Holbrook argus., 1910-03-01
Hearts United
 By STUART B. STONE


 a sentimentalist. His leisure hours were devoted to the reading of "Wooed and Wed" and the whole Heart of Heart series. Many's the time the lad dusted the shelving in slipshod way, while in fancy he travelled along the Riviera with the rich Miss Dukenheim- CT, and Tommy had name for every life-insurance-calenda beauty in the dingy suite.
 MT. Tommy Burns went one night to the play. The Grantham stock company would render Whistler the Noble Engineer" and MT. Burns had been attracted by the panorama of wild-eyed man grabbing a babe from iron wheels. Also, Miss Olive Bates would appear as Bertha, the Beautiful Knitting Needle Girl.
 Now, while the minor lights drilled through the preliminaries to the great rescue scene, MT. Burns read desultor- fly through the pages of Why She Loved Him. and thrilled as much over the dilemma of Countess Helene in the look, as at the sad plight or Maud Mumford. the dashing adventures in "The Noble Engineer"
 But now the great Bates was coming on, and Tommy slipped the yellow backed book in his pocket. Here would be acting worth while, and Mir Burns held in his dirty hanu bouquet of reddest roses. They were for the great Bates when she passed through the valley of the shadow of the great crisis.
 There was rattle from the share drum artist and a boom and rumble from the man with the bass, and red lights flashed and trains crasned in the painted scenery.
 "Saved!" shouted the noble en. gineer.
 'Saved." repeated the great Bates
 "Saved"' echoed the audience
 Tommy Burns made reply with his posy, and then a passage from Why She Loved Him" flashed through his sentimental brain. He scribbled the tag of his red bouquet:
 All is forgiven. There is no one in the world but you and me-
 After the burning words of Countess helene, he wrote Tommy" Then he hurled loves nosegay on the stage as the Scene-in-the-Alps curtain went down to music, fast and furious
 MT. Thomas Burns went on with the beautifui idyl in saffron covers. but be- hind the Alpine curtain a gruff stage hand brought bouquet of red roses to the great Bates in her circumscribed dressing room. It was gaudy, tat tered thing, and the leading lady at first elevated her dainty nose and won dered at the economical habits of cer- tain Johnnies. But the fine gray eyes caught the name Tommy" and the leading lady stopped short and read ! the scrawling message:
 All is forgiven. There is no one l in the world but you and me-"
 "Oh, bless his heart," babbled the ] great Bates, and she laughed, and cried and gave the grinning stage hand a dollar. Dear old Tom," she chirruped, q knew he would give in. 2
 The leading lady sent perfumed pink note by the grinning stage hand, ! anu IUe DOUS lOuDU US way to very elegant gentleman in a box Then the very elegant gentleman hurried down behind the scenes, and there was drama in real life played right there in the mimic trappings. There had been differences between these two, and the very elegant gentleman Thomas Wardley-had declared he 'would never look at the leading lady again. But he had regretted the words in the bitterness of his heart, and the pink note had brought him in very quick time.
 What 1 cant understand" mur- mured Miss Olive Bates, lis why you wrote in such a scrawly hand"
 Thomas Wardley dissembled q merely wanted to see if you would know. dear"
 But down in his heart he knew that Tommy Burns, the Romantic Office Boy-his office boy-had been at moro of his "Thorns and Orange Blossoms business. and he raised that gentle man. salary when next they met.