ii the average
rsadef ersaliya did enjoy that kind Of
sentimentab almost naudin y rubbish.
Seventy-fve percent OF magazine
readers are women, he argued, and
here was a woman who might be con-
sidered to represent the tastes Of that
75 percent. Leighton, therefore, de-
termined to try the story on. the dog,
and, turning the pages slowly, he
noted his neighber's interest. Now
that he was alert he could feel her
every move: She leaned forward; or
sat erect, Us the mild intricacies Of
tie plot 6nwound themselves: At one
point i very Respectable old Joke.
which had been put into the hero's
mouth. brought 4 smile. OF recog-
nition to. teigbton's lips, and ne. saw
in the mirror, across the Gar, that the
young woman positively beamed, and
even seemed to color. He made a
mental note about old Jokes in
general. The sentimentalism grew
more intense as the pages turned, the
lover pleaded, the woman spurned
him, the moon came up, soft strains
Of music fitted across the silent air."
and the young woman In the pink
waist grlpped her, newspaper, caught
her breath and turned almost half
around toward leighton. He sur.
missed that she had read faster than
he, and Vas watching to note the
effect upon him OF that last chaotic,
heartrendering paragraph:
He folded the manuscript slowly,
conscious as he did that the weight
on his left shoulder was gradually re-
He made some hieroglyphics
on the back of the envelope, and as
he did so the guard shouted his station
from the doorway. Leighton gathered
up his papers, rose. stole a quick
glance at his iieighbor, and started for
the door just as the train pulled into
the station: He had seen that the
girl was not bad looking, and her
eyes shone with suppressed excite
ment: Leighton began to doubt his
editorial judgment, and, as he walked
toward the stairway; he determined
to seek another opinion on that
story.
Just then some one laid d hand on
Ills. ARM. and he turned to find him:
self face to face with the young
woman OF the car. She was blushing,
but she looked up at him with an air
of quiet determination.
81 beg your pardon" she began,
"I hope you will not think me too pre-
suming, but 1 simply could not help
speaking to you. could not miss
the opportunity. l saw you reading
the story, and I felt must ask you
about it."
These words were ratified out as
fast as she could speak them. She
paused, breathless. Leighton smiled.
What is it that can tell you about
the story?" he asked. ITO be perfect
ly frank. 1 noticed you were interested
in it on the train. Perhaps you will
answer some questions for me. too"
and he led the way to one of the
benches on the platform and asked
her to sit down.
81 hope you did not think was
dreadful rude to look over your shoul-
der that way" she began, "but-"N
mot at ALL" laughed Leighton.
"That was natural. 1t was entirely
pardonable."
eyes, it was,' she said, because /
am Miss Ida Barker"
Leighton looked at her with a
pleasant but perfectly blank ex-
preston. He did not see the connec-
tion. He had never heard of Miss
Barker He felt for a moment as If
he ought to have known at once who
Miss Barker was. The young woman
looked at him as If she, too, felt Chat
he ought to have known. II she had
said She was the Duchess of Marl-
borough, or the president Of the
w. C. T. u, she would have offered
him some ground on which to base
a mutual understanding; but the name
Barker conveyed absolutely nothing
to Leighton. Besides he was in
hurry to find Won Beck. He was
about to tell Miss Barker that he was
pleased to meet her, when she re-
sumed:
"Will you tell me what you r>ally
think of the story?"
That's just what I should like to
have you tell me- he replied.
"But what good would that ,o?"
she asked. What difference does 1t
make what l think Of my own story?"
"Your story" exclaimed Leighton.
"Yes, my story. I just told you l
was Miss Barker"
Leighton stared at her for q mo-
ment; then a great light burst upon
him. He jerked the blue envelope out
of the package, opened the manu-
script quickly and saw written across
the top of it Miss Barker's full name
and address. He colored slightly, and
said:
Il had not connected you with the
story at all, Miss Barker. In fact,