The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1906-10-19
Love Letters at Auction
BY Lee McCrae
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find her name and address upon ONE
thing, he lowered over, watching the
ruthless handling of the precious gar
ments, and listening dumbly to his
abominable comments. 1t was joking
over her coffin to the tortured Larry.
But he had sufficient presence of mind
to cram the box into his pocket while
Ross Investigated the bottom of the
trunk. Fortunately no full name
coupled with an ad"dresscould be found,
so at last Larry succeeded in wheed-
ling the owner out of his bargain"
Late that night the two, stealthy as
burglars. carried the trunk out of Mrs.
McGaffey's domain, up the street, and
into the Cowan home.
Don't breathe only every other
time" whispered Larry. Il don't want
the folks to know-that is, until to-
morrow. Here! Let's put it under
this old covered table"
All night he tossed upon his bed,
upbraiding himself for the days that
were gone and mourning bitterly for
the girl he loved. About midnight it
suddenly occurred to him that the at
tic was the only safe place for the
trunk. His sisters delighted in clean
ing up his den" the moment he left
home.
1t was no easy task, but he sue
ceeded in getting it up the steep stairs
and stored away among the dusty
boxes and barrels. On descending he
found the whole house in an uproar.
Burglars! Everyone, even to the
sleepy Bridget had heard them, and
there was wild running to and fro,
Yes, he, too, had heard a noise. and
was looking in the stairway, he ex-
planned, brushing a suspicious cob
web from his mustache. 1t took fully
an hour or more to quiet his mother
and sisters and to this day they in
clude that night among the family
scares.
The next day, with the announce
ment that ne had business in the city,
Larry took a hasty departure. Any
thing was better than this horrible
uncertainty. He must know whether
Nell Burr was living or dead.
Arriving at his destination, ne
walked quickly to a familiar house in
the suburbs, rang the bell, and in
quired in as matter-of-fact a way for
Miss Burr as if it had been two days
instead of two years since he had
stood there. But there was no trace
of surprise on the maids face. She
simply said:
Come in. But she may not be able
to see you"
Presently she glided into the room,
a mere wisp OF a girl, with flushed
cheeks and a look of intense surprise
On her face. Her hand trembled as
he clasped them and her voice was
unsteady as she greeted him and
added;
Pardon my limpness. | am just
commissioning from a severe illness
an accident, rather. You heard | was
caught in a hotel fire? Yes. l owe
my life to a fireman. See my SCARF"
and she pushed back the soft hair
upon her forehead.
He questioned her about the acct
dent until she finally said: Il lost
everything | had taken with me for
my trunk was left at the station, the
check lost with my pocketbook. None
of us thought of it until | was out of
danger, and now we can get no trace
of it. You see, | have been i'll for
months from the shock. But there
was nothing of much value in the
trunk, only clothing and some--some
k~eepsakes."
For n delicious moment he watch
ed the flush deepen on her cheeks;
then, losing all interest in the bat
tered trunk, he plunged into the theme
that had brought him there, the fool
ish misunderstanding of two summers
ago. He plead manfully, taking all
the blame upon himself, never hint
ing Of the bit Of paper that lent such
courage to his wooing.
1t was only when their baggage
caught up with them on the wedding
tour that she first saw the little
brown trunk. To get even, she cried,
teasingly:
Poor Larry! How cheap you must
have felt to have bid in your OWE
love letters at auction!"