Middletown transcript., 1908-03-21

a fairy haze along the NIL
line, the swish of drifted leaves
underfoot, and two girls VINO
walked unseeing, because OF the
things they were saying ana
thinking. Lily was willowy and
slim in the long brown ulster
swayed by the wind; her bare
blond head was set light and
straight as flowers. But who
could tell Lily's thoughts?
Beside her, stocky and thick.
set, Theresa trudged with
heavily planted steps. Her
shoulders showed square and
under the gray sweater. There
was that about even the back OF
Theresa's black bullet head that
suggested power, and Theresa
had made up her mind to some
thing that afternoon.
Now and then, as she spoke,
she flung out an impulstve hand
and clutched Lily's arm for en-
phasis; but Lily did not move or
turn, walking with light, 1.-the
grace, and looking straight
ahead at the wind-wipped clouds
that scudded the blue above
tn Q hills. 1t needed no
pounding of Theresa's en-
phatic little fist upon her arm to
make her understand Theresa
meaning.
You know all the girls think
the same thing, and have talked
and talked about it, but of course
no one has ever talked to you.
You're rather dignified and dis
tant, you know, my dear.
But when it came to a matter
as big as this election for senior
president, l felt as if some: one
must speak. It wasn't fair to
you not to speak. So I under
took it, being a courageous soul.
All the girls know thatl'm telling
you all about it to-day. I'm not
exactly delegated. They're
waiting to know what you'll
say before-before they vote
tonight. I must say, it's a
pretty delicate matter to speak
to girl about her best friend
but you don't mind my going on?
Lily turned her head with a
little quick smile, non committal,
amused. Oh, no, you may go on,
she said.
Frankly, continued Theresa,
bluntly, you'd have been class
president long ago if it hadn't
been for Millicent Harlow.
A-sharp little vince of pain
touched the self-control of LiIy's
lips.
She's stood in your way from
first to last. At first, in fresh
man year, we thought you couldn't
be nice girl if you had friend
like that, however fine you seem
ed. So we left you both alone.
Then afterward we saw that you
were just as lovely as you looked,
and we wanted to know you; but,
my dear, how could We? How
could we? We simply couldn't
stand Mlllicent, and there was
no getting hold of you without
Millicent. Millicent is always
with you. She'd be here this
minute if l hadn't carried you off
bodily. So we just haven't
known you, gone with you, been
friends, all on account of Milli-
cent.
Perhaps you haven't noticed,
or mind ed, but we've
min ed, my dear,-h er e
Theresa's arm went about Lily's
shoulders in a sudden COM
pelling affection that caught
at Lily's heart,-and we want
you now. Will you?
Not noticed Not minded Did
any of them guess how proud
Lily was? And how friendly,
and how exquisiteIy fastidious,
too? Under her bright self-suf-
ticiency no one guessed what
intensity she had longed to know
them all, the girls who were real.
ly her kind, who elected her to
many an important Office, COM
plimented her thus on her ex-
ecutive ability, looked at her, too,
with frankly congenial eyes, but
somehow never came any nearer,
somehow elusively slipped away
from any real acquaintance, any
genuine friendship. Was not
Lily keen-witted enough to know
that for three years she had
missed the best thing in college,
and keen enough also to guess
the reason, without Theresa's S
telling?
And heae at last, for her last,