The Alaska citizen., 1910-08-22
as Margery's Two Lovers &s

And there's this to be said in
 favor of marrying into the navy
 you never lack for an escort If your husband is away on sea duty there's always some classmate of his
 to tote you around and play substi-
 ute" Margery had listened at the
 time to this defense of the service,
 but as it was her cousin, not herself,
 who was marrying into the navy
 she did not pay much attention 10
 the argument
 A year later, however, when she
 became engaged to Lieutenant Jim
 Allen she recalled it thoughtfully. 1 For Margery was southerner.
 Her appearance proclaimed that fact
 even before her delightful accent
 established it beyond question. She
 met Jim while she was visiting her
 cousin at a northern navy yard
 and became engaged to him after
 three weeks of ardent wooing, and
 then she went home to Altamara
 with his ring on her finger and his Jim went to sea. It was easy
 enough to be loyal while she stay ed quietly in Altamara for she knew every man in the town and had | been engaged to half the boys in her set, but being engaged really was different.
 A cousin of her fathers who lived
 in New York wrote and asked her
 to visit her for the winter. Her parents insisted upon her accepting | the invitation. The day she arrived in New York she slipped Jim's ring
 from her finger and put it on the | chain she wore about her neck. It
 would save her a lot of troublesome explanations.
 New York was a revelation. It was her first glimpse of the metropolis, and she wrote glowing accounts of the theaters, restaurants and parties | to Jim. Her cousin had three daugh- ters and the house was never dull. A letter from Jim one morning brought her up guiltily. She was go | ing motoring with a man who claim ed distant relationship and who lal ,;, her arrival.
 Jim's letter said that a shipmate of his had just been ordered to the | New York yard and he had promised to look Margery up as soon as he arrived His name was Prater and he would be sure to turn up in few days. Margery sat beside Mil Ter Wagram very soberly that day, her usual flow of easy chatter sil- enced, and Wagram glanced at her curiously. He divined taht some thing was amiss, and he was trou- bled, but he feared to lose the po- sition of confidence he had gained step by step by an injudicious ques- ton, so he held his peace
 Prater called the next day He was older than Jim, hatchet faced man of 30, with small, shrewd eyes and a lurking smile at the corners of his thin lips. He delivered mes sages from Jim and then began to lay plans for her entertainment as | disconsolately before he came. He invited her to tea at the yard, and she felt obliged to accept. The day was decided upon, and then he left. Cousin Kate received the halting confession with great tact.
 My dear child, it was your se- cret, and you had a perfect right to keep it. If you take my advice you will go on being silent. We will have tea with MT. Prater and thank him for his charming courtesy, and | in return, if you wish, l will ask him here to dinner. Then your Jim will have nothing to complain of" It seemed so simple that Margery felt load slipping from her, and | she threw both arms about Cousin Kate and embraced her impulsively. The tea at the yard was as delight full as six bachelors could make it, and, as there was no open allusion
 to Jim, Margery soon got over her momentary embarrassment and en- | joyed herself thoroughly. Prater
 scarcely left her side; he was most
 attentive, and he made her feel
 that he had gone out of his way to do her honor. He accepted Cousin
 kate's invitation to dinner with
 alacrity and proved himself a most | entertaining guest. Then he in vited them to dine on board the
 station ship, and Margery felt the
 meshes tightening about her. The
 arms of the service were long, and
 they were reaching out She had
 been on the point of slipping away,
 and they were stretching out to re-
 capture her And in the ten days
 that followed she saw Prater almost