Waterbury Democrat., 1902-09-19

r" she asked And the thing was done in less time than it takes to tell it.
 But she had only picked one ap- pie, the nearest, when his lady love's voice came to them through the trees, calling him by name. And there was a sharp note in her voice (like the taste of an unripe apple) which told them what she saw.
 If you put me down before I've picked the four I'll never forgive you," said the lady of the apples; so he held her till she had them all, though the task was robbed of a full half of the delights he had an- ticipated.
 Now" she said, when she was on her feet again, Ego quickly. o, poor you!'
 Shell cast me off, he said. sI .should--if I were she!" And then he turned in haste.
 "But if she does, come back to mel" she called after him. NWel1-and what? Be quicki''
 "And I'll give you bite of an ap- ple-if there's any left!" she laughed.
 The girl he was engaged to had seen it all, and forthwith renounced her right to that connection. She seemed to have seen even more than all, considering what it amounted to when she went over it in the woods. Low tastes and the society of the i'll bred, she told him, would be his ruin. Then she tossed him over to ruin, declaring she would have none of him.
 "You are free,'' she said (by no means for the first time), ssand I know exactly how you will use your freedom
 s'I hope you'll have the opportun- ity of using yours as well,' he said, stung into retort at last.
 esI might have known!" she cried. 1 70, what have been saved! Every fresh face.''
 ssSo few faces are fresh,' he said; and that was really unkind, for she had sallow complexion. ,
 II am not going to argue it any more,' she declared, having herself talked the subject bare. sGo!''
 And he went. But he was gentle man, and previous to going he had tried his best to soothe her annoyance, even to frankly owning that-from her point of view-she had cause for it. He had tried to close his ears to the echoing voice, his words to the laughing face, of the girl he had left under the apple trees. He did all he could to shut out the sweet, sudden vision of freedom, or release from captivity which had always irked him. It was not his fault in the present that his past faults were accounted unpardonable. He only went when he was certain that he was powerless to rerivet his chains.
 He was not a poetical young man, but some verses the lady who had re- 1inquished him was fond of quoting came to him as he wandered back to where the cause of the mischief (so he devoutly, hoPed) still awaited him. He waited, on his part, until he was quite certain that she was there, un- til he stood in front of her, and then he repeated verse out loud:
 "Where the apple reddens. never pry- Lest we lose our Edens, Eve and r.
 ssSo she has sent you adrift?" said the girl seated under the apple tree. "But Eyes all righti"
 He flung himself beside her.
 sEve's all right, 7 he echoed "God bless her! You haven't finished the apples2" ,s.ilsi
 NO, you're just in time. Here's whole one left" And she passed it to him. That's the prettiest side," she said. pointing; you may bite it there"
 Really"
 ''It seems ceremony befitting the occasion" she said. : There" he said, as he handed the bitten apple back to her. "But I knew what was good for me the moment I saw it, before ate of the fruit'' '
 ssYou are keeping closely to the orig inal,'' she said
 s.Eve' is all right" he repeated Dear, I love youi Am I?''
 He bent towards her. They were so close under the shelter of the old apple tree that she could hear his heart beat, he could hear hers.
 Her cheeks were redder than the apples, and there was strange, new note in her clear voice. Wait she said; T thought could deceive you, but I can't. saw her there before I let you-seize me-
 He did not speak.
 "I know she does not love you; she almost saidxso. She said things about you to me she never could have said | if she truly loved you. believe she loves some one else better. I must not tell you why I think it, butt do.''
 Still he did not speak,
 1T knew-I felt surethat you did . | not properly love her"
 She waited amoment. sCan you for give me?'' she said softly
 If love prompted, ,you?'
 T suppose that was it, she ad- mitted. Hove and apples. Chicago Tribune
 JACQUES OPERA HOUSE