Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1907-08-23
What Game of a Kiss.
tOriginal.1

toriginall
August had come. The musical sea.
son was at its height. The grasshop-
per chirped all the morning. the locust
sang In the afternoon, while the tree
toad was preparing for an engagement
evenings.
Within the dropping boughs Of q cop
per beech hung hammock, and in
the hammock lay a girl. There was
not bit Of color in her attire, from
the lace about her neck to her white
shoes. She had promised him game,
but It was very hot and instead Of
going on to the grounds her steps had
been detected to the hammock.
What's that triangulating on the
tennis court? White trousers like
pair Of dividers give an appearance Of
triangulation. The owner of the
trousers Is lazily dancing tennis ball
on racket. He wonders why she
doesn't come. Presently he strolls to-
ward the house to look for her. He
doesn't find her on the porch, so he en-
ters the hall and calls to her. No an
swer. He returns to the porch and
stands looking out at anything, every
thing, nothing. Then he catches sight
OF something white moving under the
branches Of the copper beech. He tri-
angulates there, moving with more
animation than before, and, lifting a
bough. looks under the green roof. She
sleeps. Intent on the lovely sight be-
fore him, It doesn't occur to him that
the vibrations had stopped rather sud-
denly. So still is she that life is evil
dent only by the rising and falling Of
her bosom. The mouth is In an admira-
Bile position to be kissed, the head
thrown back and partly over the ham,
mock's side. The birds above sing
love songs to one another: the insects
on the lawn give fantasia In the
same strain. The maxwell, the man
stoops and kisses the girl.
She does not awaken, and he kisses
her again.
Thrice he kisses her, and the third
time she moves. Then after a bit she
opens her eyes and blinks at him.
why. where did you come fromT
Prom the tennis court, where you
were to have Joined me-"
Its too hot for tennis"
II think 50 too. Much pleasanter
here. I might have won pair Of
gloves"
''You wouldn't do that"
"whyr
Because you are a gentleman"
Would you never have forgiven
mel"
"Never-that is, unless we had been
engaged"
He thought a moment, then said,
There was no temptation under the
circumstances"-
mo temptation! How compliment
taryr
II mean that knowing would incur
your displeasure II l kissed you
wouldn't think OF doing So"
"Ohw
He was sitting on wicker chair be-
side her hammering the ground with
] hic oh ahaapt1v n
what are you thinking aboutr she
asked.
IL once kissed a girl in n hammock" I"
he said, "and l wasn't engaged to her
either She was asleep, just as you
were. | kissed her three times, and
the third time she awoke. She knew
very we'll I'd kissed her"
what did she do?'
"She didn't do anything"
"And what did you do?"
IL didn't do anything either at the
time. But that evening 1t was moon
light She went to sleep on the wicker
lounge on the porch-and-well, kiss
ed her again"
1t was now her turn TO do the think
ing.
81 suppose" she said presently, that
so long as you had kissed her once be-
fore
Three times"
"It didn't make so much difference
about the fourth klss-that is. from
you-and since she was asleep II
wasn't her fault anyway"
"If you should go to sleep on the
wicker lounge on the porch tonight and
should kiss you, you wouldn't be to
blame. would your
Certainly not. But your
"Oh. maybe I'd be to blame, but
since you didn't know anything abosi