The Cairo bulletin., 1909-04-25
A RISE IN
VAL UES

crushed IN his hand. II brought BACK
wildly to his mind picture of long
ago-the lonely country lane, the rus
tic figure of that sweetheart of old,
the girl to whom he had scarcely given
thought for years Now a guilty
feeling came over him as he thought
Of the promises made, of the good-by
kiss, of the correspondence that fol
lowed and then died a fickering
death,
Poor little thing. And she must
have been waiting for him all these
years, And he--he had come to the
city and in the mad rush TO make
his own way had buried her memory.
Now, out OF the past, came this in
vitatiou asking him to come up and
renew the friendship OF the past.
Poor little girl She had been
mourning for him all these years. and
guilty wretch that he was, he had
been the means Of making miserable
a life all too restricted, anyway, on
account of its environment
Dea. dear, Ii was all too bad. But
now the chiyalric thing to do was to
make some amends. even if they neces-
sarily had to be heeting. He would
run up on the first train 1t would
give him a chance to see his native
place once more Not that he relished
that. The cheerful graveyard, the aw-
ful hotel, the familiarities Of old
sch0olmates did not appeal to his mu
uicipaI sensibilities.
But the girl. Certainly after all
these years she was entitled TO have
her heart soothed.
He looked up the time table, found
he train left in Two hours and then
sent telegram
After il had been sent it suddenly
occurred TO him that 1t was a foolish
thing to do. People in remote country
districts were not used to such things.
i would doubtless frighten her, but it
was too late to remedy that.
He gathered In Il box of candy on
his way uptown and a bunch OF violets
Certainly no two things We're calcu.
lated 10 go any straighter to the
heart of the demure little country lass
whom he could now see in his minds
eye standing wistfully in the gateway
as he waved to her down the road
As the train moved into the sta.
ton and slowed down he jumped off,
fairly bewildered. The old station had
been torn down. The smart looking
affair In its place seemed almost an
anomaly on the landscape. But he
had no time 10 think.
Hello, Jack! Awfully good of you
TO come. Jump right in. You're
dear thing
The girl who squeezed his hand so
frankly, and, indeed. so athletically-
could it be she? It did not seem pos.
s!bie,
Before De knew it she had tossed
him into her motor car, with all his
belongings. and they were OFF down
the road at 80 miles an hour
Nellie, is it yours he ex
claimed.
Sure But say Jack. why didn't
you telephone instead Of wiring? You
know ! have a long.distSnce right IN
my room Dear me, II would hay
saved nearly two hours, and ! can tel
you I've had to s-Irry around TO &C
some decent people in to dinner But
they are coming although some have
80 miles 90 come. Here we are, Old
homestead rather decent place since Il
was made over. ch? by the way. did
you bring Wall street edition with
gou9 I've been 30 busy-all due 90
yw-that ! haven't even had time TO
ask about iho market Candy AID
flowers, on. thanks" tossing them
on the table Lovely Of yu1, huf why
diln't you ger Marlard's? Never mind
Sir down aud have a smoke II you
don't ike these cigarettes have an
other assortment in the other room"
Before le knew it she had dragged
him iu'o the modern looking country
house and deposited him In chair
"Will sou excuse me a few min
u'es9 she called. halfway out Of the
room. - want 20 wisBas a neigh
Dor"
But he ran after her and held her
back
Good heavens. Nellie" De gasped.
what is the meaning Of ali tbgs2 Why
didn't yUu Oct me know? I've been
thinking % vou all these years as a
demure little country girl with
broken heart Am I in a dream2
Everything has changed. Can this be
really you2 What has happeaede"
Nothing but a real estate boom.
my dear I've been so busy giving
weekends and going to Europe and
playing bridge and motoring that
really will you forgive mel act
ually haven't had time 20 call you up."
He gave one feeting. bewilderiug
gaze AZ the smart establishment. at
the charming CLINT Of landscape
| through the window. fanked by tho
box hedge. and then came swiftly back
II Il.