Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1903-03-19
WOODBURY., N J, THURSDAY MARCH 49, 1903


now thoroughly fouled revolver kicked
wildly in his hand, well get another
pistol, central fire, that will carry
farther"
"There won't be any next holidays
for me-" said Maisie 'Tm going
away"
"Where to?'
81 don't know. My lawyers have writ
ten to Mrs. Jennett, and I've got to be
educated somewhere-in France, per-
haps-I don't know where, but | shall
be glad to go away"
81 shan't like it a bit. suppose l
shall be left. Look here, Maisie, is it
really true you're going? Then these
holidays will be the last shall see
anything of you; and l go back to
school next week. wish
The young blood turned his cheeks
scarlet. Maisie was picking grass tufts
and throwing them down the slope at
a yellow sea poppy nodding all by it.
self to the illimitable levels of the mud
flats and the milk white sea beyond.
81 wish," she said after a pause,
"that l could see you again some time.
You wish that too?"
eyes, but it would have been better
if-if-you had-shot straight over
there-down by the breakwater."
Maisie looked with large eyes for
moment And this was the boy who
only ten days before had decorated
Amommas horns with cut paper ham
frills and turned him out a bearded
derision among the public ways! Then
she dropped her eyes. This was not
the boy.
"Don't be stupid" she said reprov-
ingly, and with swift instinct attacked
the side issue. How selfish you are!
Just think what l should have felt if
that horrid thing had killed you! I'm
quite miserable enough already"
"Why? Because you're going away
from Mrs. Jennett?"
"No."
"From me then?'
No answer for a long time. Dick
dared not look at her. He felt, though
he did not know, all that the past four
years had been to him, and this the
more acutely since he had no knowl-
edge to put his feelings in words.
81 don't know" she said 81 sup
pose it is"
"Maisie, you must know. I'm not
supposing.'
Lets go home," said Maisie weakly.
But Dick was not minded to retreat
81 can't say things" he pleaded, ""and
I'm awfully sorry for teasing you
about Amomma the other day. It's
all different now, Maisie, can't you
see? And you might have told me
that you were going instead of leaving
me to find out"
"You didn't. l did tell Oh, Dick,
what's the use of worrying?"
"There isn't any. But we've been to-
gether years and years, and l didn't
know how much cared"
81 don't believe you ever did care"
40. didn't but do. care awful
ly now. Maisie,' he gulped. "Maisie.
darling, say you care. too, please"
81 do. Indeed do. but it won't be
any use.'
"Why?"
Because am going away"
eyes but If you promise before you
go. Only say-will your" A second
darling" came to his lips more easily
than the first. There were few endear-
ments in Dicks home or school life.
He had to find them by instinct Dick
took the little hand, blackened with
the escaped gas of the revolver.
II PROMISE" she said solemnly, "but
If | care there is no need for promis-
ing"
"And do you careF For the first
time in the past few minutes their eyes
met and spoke for them who had no
skill in speech.
"Oh, Dick, don n't--please don'ti 1t
was all right when we said good morn
Ing, but now it's all different Amom-
ma looked on from afar. He had seen
his property quarrel frequently, but
he had never seen kisses exchanged
before. The yellow sea poppy was
wiser and nodded it's head approving
ly. Considered as q kiss, that was a
failure; but since it was the first, other
than those demanded by duty, in all
the world that either had ever given or
taken, it opened to them new worlds,
and every one of them glorious, SO that
they were lifted above the considera-
tion of any worlds at all, especially
those in which tea is a necessity. and
sat still, holding each others hands
and saying not word.
"You can't forget now" said Dick at
last. There was that on his cheek that
stung more than gunpowder.
81 shouldn't have forgotten, any
how" said Maisie, and they looked at
each other and saw that each was
changed from the companion of an
hour ago to wonder and mystery
they could not understand. The sun
began to set. and a night wind thrashed
along the bents of the foreshore.
1--WE shall be awfully late for tea,"
said Maisie Lets go home"
Lets use the rest of the cartridges
first" said Dick, and he helped Maisie
down the slope of the fort to the sea,
a descent she was quite capable of ac-
complishing at full speed. Equally
gravely Maisie took the grimy hand.
Dick bent forward clumsily. Maisie
drew her hand away, and Dick blushed.
ITS very pretty" he said.
''Poohr' said Maisie, with a little
laugh Of gratifed vanity She stood
close to Dick as he loaded the revolver
for the last time and fired across the
sea with vague notion at the back of
his head that he was protecting Maisie
from all the evils of the world. A pud-
die far across the mud caught the last
rays of the sun and turned into a
wrathful red disk. The light held
Dicks attention for a moment, and as
he raised his revolver there fell upon
him renewed sense of the miraculous,
in that he was standing by Maisie, who
had promised to care for him for an In
definite length of time till such date
as A gust of the growing wind drove
the girls long black hair across his
face as she stood with her hand on his
shoulder calling Amomma "a little
beast" and for moment he was In the
dark-a darkness that stung. The bull
let went singing out to the empty sea.
Spoiled my aim," said he, shaking