The Forrest City times., 1912-08-16

morseful Tor her amazed expression. | explained frankly aG8s t rom your father this morning. don't you know. during our long talk about you in the library"
 "Wh-"
 Then she swallowed and her face fell perfectly tlaHf= By love. I could have kicked myself for jolly as for : breaking | Co her 90 raw, Or course. sse geai4 Eco~ that 1T her father talked of her, | would be nothing for he to hear that was true or kind nothing she could Y,sh might be said 10 the man she loved
 l hastened to reassure her: ! But l don't believe a dashed word of anything he said about you'-I l spoke hotIy-@and I doa't care a jolly hang for what the others said, either -so there you are.'
 Oh, you don't2" Could tell how I had touched her by her expression. don't you know, and she fell to look ing q me the queerest way. And would you mind telling me who the others are?"
 eyed her gloomi!y. sympathctIeai- Y. As If she didn't know already.
 'Well-oh, dash it. ny mind has been filled with-er-just anything.a began cautiously.
 T know. -Fke murmurei it as II to heFse!l-"one can see that." And she bit her lip
 In the first place, you Enow"-and there pulled up. No. dash it, wasn't going to say jolly word about poor Jack-no. sir. lut then. about tAe ether one-wei. she vas just d tEeacaerous snake in tae what sits name, and she ought to be exposed. BF love she should be,
 It's the trump. yoa know" I said indignantly
 "The-the Waat2"
 Her pretty teeth flashed like the keyboards Of tiny ofsau-yoa could even hear little EHIgy, musical culver somewhere beAiad And then remembered that ef course. she wouldn't know whom mesHt.
 @Oh. your guest. you tnow-year friend from school" l went on. try ing 10 tread cautiously and -et feel ing myself growing red. on, see here now, don't like to say things. ! bGt-er-'
 oh, go on" she trillea. her sweet face shining Wistal.
 We'll, l mean this-er-Miss ktrk- land, came out with US this morning. don't you know. think of her as the frump-little idea-er-nickname or nine, you know. shes 90 awful" And screwed my glass with a chuckIe.
 For an instant thought she wouldn't catch it. she stared at me so blankly Then the joke Of 1.-the jolly aptness, so to speak-got her full and square, and she just hfted a scream, hugging her knee and rock. ing back and forth, her face sufrused, her laughter pealing like a chime ot bells
 And I just rocked. too. Keeping her company Really, I don't think ever laughed so much since some chap plurkcd down on the hard crown ot my new tile last winter. At least 1 wanted to laIgh-.n church. YOU know, and it's so awful how you feel there when someth!ns-oh yoa know, And f you could have seen that poor fellows face,
 By love, how glad 1 was for her jolly sCnse et humor that could see che poist of things so quickly. and think them clever. Always had so dashed iitte patience with stupid peo- pie. don't you know. And just here another little thing came 10 ne and | let her have it
 "0h. say'"-l leaned nearer. chuckling-"your father pretends to think her most beautifu! and win. hing girl-fancy," And my lace stretched itself in such Jolly grin that could hardly hold my glass.
 She bent toward me. smiling ador- ably. You mean this-er-' Miss Kirkland 9"
 nodded ehortungly.
 She peered at me through her long .you-call- such a way.
 But you don't think so. do you2" How sweetly. how fetehingly she said it.
 Me-. I gasped By love. in my horror, I lost my grip upon my jolly grammar. Oh. say now. 1 think the frump-this Miss Kirkland, you know-is a fright-regular freak. dash it' l told the judge SO.
 "You-you-"
 "Of course," And I shrugged dis gustedly. making the uglest grimace l possibly could Why, dash 1t. fl were woman and had a face like hers, I never would have lett China. or Engiand-or wherever her Jolly home was-no. str"
 She caught her breath with a little gasp-then she was of again. This time she rested her arms upon the rail behind and buried her head in i them. her lovely shoulders jiggnng up and down, her sobblng laughter send. ing her of at last Into a spell Of cough. {ru~