Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1902-06-05
The Girl Who ROmped
BY PAUL P. HARRIS.
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otsrfVG for bass, hungry, great
4 ,outhed fellows who lay in cool
4 y T.. down by the lily-pads, would
We anewered very well as a pas
h-, The fishing at Sister lakes
IN particularly good, and many
Is had interviewed between Spen-
- boyhood and the hurry away"
rscst;on Of the presents they had
tssp for the most part spent IN a
s;ty law office, not particularly airy
~ tbropped with afiiuent clients
hsrt on separating themselves from
-.rstv bills and ancient eagles; but
,bsre was Just one thing that Spen-
cor epfuyed even more than he en-
;ors5 fishing. and that was lying in
4 he cool shade, gazing through the
dense foliage skyward, thinking Of
pob and Bin, who used in the old au-
.,,mn davs when the leaves were
scar. 10 climb out on those very
4 hongbs and shower the beach nuts
4 down,
Then. OF course, the thoughts
would gradually revert, in spite Of all
d that he could do, 20 the girl with
"a the ebanreable hazel eyes that PROM
,sed only 10 retract; TO the venture
some romp who laughed. not 10 hear
n herself. not to be heard, but be-
h esuse there was something within
n that inst wouldn't stand suppress
inc. 10 the girl whose glance wrought
,be mischief Of making Of a pre-
passessinr lad a stammering lout and
there left him 20 marvel as 20 the
" WHY'S and to resolve that as soon as
II The melons IN the valley patch had
II riDeued they should be gathered and
rld and that a snug sum should be
spprapriated for "fXins' designed
rrrposely to spellbind hazel eyes and
M rge her Of the irrepressible mirth
h 10 understand well that a man need
not necessarily be a fool just be-
n cause he sometimes couldn't think Of
his own name-that indeed he might
a be quite a fellow.
SPENCER rolled slowly over and
n dssbing the locks from his forehead,
b looked far across the water where
Fl Bob. he who IN a recent year had
Fl courted death on San Juan hill, who
II had lmet iu storm Of shot and she'll
Il and drawn the lids over the luster-
less ewes Of Bill. who used 20 sit
a astridc the limbs above and shower
ID the bursting beechnuts down-Bill
Il vas brother 81 The girl who romped
-sat the 7ys Of the hot Septem-
Il tar san casting lazily for bass. Il
Fl was nc his instance that Spencer had
a torn himself from the haunts of the
n restless and sought quiet near his
& Old home in a cottage all Bob's own,
n Bob had a fashion Of divining the de-
a sires Of his friends even before they
q themselves had sensed them.
Three years ago, just after the
81 historic battle of the hill, he had
written q long letter Of coincidence
8 and something else, but somehow,
after be had stopped 70 recall the
time when he had been subject TO
& those queer spells Of quaking, the
letter was never mailed When Bob,
81 sunhurned and worn, returned from
n the field. it was hastily rewritten I'M
4 der another dating and entrusted to
his care, but there came no answer.
One evening, early in his stay AZ
the lakes, Spencer strolled away
from the cottage, and though il was
well on in the night when he re-
turned, Bob asked no questions nor
i did Spencer vouchsafe explanation.
He might have told how he had gone
on past the old mill and tumble
down schoolhouse and passed and re-
passed the little white cottage with
the green blinds and broad veranda
that nestled in the glen. He might
have told how. summoning to his
service an the resolution that he
possessed, he had crept along the
velvet greensward beside the gravel
path tn the shadow Of the lilac bush
that grew beside the kitchen win
dow. lie might have told how he
stood there trembling as might some
very guilty fellow about TO perpe-
trate the most dastardly crime Of
his life: how he felt weakened and
how the perspiration gathered on his
brew and formed little rivulets which
eoursed down his face and neck; but
an these sensations were better kept
% himself. They reminded him #
Day when unexpectedly confronted
by the ewes Of irrepressible mirth,
be had been rendered speechless, and
So entirely bereft Of his faculties
that IL would have been quite inn
possible for him to have said wheth-
Ter he was afoot or horseback.
Ashamed Of eavesdropping. Spen-
Ger CROPPED his way back through the
dark Of the quiet September night.
The moon had sunk behind the copse
That fringed the hin that ran along
The old turnpike. and Spencer felt a
sponding sinking within
Another evening Bob and Spencer
sat on the little rear veranda which
overlooked the starlit lakes. The
night chorus had just begun. Katy
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