The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1911-01-30

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she wished to be considered com
panionable person for him. Wouldn't
1t be fine If he could go back dozen
years and she could go forward few
years, and he could love her and she
could love hirn, and he could get rid
of his wretched club life and all that?
The next evening Forman. who had
received letter from Fisk, made O
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 1t was
incumbent upon him TO afford her
some amusement so he asked her
aunt II 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 II number
of gold and silver bangles. She look
ed very pretty and, more than that.
wore on her face u youthful expeeta-
ton that was fast fading from her
escort. She had been to theater but
once or twice in her life. while the
; drama was an old story with him.
But in his companions enjoyment he
, found new sensation. The theater
the players. many of them mouth
ing their words" and overacting, wert
: to her real persons, their joys and sor
5 rows real emotions, while the hero anf
heroine seemed to be enacting her owl
8 feelings.
v Forman, blaze himself, sat regard
- ing his companion with infinite salts
5 faction. When he felt her arm agains
J. his own q thrill ran through him
When she turned her face toward bis
a looking for a companionable apprecis
g ton of some noble sentiment express
ed by one of the actors. he smiled goo
% naturally and alphabetically. The
lie when the curtain fell he took be
IL where they could get an ice, which
1T her was more than a canvasback due
,e to one who had been satiated. An
ne that night Blanche went to slice
x dreaming that Forman was the bel
re and she the heroine in the play TIL
ne had been enacted. AS for Forma
IN he sank to slumber thinking abo'
at the pretty young thing who had s
at beside him at the theater
err Forman passed the next evening
IS his club. Saturday night is gala mig
d at most clubs and there were plen
an of his companions there to keep hi
ng company. But somehow the event.
at dragged. At billiards the face
49, Blanche was always interposing its'
III between him and the object ball.
bridge he lost because he couldn't Ike
Y his mind on the game. And so it W
In whatever he did. When he we
" home to the house he was guard
he felt relieved because he was un(
the same roof with the girl who b
thrust herself unbidden into
. thoughts. His club life seemed mi
unsatisfactory to him than ever.
Z One morning Forman woke up c
scious of the fact that he was drift
into an equivocal position. His frie
had asked him to look out for
home and the two people in it dur
Il his absence. What had he been doll
Turning the head of that frien
daughter, not quite seventeen we
\ old In this Forman was wrong
was not he who was turning the 81
head, but she who was turning
head. At any rate there was 50
thing very delightful between tn
How would he meet his friend W
he returned? Then suddenly he
looi- terrified at the thought that Blan
liked