The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1906-08-24

" 49, 49, H@A -
all the hard work, all the business
absorption and worry, all the great
affairs OF life which had occupied his
time during the strenuous years fol.
lowing his graduation from college,
had not erased from his mind and
heart the memory of dainty care-free
Laura Tolman, his old sweetheart OF
the college days.
He had suspected this before he re-
turned to the old scenes; now that
he was here the conviction came to
him with crushing force. Every
shaded walk, every leafy retreat,
every part of the old college build
tngs and the campus seemed to be
alive with her presence. AS he
walked the old familiar paths he
seemed to hear the music of her girl
ish voice and to catch the very aroma
of her sweet presence.
With a groan he admitted 1.-THE
had failed utterly in the task he had
set himself out to perform. He had
gone away that day when her en-.
gagement to Bently was announced
determined to forget her. The strug-
gle that afternoon had been a hard
one, and many times he had thought
of the river as the most peaceful
haven he could find. Finally his
pride had triumphed, and, set
ting his teeth with that peculiar grit
ty motion the fellows on the grid.
iron knew SO we'll, he had said to
himself:
Claude Belknap. brace up. Where
Is the spirit of your forebears. Are
you to let a chit of a girl ruin your
life-especially a girl who throws you
over for a fellow who is only after
her money!"
And so he had gone bravely away
with a song on his lips, but with
gloom In his heart. He had worked
hard, and not without success. The
very whole-heartedness with which he
threw himself into his work and
which was born of his desire to so
occupy himself that he would forget
the laughing face and saucy eyes of
his college sweetheart, drove him on
to success. He had taken up a siren
uous profession. and it had carried
him to many chimes and into much
danger.
In the stress and heat of the bat
tie with fortune he had flattered him
helf that the old wound had healed,
and finding hin,cplf IN Tho moan xrintp
ity of the old college town, he had
rashly decided to revisit the old
e Then like the rush Of the tide
came the realization that he ever
would love the sweetheart of his
youth, wherever she was and what
eyer her condition or relationship.
The realization frightened him when
the thought flashed across his mind
that she was the wife of another.
Heartsich with his own reflections,
he sought to escape them by calling
on Miss Carrie Sample, who still
lived in the town, and who had been
a great chum In the old days. He
was given SO warm a welcome as to
make him forget for the moment the
bitter pain in his heart. The CONVEX
sation naturally reverted to the old
college days and the old boys and
girls. Belknap had been abroad so
long and so occupied with business
that he had lost track of them to a
considerable extent, but Miss Sam.
pie, having lived all the years under
the very caves Of the old college. and
being a gossipy piece, knew where
nearly all the old classmates were,
who they married. how they were
prospecting, and all the other details
which 80 delight the feminine heart.
The conversation was animated and
extended, and Beiknap for the time
being forgot his heartache under the
magic Of this clever, and friendly lit.
tie oma
1t was when she dragged forth
from a sacred drawer a bundle of old
class photographs and that he was
most painfully recalled to his great
sorrow.
"Oh, but do you remember this pic.
mic we had" she exclaimed, showing
a photograph in front of his very
nose.
Did ne remember? The blood
rushed back into his heart at the
memory until he thought he would
faint. 1t was a snapshot of a group
at a picnic. The girls adorned with
the boys hats, and the boys wearing
the feminine millinery. 1t was lust
outside an apple orchard surrounded
by a high stone fence, over which but
at a perilous height hung a bough
of luscious fruit. In the very cen.
ter of the picture was Belknap, and
perched au~daciously upon his shout.
der was Laura Tolman, supported by
his strong and steady arm picking
the apples and throwing them down
to the laughing comrades below. Did
he remember that picnic? 1t was the
day when, maddened by the contact
with her dainty self, he had poured
forth his love and then, frightened at
his own audacity, had stammered and
failed to ask the vital question.
The photograph brought back all
the memories of the afternoon, and