The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

The Watermelon laughed and leaned
toward her, a moth flirting with the
candle fame. "Oii, kid; I'll bet the worst
you ever did was to swipe the jan,-pot
when ma wasn't looking"
NO" said Billy, Il did an awful
thing once"
Lets hear it"
Billy took the olive bottle from Hen
rietta, speared an olive and passed the
bottle on before she spoke "Will you
confess. IL l dor" she asked, pausing
with the olive half way to her mouth.
, Sure" said the Watermelon, Il
robbed an apple orchard once"
You're fooling,1 accused Billy. I'm
not Pm really serious" =
so al L. vowed the Watermelon.
Billy" said Henrietta, spare US. I
am too young to listen TO tale of de-
pravity."
But the lure of the confessional held
without notice She turned to the
Watermelon. .Tf | tell YOU the worst
thing ] ever did, will you tell me The
worst you ever did?"
Il haven't done the worst yet" ex-
planned the Watermelon.
The general having nearly wrecked
the cars and seen the damage repaired
by Alphonse, hurried to the four sitting
on the stone wall.
Come on" said he. at j. time we
were going. We have no blue book,
you know"
T shouldn't wonder" said Henrietta.
"if there were not a rare chance for
some one to confess heinous crime"
She looked at Bartlett as he held out
his hand to help her down and her eyes
laughed deep into his.
'In self-defense--" he pleaded in a
whisper
1t was very early. The freshness of
night still clung to fields and wood The
/, air was full of the clamor OF birds and
from the valley below came the stentor-
iar crow OF a rooster. Little wisps of
white clouds drifted by in the deep blue
of the sky and a breeze played gently
with the girls long auto wells.
So in the freshness of the early morn
ing they dipped down the hill into the
valley, passed farm houses and corn
lands They stopped about nine at a
farm house and partook of breakfast
of coffee. bacon and eggs. Alphonse
filled the cars at village store and they
went on. The glory of the day, the
close proximity of Henrietta, who sat
beside him, dainty, merry, feminine, the
success so far of his plan, which in his
saner moments he still cherished. raised
Bartlett's spirits higher and higher and
they went faster and faster. They swept
over the boundary line into Maine with
a rush. taking the hills at high speed
and skimning into the valleys, now en-
tering a stretch of cool dark wood, now
| tearing into the sunshine again, past
corn fields, hay fields, and rocky pas
lures. Cows whisked their tails at the
cars approach and dashed awkwardly
| away from the fence rails. Chickens
squawked and tore madly to safety with
/ tapping wings Farm houses appeared
and disappeared in a cloud of dust.
Lakes were seen one moment and gone
the next. They swept around bend
in the road and into man trap. a pile
of wood across the road and three
farmers waiting grimly with loaded
guns
The Watermelon in the tonneau OF
the generals car. with Billy. straight
ened up with sickening fear Of being
arrested in her presence. The fun and
excitement of the adventure had disap-
peared In their stead stalked the grim
reality of the fear of exposure, of the
surprise, scorn, perhaps anger, maybe
pity. he would see in Billy's eyes. When
| they parted and the Bartletts returned
to the city, they would learn how they
had been deceived, and Billy would be
angry, scornful and bit amused, for
Billy enjoyed joke even against her
self and her ideas of humor were young
and of the same style. more or less, as
those of the Watermelon. But il he
could he would drop out of her sight,
first, the good-natured. successful young
hnancier, not stink away, the shiftless,
beaten tramp.
The general for moment considered
it merely another means taken by the
conspiracy to rob him of his car and
contemplated stern defiance of the laws
command to stop.
Its not highway robbery, Charlie"
laughed Bartlett. We've been going
a bit fast and have to pay up, that's
all"
Hailed before the justice Of the peace
in the village store. Bartlett paid his
fine with casual indifference, the gen.
| eral with the naughty disapproval OF a
judge presiding at the bar of justice,
while Henrietta, with gentle condescen-
sion. bought some highly scented soap,
! TO help them out" she explained,
meaning the owners of the store, and
the Watermelon. TO all outward ap-
pearances. frankly bored by the pro-
ceedings, presented Billy with a choice
assortment of gayly tinted, dusty candy
They put up for the night at a small
town in Maine. 1t consisted of four or
FIVE scattered houses, a school, store,
and a barrel factory. They found rooms
in one of the houses and after supper,
Henrietta, Bartlett, and the general sat
on the stoop, while the men smoked
and the stars came out one by one, the
frogs croaked disrislty and the whip
poorwills called and called.
The Watermelon asked Billy to take a
walk with him and she consented. She