The Cairo bulletin., 1907-04-08
The Awakening
Of Charley.
BY Josephine Wentworth.
BY Josephine Wentworth.

! When Charley sauntered into the
yard and dropped down beside Jane
on the Old bench under the elm, he
had in his mind Just what he was go
Ing to say he had been rehearsing
1t all day but when he was beside
the little girl he had loved since
childhood, looking ilto her big, in
nocent blue eyes, hs suddenly be-
came speechless so far as proposing
went
Jane was In her usual mood; quiet
and confiding, telling HIN the hap
penings OF the day. But Charley had
something else on his mind, some-
thing that he wanted to say, and
mos. OF her news fell on deaf ears.
Jane noticed his abstraction and,
thinking that he was not interested.
became silent.
For a long time neither spoke.
then:
Did you know that Ned Burlay'n
cousin Violet, from Chiago was com
ing TO spend the summer with
them" she asked.
No
Ned says she is dream"
Stuck up. III bet
He says that she will have all the
fellows in town In love with her be-
fore she has been here two days
~ know one she'll not have"
Charley declared.
That night, after he he'd gone, she
stood before her mirror, critically
studying the reflection therein. Jane
was not what one woald term pretty.
Her features were regular, but her
face was covered with a mass of tiny
freckles.
Ned's boast tha' all the boys would
be at her heels had not been In vain,
aud much to James discontinue.
Charley was one OF the foremost. To
him Violet was d revelation, her red
lips, bewitching dimples and dancing
eyes played havoc with his heart. He
wondered what on earth he could
ever have seen In that freckle-faced,
red-haired Jane.
Charley continued to call on Jane
same as ever, but there was differ
ence In his attitude toward her. He
looked upon her now as simply q
friend OF childhood and she accepted
the changed condition OF affairs with
a fortitude that was pathetic had not
Charley's eyes been blinded by the
flashing charms OF the frivolous Vto-
let.
So PASSED the summer, and when
fall came Violet began talking of re-
turning to the city, and Charley
awoke to the fact that for him life
woald become an empty void after
she had gone Then he asked her to
marry him.
She threw him a sancy look, low
cred her eyes demurely and said she
would consider IT, Charley had new
er made study of human anture.
especially people Vi Violct's stamp,
and so fooiishlg went about in
dream OF ecstasy,
When the day for her departure
arrived he had not received his IN
swer, and she promised to write TO
him as soon as she had spoken to |
her mother on the subject.
During the following week Jane |
saw nothing of him, as his time was
all taken up in dreaming OF the fu- /
ture, and In going to and from hts |
house to the post office.
Family he was rewarded by re-
ceiying a dainty miss!ve postmarked
Chicago He did not open 1t till he
was safe from observation, then he
tore It open with a wildly beating
heart A moment later he was star
Ing at the sheet In amazement--it
was not his letter at all, but was
written TO girl In New York.
Violet had written two letters and
had put them In the wrong envel-
opes. He glanced over the pages
until he came to the last paragraph,
then his face paled and an angry
frcwn settled on his brow. He read
1t over twice.
And Minnie" ii read. "yoa ought
to have seen what proposed to me.
use to amuse myself In pici,ing
hayseed on. OF his hair. and he had
such lovely hair, too And Just
think, II was the only 'pop' / got all
summer: not much like the exDeri-
enee we had at the seashore year
ago Well. I've written him a nice
little letter OF regret IN which told
him that my ma won't let me. II
may wake him up"
II did wake him UP. II showed
him a type with which he was who'll
ly unfamiliar. ard taught him a les
son that he would remember the rest
OF bis life And while he was thinF-
ing OF what he had Just read there
came intruding into his rlind pair
OF big innocent blue eyes. AMI he
imagined that he saw look OF sad
ness In their depths Then he :ore
the letter into fragments and groani
II into the earth with his heel.
When he sauntered into the yard
Jane was sitting on the old bench
under the elm. When he dropped
down beside her he had no idea what
be vas going to say. o. how he was
going to explain his conduct of the
past few weeks: in fact he had ex-
peSted that she might ignore him. as
ne deserved