The Ely miner., 1906-01-19
THAT SOAP
ORDEAL
= EAN ooUzTENAY

<s1
-NO1 a t5- IN sescA one IN = min
ue
Re gave her No tine 70 6enGr- The
sl ss565srTy figure disappeared into
The rEeEeshDz11 UezL zle quickly
s@=Se5 zzz1- cz-TT1Es Two plates Of
Sz-gzSe-rses and cream
he SRI waiting under the grateful
shzSe 81 an acacia watched him cross
Win recklesS EzpiSisy the smoothly
sAzve1 lawn 1Oxr 5nlcsly dotted with
S@u tables. bearing discarded ice
plates and oO1ee cups while q rain
bDE-hue6 crowd sauntered about in
Cwos and IhneeS SriJiciSing with mer-
CileSS fTznEneSS the hostess. her gar
den party and her guests
1t was really awfuIly nice OF you to
Eant second help" said the man.
confden1Iaiiy. for I was longing for
one myself. and unless you led the
way. l couldn't follow
He flashed a pair OF keen, merry
blue eyes beneath the girls wide
brimmed hat and received a sympa-
Ihstic smile
You don't often follow l should
say remarked she between TWO deli
ciOuS nOuthfuls.
That depends on circumstances, =
said he. You must be a born leader
OF men, he added. frankly.
Well, honor bright. | was a born
leader of boys" she said. AT home
when / was a long-haired, short
frocked, harum-scarum girl running
wild with five brothers"
."Tha. accounts for it, he remarked,
enigmatically.
There was short silence.
Please, I've lost the scent" muir
INJURED the girl, plaintively, at last
May ask if you refer to the wild
ness as the thing that 'accounts?'
Not entirely" he replied, laughing,
''but it was the five brothers that were
the making of YOU"
I'm what way" cried she, in evident
surprise.
They kept you from-oh, the usual
girls nonsense" he explained, lamely.
You have the makings of good fell
low in you, and precious few girls
have that" he added, bluntly.
The girl turned pair of lovely in
credulous eyes upon him.
We'll, all can say is, if those boys
kept me free from anything at all,
they did it in blissful unconscious
ness" she said. Whereas | worked
like Trojan to drag them into all the
mischief they ought to have rushed
into of their own Accord"
Il can fancy you doing it," he MUIR
INJURED. wickedly.
81 did my best till they went to
school, and trusted there would be
some one there who would carry on the
good work." she said, without taking
any notice of his remark.
"And was there?" he inquired, with
dancing eyes.
There was There was a splendid
fellow there, chap who hated milk
sops as much as did, and did his best
to make their lives miserable. He was
descended from long line of fighters;
his brain was teeming with tales of
heroism and warlike courage. He was
only waiting till the time came when
he could seize the first chance that
might offer to go out and do or die
for his country. Meanwhile, he trained
his muscles and drilled boys"
did you ever see him. asked the
man.
mo. never But l wormed everything
about him out of the boys, and made
him my own special hero"
did you know his name?" he asked,
hesitatingly.
mo. The boys said his name was a
jawbreaker, so they always called him
Mac which was a shortened form of
his Christian name, and that's all 1
know"
81 fancy l knew him, too," said the
man, slowly. But if so, he was no
hero Was he big, coarse-looking
chap, with sandy hair and tfeckles?"
He was tall and well-made," she
replied. Certainly not coarse-look-
ing. He had fair hair, l fancy, from
what the boys said.'
1.-THE chap 1 mean used to practice
sword play with an iron lath from his
bedstead, and"
"He did!' cried the girl, eagerly.
"An iron lath and cake of soap. He
must have been grand!"
HE was an ignorant bully" said
the man, savagely.
'He was nothing of the Sort" re-
piled the girl, Indignantly. "a bully
is always a coward, and no coward
would have dared to slice that soap in
two with one swift blow from the iron
lath, when it rested on a boys head"
Her look was triumphant.
"And supposing he had missed?" he
said, sternly.
HE never did"
But he might. He was a bully"
"You are quite welcome to keep your
opinion" remarked the girl, loftily
''but you cannot alter mine."
''And what was your brothers,"
"Well-of course at the time, they
were prejudiced. l suppose, with their
unfortunate temperament, it was in
evitable." She sighed "One of them
can't bear the sight of bit of soap
even now, which is a pity, because
nothing ever really takes its place
does it? Still, he never was fond OF
it at any time, so it may be partly an