The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1908-07-13
The Mood
OF a Maid.
By CECILY ALLEN.
Copyrighted. 1903, by Associated
Literary Press

tOuCAcQ the CHduueuI arm 1HS
great crimson car came to a 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
ed the car as If his thoughts were con
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 the direction from
whence it had come.
Safely screened by the underbrush,
the girl found a clearing in the wood
land and sat down on a moss grown
log Deity she unWound the swath
ings of chiffon from her hat barring
q face delicate and sensitive as the
anemones opening at her feet.
She drew off her gloves and felt Of
the velvety 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 life around her.
Chipmunks and squirrels scampered
along the edge of the clearing. Where
the sun shone upon a 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 a woodpccker.
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
q 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 a Grim
eon 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
lish cloth, a shabby visor cap and a
pair of goggles which had certainly
seen more prosperous days.
He was scorching along at q fine
rirt .oI r,,1v- ct a
the edge OF the road and waved a de-
tanning hand-a bare hand at that.
The machine slowed down, and the
man made preparations to descend, as
became one hailed by a maiden in dis
tress. But again the girl raised a de-
tanning hand.
MY car met with an accident.
thought perhaps-I am very anxious to
reach Dalton this afternoon. Perhaps
you were going that way. Would you
give me 4 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 l vls-going to
Int ldCtS, DQI an QUIZ II ~ LII IN
much more pleasant at-er-was it Dali
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
car before the astonished man could
assist her
e, in, hn m
silence. Then the girl spoke abruptly
LET us take this crossroad. Their
mile farther we will strike the old
Dalton turnpike. There we will not
meet
II understand" he interrupted grave
1y And the great car swerved into
the crossroad, running through 8
stretch of woodland.
Again the girl seemed plunged IL
thought But at last the man remark
ed bit lamely:
Perfect day, isn't it,"
The girl looked up at him shyly. Hel
eyes were soft and luminous.
"Oh, l have had the most beautiful
hour there in the woods. I've never
seen anything half so wonderful a.
those little creatures doing just as they
pleased. Just as soon as the bird
tired of one tree or bush or fern the!
flew off to another They did not mine
me nor each other. Just think Of bein:
like that all your lifer'
The man looked at her curiously. a.
II she were new specimen of thu
genus feminine and entirely worthy o
deep study.
1T is all so different from what Nv,
been used to. l wake up knowing tina
Marie swill be right there with M.
chocolate. And then will come card
and mail and foweGs and Aunt Mar
garet OF course Aunt Margaret is
dear. but ten years of doing thing
right under Aunt Margaret's eyes ar
very tiresome. Don't you think so2'
II am quite sure it must be terribl
bore" replied the man gravely.
And then seeing the same peopl
everywhere you go and being quit
sure that you viii see no one tina
Aunt Margaret has not seen first"
The man bit his lip at this naive cor
fession.
ssno Won know said tho girl waNin