The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1905-03-14
REWARDED
By
CLAIMING POLLOCK
Copyright, 1901. by Charming Pollock

IOf uef vacation almost enClrely De
cause Frank Ewing was there. To
her friends in the offices of the Ameri-
can Opera Chair company she said that
she felt the quiet Of the place to be
what she most needed. In point Of
fact, however, what she most needed
was the love Of the young boOkkeeper
who had dropped his pen a week be-
fore with the avowed intention Of rus
ticating at Red Bank.
The ordinary, sensible woman Of thdr-
ty-two, which was the exact age of
Miss Marshall, probably would not
have sympathized with her much con-
cerRing this requirement Ewing was
just twenty eight, and his gray mat
ter" was not gray because of maturity
or overexertion. He was exceedingly
good looking, exceedingly tall and
broad and debonair, and these virtues
had appealed at once to little Miss
Marshall, whose eyes were accustomed
to grayness OF mind and Of other
things.
Ewing liked Miss Marshall, too, in a
patronizing sort of fashion, his regard
having been deepened considerably by
the discovery that she was mistress
Of double entry" and not at all averse
to double labor. His affection never
melted into words, and it was suff1-
GENTLY adjustable to permit of being
put quite out Of the way when its pos
SCISSOR met so fluffy and alluring per
son as Nellie Carruth.
Frank Ewing's gone with your girl
again." Miss Marshall heard an idler
remark banteringly to another as she
climbed the steps of the Globe hotel.
She stopped to tumble handkerchief
out Of her bag.
"Who7 Nellie CarruthT' inquired the
youth addressed. Looks as if / was
cut out, doesn't it?"
That he was not the only individual
"cut out" Miss Mashall learned i'm
mediately upon the return of the pair.
Fluttering about the piazza, she dis
cerned them at the end Of the street,
the bookkeeper hanging on the words
of his companion as no amount of mere
appreciation of wisdom ever made man
hang on the words of woman. Ew-
ing was greatly embarrassed, too, when
he saw Miss Marshall, although she
tried to seem uninterested alike in his
presence and in his attention to the
blue frocked girl to whom he present
ed her.
Ewing was acting quite within his
rights, she told herself later, obeying
the impulse that babe her justify him
even to herself. He had made no pact
with her, at least no verbal pact, and
she knew that few men recognized the
validity of unspoken contracts Why
should fine, strong fellow whose life
was before him be tied to a neutral
tinted woman who already realized
that her future was to be only her past
stripped of its illusions? If Frank
Ewing wanted to marry Nellie Carruth
1t wasn't any of her business.
Nevertheless while presenting an i'm
perturbable front to that part Of the
world located at Red Bank she suffered
keenly the next few days. Miss Car
ruth and her widowed mother occupied
cottage near the river, and between
walking, riding and boating she and
her new admirer were together almost
constantly. Ewing glanced at Miss
Marshall once or twice, assured him
self that she didn't care and was glad
that he had not committed himself.
Ewing was not bad sort Of man; he
was Just man.
This was the state of affairs when a
fire at the Carruth cottage upset Red
Bank and permitted to the bookkeeper
q display of courage which seemed to
write "fnis' to his romance. The blaze
broke out at dead of night and gained
such Roadway in the front part of the
dwelling that there appeared soant
probability that the two inmates could
be rescued Red Banks volunteer fire
brigade propped its ladders against the
veranda before the bedroom windows,
but very wisely refused to mount them
through the blast furnace Of the blaz-
ing porch. Ewing went up one of them
like toy monkey on a stick and car
ried both women to places of safety.
Miss Marshall, who thought it risky
did not witness this deed, but she
heard Of it, and her heart swelled with
pride She had known all along that
Ewing was capable Of just such hero
ism. Forgetting her previous reserve,
she fastened to congratulate him,
bringing up speechless and fearful be-
fore the couch on which he lay nursing
a bandaged burn on his cheek.
This burn, the result of contact with
falling brand, kept the bookkeeper
wrapped In darkness and oil silk for a
fortnight. His right eye had been en-
dangered and had to be treated care
fully. Miss Marshall forfeited a con
siderable amount Of salary and remain
ed at Red Bank. She really was need
ed after Miss Carruth, to whom the
fire soon became only an impersonal
occurrence which made good material
for story telling, found a rowboat
shared with her earlier admirer' rather
preferable to stuffy room shared with
her later sutton and the odor of iodo-
form.
The injured man missed her greatly
and inquired of Miss Marshall concern
ing her. Miss Marshall, with bravery
in the feminine gender of that which
he exhibited at the fire, replied that
she supposed Miss Carruth much occu-
pied with getting furniture for her new
cottage.
Her new cottageY' exclaimed Ew-
ing. 81 may be interested in that my
self some day"
Miss Marshall tried to change the
subject
"She's a brickr the convalescent
went on. Pretty as picture too
Don't you think she's pretty, Miss Mar
shallY'
Miss Marshall did.
She concluded that Miss Carruth was
something better than pretty when she
witnessed her first meeting with Ewing
after the bandages had been taken
from his face. The brand had penciled
an indelibie mark of scared scarlet
from his forehead to his throat. Miss
Carruth gave vent to an abbreviated
scream when she saw 1t and then
mastering herself, grasped the victims
hand firmly. Il didn't realize" she
said, how much you had done for me. .
Manifestly Miss Marshall had been
unjust in considering her mere doll.
One evening soon after, however
when she was sitting at her window,
looking into the mist of her life, she
was given reason to resurrect her first
opinion. Ewing and Miss Carruth were
seated below, and Ewing was propos-
ing marriage. The woman upstairs
knew that she ought not to listen, but
her breath was quivering in her throat
and she could not move away to save
her soul