Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-12-03
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Copyright, 1907. by Mary McKeon.

Burt Seymour, son of Farmer Sey- mour, had given "sugaring off" party in the sap bush, and his invited guests numbered a dozen of the young men and girls of the neighborhood. Such parties are always given with the last run of maple sap and are, simple af- fairs. The guests all gather at the sugar bush, where the sweet sap has already been boiled down to thick sirup, and scat themselves on log while the sirup is boiled little more and then served around on clean maple chips. There is snow yet left in the woods, and a dab of sirnp dropped on the snow produces maple wax. There is a general stickiness, a general state of hilarity, and the girls go home with wet feet and the young men with wax on their chins. ,.,sg
 In one sense this party referred to was great success. In another it was calamity. A sewing machine agent had been stopping at Farmer Haliday's for the last two weeks while he beat up the country. He happened to be q young man and a taking fellow, but there was no earthly reason for Burt Seymour to be jealous of him. Eunice Halliday and Burt had been engaged for three or four months, and while she was naturally fiattered at the con- pliments paid to her by the agent, whose name was French. they didn't turn her head by any means. She saw from the first that Burt was inclined to be jealous, and she was therefore more circumspect, but Burt's jealousy still ranked. He took good care that the stranger shouldn't be invited to the sugar party, to which Eunice was duly escorted by the host, but cheek is a part of the stock in trade of agents of all sorts, and no one was greatly sur prised when Mir. French showed up as cool as snow bank and took the big gest chip in the collection. .......
 As old Aunt Martha used to say, all girls that amount to anything have a spice of deviltry in their nature. Be they ever so sweet and nice, there are times when they like to hector. When Eunice saw, with all the others, that the coming of the agent annoyed her lover and that Mr. French was in clined to put himself out in another and more agreeable way to make things a success, she came as near flirting with him as she could and miss 1t. The harder Burt scowled and the more he showed his vexation the more reckless she became. She didn't in tend to go too far, but just far enough to punish him. He would be sullen and sulky going home, but she would make up with him before they reached the gate-that is, she thought it would be that way, but she was mistaken Burt referred to the agent as q "snide, '' a squirt and several other. things and, although she only defended mild, ly, it was sufficient to keep his tenn per hot. He announced that he had been disappointed in her; that there was no such thing as loyalty known to her sex; that a few compliments from a "masher' were valued by her more than his enduring love, and when the gate was reached she announced that she wouldn't submit to be browbeaten and he fiourished his arm in reply and exclaimed:
 Farewell, false girl! have loved you as no man ever loved before, but you have let fool part us. may be sunstruck this summer or die of a broken heart or commit suicide, but twill not matter to you. You will have simply broken one more human heart shattered the faith of another man ir woman's integrity" ..,......
 Of course Eunice went into the house prepared to brave 1t out, and of course 1t wasn't fifteen minutes before hel