Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1907-05-31
Thus if thou wilt prove me, DEAR
Woman's love no fable,
will love thee half year,
AS a man is able.

She was one of those girls who do
everything for the first time and ten
you so. She had never danced a waltz;
1t was her first experience with a grass
court at tennis; she had thought pine
apples grew on pine trees.
She gave little screams of delight
over everything, and kept saying:
How exciting! It's just like
book"
She visited at an army depot for the
first time, and called Parkhurst per-
fectly sweet. The military folks re-
garded her complacently and spoke OF
her as dear little thing" they
smiled at her tenderly as on the va
carries of a pretty child. Capt Forbes
with whose wife she was staying)
said she was like April sunshine.
Unexpected? said Mrs. FORREST
mo" replied Capt Forbes, and he
did not explain.
Elsie-her name was Elsie, Tor II
seems as if sometimes people choose
their own names so as to have them
fit, or else grow into them so that they
become appropriate eventually-Was
sweet-tempered and fiuttery and full
of song as a canary bird.
She was happy in her pink prints
and dotted muslins, and as pretty as
a rose in the garden.
Under her white parasol, which in
that white, hot sunshine gives not
suggestion of shade, but only makes a
pretty fresh glow on a delicate skin,
she could be seen wandering up and
down ON the beach by the bathers, out
on the little wharf watching the pretty
children padding through the clear
water, or with her irrepressible camera
taking some ones picture under the
trees.
She never minded the heat or found
1t unbecoming; the wind never blew
too roughly for her-indeed, it cannot
for one whose hair only goes into be-
witching curls for it-and she actually
looked pretty in a bathing suit.
One day the Forbeses took her out
to visit a man-o'war which was lying
off the shore. Elsie delighted the sail
ors who Tin spotless white) manned
the launch by giving delightful series
of "oh's" when she stepped into the
coQuettish little craft to get out to the
ship, and when they laid the white
dancing thing like a skittish horse up
to the companion ladder, their delight
at her delight was boundless, though
unspoken.
The day was sparklingly clear, and
the beautiful water was bright hum
ming-bird green over its bed of rock.
1t broke in flashing white under the
prov of the launch, and where there
grew grass below was tainted all hues
of violet on the surface. She held on
to the edge of the cushions with both
hands Git was not necessary, while her
fluffy light hair blew into her eyes, and
she laughed like baby taking bath.
The ship of war was painted white,
and the brass on her decks and rig
cling shone like the sun Where she
f1oated placidly at anchor the deeper
water was a wonderful brilliant Eue,
so that one thought of a white bird
against the blue sky
She had never been on a warship
before, and she had never met naval
officer before, and she had never been
in love before-until then.
He was MILDLY with brown eyes;
his hair was brown, too, not to men
ton that fine brown skin He (oh!
and some others) took them over the
ship.
She shuddered over the machine guns
and ecstasied over the chests of flags
and their signals; she raved over the
man whom thy babe play the banjo
for her between decks; she said the
sick bay was dreadful and would give
her the nightmare, she knew, and then
laughed, and when the MILDLY gave her
cap ribbon she only thanked him
with shy, bright look.
The MILDLY thought her "cute," and
promised her chaperone to call on
them that very evening He did
In the forenoon he took her for
drive up the gray-green trees of the
woods" where Elsie said, How mys-
teriousi" or How VERDI" at least
dozen times.
Then Mrs. Forbes gave a dinner
elsie wore white), and afterward they
discovered that the MILDLY sang and
played the guitar He sang la Pa
Iona" in Spanish, with his knee
thrown over the arm of the chair. He
looked immensely picturesque with the
yellow ribbon of Elsies guitar against
his uniform.
When the latter ingenious yong
woman said she liked Spanish songs.
he sang "Pepita's Mouth" and "Hasta
La Manana" with glances at the bind
girl, who was as different as possible
from the Pepita of whom he waTbled
Mrs. Forbes poked her husbands
foot little. He looked at her blank
ly. OF course he had not noticed any
thing.
Then Elsie sang, too, with the piano,
"The Garden of Sleep and ''Beautys
Eyes" The MILDLY said she should
have let him sing the latter, which he
did to her accompaniment, with great
expression and fervor (She had love-
ly little shivers down her back that he
did not know anything about while he
was singing)
Then Elsie, who had always sung
with the expressiveness of a boarding
school girl, with mechanical heights
and depths, sang with real grace and
feeling that exquisitely dainty and
simple Il Leaned Out Of the Window
She did not look at him as she sang:
OH my sailor, make haste,
For the time runs to waste,
And my love, my love lieth deep
but the MILDLY, sensitively and finely
constructed, felt upon him the eyes of
her soul.
The days sped along like the trees
and fields outside a train window,
each miniature perfection. Bright,
cIoudiess days they were, of white sun
light and struggling, lazy flowers. Her
life seemed as bright and shining as
the country roads themselves, but