Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-06-10
She Hrgus Daily Short Story
The Mood of a Maid. BY Cecily Alien
Copyrighted, 1905 by Associated Literary Press

The girl leaned forward after scan
touched the chauffeur's arm. The
great crimson car came to painting,
deliberate standstill.
The girl did not wait for the chauf-
feur to help her, but sprang lightly to
the road and vanished into the wood
land on the right. The chauffeur turn
cd the car as if his thoughts We're con-
centrated on the necessity of making
the smallest possible turn in time Of
safety, in order to be prepared in time
OF emergency. And then the great Grim
son car shot back in tie direction from
whence it had come.
/ Safely screened by the underbrush,
the girl found a clearing in the wood
land and sat down on moss grown
log. Deity she unwound the swath-
ings Of chiffon from her hat, barring
Il face delicate and sensitive as the
anemones opening at her feet.
She drew off her gloves and felt OF
the yelvety moss on the old log, then
stopped to gather flowers. Finally,
with the blossoms forgotten in her
lap, she leaned forward, her elbows on
her knees, her chin propped in the
palms of her hands, watching the
woodland lifesaround her.
Chipmunks and squirrels scampered
along the edge of the clearing. Where
the sun shone upon tangle of fern
and jack in the pulpit two robins
perched pertly on dry twigs and dis
cussed the troubles of May moving
day. From the shadows of the wood
beyond came the persistent hammering
OF q woodpecker.
Beyond the screen of underbruSh au-
tomobiles and smart turnouts spun on
toward the race track, where the world
of fashion was foregathering. An hour
passed. and then at the distant wall of
peculiar siren whistle the girl sprang
to her feet dropped her lapful of flow
ers and ran to the roadside.
Bearing down upon her was Grim
son car, twin of the one which had
| dropped her so unceremoniously an
hour earlier.
But the resemblance stopped with
| the car. The chauffeur in the first car
had worn a spick span uniform in tan
| color from the tips of his highly polish
ed boots to the crown of his heavy red
cap. The man in this car wore a dis
reputable looking storm coat of Eng
| fish cloth, shabby visor cap and q
pair of goggles which had certainly
| seen more prosperous days.
He was scorching along at fine
pace. But the girl calmly stepped to
| the edge of the road and waved a de-
tanning banda bare hand at that.
The machine slowed down, and the
| man made preparations to descend, as
became one hailed by maiden in dis
| tress. But again the girl raised de-
| tanning hand.
my car met with an accident
thought perhaps am very anxious to
| reach Dalton this afternoon. Perhaps
you were going that way. Would you
| give me lift?"
She looked up eagerly into his star
tied face. Then the man coughed dis
creetly, swallowed a smile and sprang
from the machine.
Il was--or thought 1 was-going to
the races, but / am sure it will be
much more pleasant at-er-was it Dial
ton you said?''
The mans accent was English. The
admiration in his eyes was the sort
that knows no nationality The girl
flushed beneath it and sprang into the
ear before the astonished man could
assist her.
! For a few minutes the car ran on in
| silence. Then the girl spoke abruptly
| ..Let us take this crossroad. Then
a mile farther we win strike the old
! Dalton turnpike. There we viii no;
meet A--.~s..