Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1909-03-11
The Mood
OF a Maid.
By cEcILY ALLEN.
Copyrighted. 1908. by Associated
Literary Press.

lOuCucd Tic CuduACuA . a IL. 4 hC
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-
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 the direction from
whence it had come.
Safely screened by the underbrush,
the girl found clearing in the wood
land and sat down on moss grown
log. Deity she unwound the swath-
ings of chiffon from her hat. barring
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 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
a 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
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 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 dis
reputable looking storm coat of Eng
fish cloth, shabby visor cap and a
pair of goggles which had certainly
seen more prosperous days.
He was scorching along at a fine
pace. But the girl calmly stepped to
the edge of the road and waved de-
tanning hand-a 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-I 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 smile and sprang
from the machine.
II was-or thought was-going to
the races, but | am sure it will be
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.
silence. Then the girl spoke abruptly.
LET us take this crossroad Then
a mile farther we will strike the old
Dalton turnpike. There we will not
meet
81 understand" he interrupted grave
ly. And the great car swerved into
the crossroad, running through a
stretch of woodland.
Again the girl seemed plunged in
thought. But at last the man remark
ed bit iamely:
Perfect day, isn't it?"
L lit SITl fCOktQ u ~ az ILL ouy ~. A1C1
eyes were soft and luminous.
sOh, l have had the most beautiful
hour there in the woods. Eve never
seen anything half SO wonderful as
those little creatures doing just as they
pleased. Just as soon as the birds
tired of one tree or bush or fern they
flew off to another. They did not mind
me nor each other. Just think of being
like that all your lifep'
The man looked at her curiously. as
if she were a new specimen Of the
genus feminine and entirely worthy Of
deep study.
1T is all so different from what I've
been used to- wake up knowing that
Marie will be right there with my
chocolate. And then will come cards
and mail and flowers and Aunt Mar
garet OF course Aunt Margaret is a
dear. but ten years of doing things
right under Aunt Margaret's eyes are