Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-10-28
DAILY SHORT STORY
cupid's Summer School.

henurlX barring on the nOte1 reSlSter
was in love. Now, in q way, this
was nothing unusual, for Thomas was
SO frequently, so variously and so OBJ
viously in love that no one at the Sea
View House took him at all seriously.
In other words, Thomas was whole
sale riirt who conducted his campaigns
so openly that had he sat in solitude
for an hour the entire summer con-
tingent upon the island would have
remarked upon the strangeness of the
proceeding; not that such an event
was probable when there were twenty
seven attractive and tractable young
women at hand-that is, all were tract
able except one. Tommy frankly adj
mitted that he had been rejected by
twenty-six out of the twenty-seven, but
when urged TO go ahead and make his
volume of reflections complete he
turned strangely reticent.
No one would have believed the
truth-that the twenty seventh was the
real object of his adoration-and that,
despite his vast experience in this in
stance, he became oddly incapable OF
uttering the words that would put his
fate to test. With twenty-six of the
Sea Viewers" as he dubbed them, he
was brave TO the point of audacity,
and not one of the girls felt her heart
| touched by the turn of so much as 4
feathers weight; but with Janet Mars
den! All, that was different. She
might not take him seriously either.
Tommy really loved this quiet, self
contained girl, and his tongue stam-
MOI eli hn
tell in all seriousness what he had
ofttimes spoken in jest. In spite OF
his mercurial temperament Darling
was not Il fiirt in the common accepta-
ton of the word. Beneath his Gayety
was hidden a strong. manly nature
! that seldom manifested itself. Perhaps
all unconsciously he had shown this
better side to Janet, for he felt in
stinctively that fiippancy in her pres
ence was a Dissertation of the love he
nurtured far below the surface
| The weeks sped by. Pretty girls
| came and pretty girls went. Moonlight
sails and rides gave way TO hops and
amateur theatricals on dark nights.
| There were grabbing on the lake, clam
| bakes beyond the Point and picnics i'll
the woods across the inlet, and of all
these Tommy was the life, the bright
! and guiding star. But tomorrow it
would all end. Janet was going home.
| Tommy gaZed moodily toward the
point of rock around which she had
disappeared. Seven wasted weeks! He
was an idiot, "a
Tommy kicked over a camp chair
that stood in his way and strobe down
the steps toward the beach. He found
Janet with her new magazines perched
in Il shady, sandy corner.
Your mother tells me you leave for
the mountains tomorrow. I'm tremen-
dously sorry you are going"
Tommy was digging holes with the
point of her parasol.
His voice was genuinely tender and
earnest. The smile died on her lips,
and her eyes softened; but, after all,
his record was against him.
Are you clever at fgures?" she in
quired.
She had the parasol now, and Tom
my followed what she wrote in the
| sand:
"21-o6=?"
Like a flash he reached for what had
now become Cuplds weapon. Under
liz NIOlt -t--O-
everything
The others don't count, you know"
he added, looking out at the dancing
| waves.
Very clever of you! What time
you must have thinking up all these
pretty speeches. When do you have
time to Sleep, Her raillery brought
a flush to his cheeks, and he clasped
his hands ,resotutely, about his knees.
ITO be honest, haven't slept much
lately. I've had something on my
mind. I've been trying to find a way
to tell q girl that l love her. but
can't MAKE it. She's not a summer
girl you see, but the sort of girl one
would want winter and summer-for
all time" His fiippancy had quite dis
appeared now, and Janet suddenly
shielded her face with her hand,
though the sun had not yet crept
round the rocky barrier behind them.
You see, no one believes I've a heart,
for I've let the girls play football with
il till everybody thinks it's worn out
but that was just a counterfeit, don't
you see, and I want this girl to I'M
derstand that the real thing is all hers,
and | think it has been waiting for
Just her all these years. Now, If you
could tell me what to say-how to con-
vince her.
His hazel eyes, from which all play
full. teasing light had fed, were fixed
on a distant dipping sail, and he did
not see the expression on Janets face.
There was a moments silence; then
she drew a quick, sharp breath.
You might'-her voice was very
Iow-"you might tell her that you love
her; simply that, nothing moreno
pretty speeches, but as if you really
meant it, and perhaps-perhaps she
would believe you"
i Hoxx,.,,r turned Sha rralu and read