Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1906-10-17
An Adventure of Lovers
IOriginal.l

panionship would ripen into bve. In
deed it had ripened Into AoEa. tka5rgh
none but the young couple knew 1t.
One thing they were forb1GIen and
chat on the ground that Charlotte was
but a schoolgirl. Asa wished TO take
her to places Of amusement. That
which was unattainable openly was
undertaken by stealth. One evening
they stole away and visited theater
together. When the play was Overland
they had started home Ii snfltlciFey be
gan TO rain. Charlotte was frighteped,
and Asa was. to say the least, worried.
By the story they had concoeted ihey
were supposed to pass the evening kear
Charlotte's house under cover. n she
went home drenched the stary lnust
cone out Som ething rnusis Be Aea1e.to
prevent a wettng.
Sta ahding before a house s=Es d ear-
riage. the driver apparently ascep:on
the box. No street lamp was neaE, and
the location was quite In tbe thIrk. Asa
put his fingers to his lips AMI. leaving
Charlotte, tiptoed to it, eautsttas epen-
ed the door and beckoned 10 hea She
came, got into the carriage and Asa
followed softly closing the d6Sv be
hind him. They were beysHa The reach
of drop of rain.
The situation to the cfdAdls5n--fhey
were little more-was delightful. First.
they We're plucking Forbidden fruit In
being there at ALL second taGy We're
saving themselves from discovery by
occupying Il carriage in which tbey had
no right. The rain patteted mSrrily,
but no more merily than they Hhuc-
kled But suddenly their satisfaction
was changed to fright The front door
of the house before which the team
stood opened. A man came out and.
after hasty glance UP and dow'n@the
street, came toward them. Yaa win
dow OF the coach WAS down, assA he
threw Ia a blHdle, which fell in Char
lette's lap, The man Whispered some
thing To the driver and AWAY went
horses. carriage. driver and children.
Their oonsterna ton was great. lEhey
did not dare call to the driver 10 stop,
and shey were in an agony as t. Were
he would take them. The consequence
/
done before-clasped each other tight
ly and waited as If they expected TO be
driven over a precipice They Here
taken they knew not whittier For half
an hour; then the carriage stopped. 1t
had hardly done so before man, who
must have been waiting for It. opened
the door. Charlotte gave bit of
shrek. The man, who had extended
his hand apparently to grasp sqme-
thing suddenly withdrew 1t with an
exclamation and took to his heels. The
driver jumped from the box nlsd fol
lowed him at full speed.
Asa got out through the open door
followed by Charlotte, and they were
about to hurry away when a bftaf curl
Osity supposed to pertain especially to
the softer sex stopped them.
Il Wonder what's in the bundle"
said Charlotte.
"NeYer mind"
"!t may be something Rise Are YOU
going to leave it?"
''Yes-no." He darted losls, seized IT
and the two walked rapidly away.
Asa soon recognized the street they
were on and knew that they were not
far from Charlotte's home. The time
which, If 1t accorded with their story,
they were to- have been at home, was
passed. and they were at a loss what
to do. After discussion they decided
that Charlotte should go into the house
openly and make full confessfon. Her
parents were waiting in much tr4lpida-
tion and before she went to bed She
had made her confession, was forgiven,
and, leaving the bundle With her father.
went UP to her room TO steep ts5 tran
gully as If nothing EaG i happened
Bnt he next morning ~ tCs East
Charlotte Yentufed to aa6 timldiy.
"papa, what was in the bundle?"
Paper, my dear; nothfas bot pa
per" And, taking his morning paper.
he left the table.
After tie episode Asa and Charlotte
were left TO follow their own sweet
wills. No opposition was made to their
going where they liked together. and,
although this spoiled the fun, they had
had one experience together which
formed a strong bond Of unioa. Be
sides, there was a mystery connected
with II, for Asa told his sweetheart
that the morning after it occurred her
father had come to his fathers house.
A third gentleman was called by tele-
phone and the three held a Ions con
sultation. They had called Asa in and
asked L no could identify the tgo per-
sons connected with the mystery.
which, Of course, he could not, though
he gave locations accurately.
Asa and Charlotte's love grew stron-
ger as they grew older Asa went into
business. and when he got SO week
salary he marched up 10 Mr.. Grape
and asked for his daughter
Asa" said the old geatleuan. do
you remember your carriage drive sew
eral yenrs ago? Well. On that drive
you captured $4,000 that had been
stolen from bank. The parcel thrown