Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-01-14
The Argus Daily Short Story
Premature Courtship-By Louise Cummings.
Copyrighted. 1910. Associated

pretnxt. prattling to him and endeav.
oring to appear like a young lady.
How old would you take me for,
Mr.. Forman?"
"Fourteen-perhaps a year older"
"Oh, dear. you are far out of the
way. I'll be seventeen next month"
you dom mean it,
Are you a believer in platonic at
lection, Mr.. Forman?"
st never thought about it. Are your
Its dangerous. The least thing is
liable to break down the platonic and
bring about the true love-"
What do you mean by the least
thing?"
well. an act of kindness or OF sac
rilice; a touch of the hand; a kiss"
Good graciousl You talk very queer
for a.
"Oh. yes: know you consider me n
kid. You forget I'll be seventeen next
month. and eighteen is legal age for
a woman"
Forman remembered time when
he had considered a girl of eighteen
IN her prime and one of twenty-five
passe. Then he thought how nice il
would seem to be back in those youth
full days How much he had lost by
coming to middle age And here was
a girl who was plainly indicating thai
she wished to be considered a com
panionable person for him. Wouldn't
1t be fine If he could go back a dozen
years and she could go forward few
years, and he could love her and she
could love him, and he could get rid
of his wretched club life and all that?
The next evening Forman, who had
received a letter from Fisk, made a
pretext of it to go to the house to
tell Blanche that he had heard from
her father. Take good care of my
little girl" was the injunction. and For
man made himself believe that it was
incumbent upon him to afford her
some amusement, so he asked her
aunt If he might take Blanche TO the
theater Permission was given and
tickets secured for a Friday night
when the girl would not be obliged
to go to school the next day and could
therefore sleep late.
Blanche wore the dress with the
longest skirt In her possession and put
on all her finery, including a number
of gold and silver bangles. She look
ed very pretty and, more than that,
wore on her face a youthful expecta-
ton that was fast fading from het
escort. She had been to a theater but
once or twice in her life, while the
drama was an old story with him.
But In his companions enjoyment he
found a new sensation The theater,
the players, many OF them mouth
ing their words" and overacting, were
to her real persons, their joys and sOr-
rows real emotions, while the hero and
heroine seemed to be enacting her own
feelings.
Forman, blaze himself, sat regard
ing his companion with infinite salts
faction. When he felt her arm against
his own a thrill ran through him.
When she turned her face toward his,
looking for a companionable apprecia-
ton of some noble sentiment express
ed by one Of the actors, he smiled good
naturedly and alphabetically. Then
when the curtain fell he took her
where they could get an ice, which to
her was more than a canvasback duck
TO one who had been satiated. And
that night Blanche went to sleep
dreaming that Forman was the hero
and she the heroine in the play that
had been enacted. AS for FOrman,
he sank to slumber thinking about
the pretty young thing who had sat
beside him at the theater.
FOTman passed the next evening al
his club. Saturday night is gala night
O z most cIfybz and fhpra vCe-a ptpnfy
of his companions there to keep him
company But somehow the evening
dragged. AT billiards the face of
Blanche was always interposing itself
between him and the object bail At
bridge he lost because he couldn't keep
his mind on the game. And so it was
in whatever he did. When he went
home 10 the house be wax guarding
he felt relieved because be vas under
the Aznls roof u-lib Lha arirI Gho bad