Catoctin clarion., 1910-03-03
A Bright Girl
BY DORA GOODRICH
Copyright, 1910, by American Press
Association.


a splendid yacht. the Theta. big
enough to sail anywhere In any wa
ters. and In this yacht he made his
home. He contributed quite number
Of inventions to assist scientists In
making deep sea soundings and inves-
tigating ocean currents and at the
time referred to In this story was EN-
deavoring to simplify sea signals.
AbercrOmbie sailed to the Philip
pines among other places. where he
was welcomed by the United States
officials. especially the officers Of the
army. Among the families Of the Off
GERS he met Miss Leila Turnlee. tu,
daughter Of Colonel Turnlee. com.
mander of the -th infantry. Miss
Turnlee understood his device readily.
Now. the way Abercrombie knew
that Miss Turnlee understood his con-
trivances was because she always said
"Yes" and Indeed" and "How clever"
exactly Mt the right time. and when he
asked. "Do YOU follow me!' she always
replied. ''f'erfectly."
Mrs. Turnlee was much pleased that
her daughter had Il mind capable OF
receiving the explanations OF Aber-
crombie's inventions by Abercrombie
himself, not that she cared anything
for the inventions. but she hoped her
daughters vigor Of intellect would
lead AbprcrOmbie to become interest
ed and possibly that fine catch would
Cali sl g. MI In la1x
dragged half dozen children over
many territories in the western por-
ton of America during her younger
days and had known what II was to
get settled In quarters to be immedi-
ately ordered to some other station
or turned out by ranking officer.
Abercrombie's yacht was preferable
to an adobe hut or log apartment even
when fixed. In other words. Mrs.
Turnlee desired that her daughter
should marry elsewhere than in the
army.
At dinner one evening at Colonel
.Turnlee'S quarters ADercrombie was
explaining to the family his new sys-
TEN Of sea signals. Colonel Turnlee,
who was West Pointer and should
have understood anything In the sig
nal line, knew but little OF what his
guest said Mrs. Turnlee understood
never q word. Miss Leila did not neel
to ask single question. 1t all seemed
to go straight to her brain and find a
lodgment there.
Upon my word" exclaimed Aber-
crombie. "IIow did you good people
come to have n daughter SO much
brighter than yOurselves?'
Leila has always attended the best
schools" said the fond mother point
edly. Besides. she has scientific
tastes"
~ have never met" Abercrombie de-
clared enthusiastically, "one who has
taken In everything ! have said so
readily"
"She inherited 1t from her grand
father. Admiral Turnlee." the mother
pursued. He wrote a book on coral
reefs and another on volcanic forma-
tons. Children always take from
their grandparents rather than their
own fathers"
Colonel Turnlee. who was cracking
nuts, did hot notice his wife's aSper-
sions on his own generation.
"Do you think. Miss Turnlee." said
Abercrombie. that II | were tO send
you message by my code from my
yacht out In the bay you would under
stand IT."
II think | would" replied the girl
demurely-"t Is. II II were not too
long"
"Very well. Look out for one to-
morrow afternoon"
How shall | reply? | have no sig
nails"
You can write or, better. tele-
graph"
Miss Leila made no reply to this:
Possibly she was timid at being put
to the test. fearing that she might fail.
| don't know how she felt about It,
only throw this out as II suggestion.
Her mother had confidence that she
would understand the signal perfectly
and furnish AbercrOmbie with fresh
evidence Of the brilliancy OF her In
tellect The colonel went on cracking
and munching nuts. but said nothing
When the dinner broke up he had to
20 over to see the commanding gen.
eral, and Mrs. Turnlee received visit
from the ma jors wife. This left Abrr-
crOmbie and Miss Leila alone together
for the rest Of the evening. Aber-
crombie in order to give her better
chance to pass the test to come OF
next day coached her bit, asking
her few leading questions concern
ing it. He discovered that she did not
know as much about the code as he
had thought she did. He left her
doubling that she would be able to
telegraph him a correct answer to his
message.
The next day at 3 there We're evi-
dences on the Theta Of desire to
communicate with some one. Aber-
crombie himself was holding up little
flags and running them down again.
His message was. you are very
bright girl" When the signaling was
over Abercrombie waited for her teie-
gram. 1t did not come. but later Colo
mel Turnlee's orderly brought note.
1t read:
Your fiattering offer of your heart and
hand comes so Unexpectedly that ! sho, !
have time. But my own heart says now
and always "Yes"
AbercrOmbie read the missive with
a stare. He married Miss Turnlee. but
even rs his wife she would never tell
him whether she had understood his
message or not.
The Chinaman's Dress.
ThnSa whO understand the subject