Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1914-05-08


need ter come eroun' honey-caffuddlin'
mel"
Oats whut he say" insisted Uncle
Jefferson; The did TO- er fae'i"
She drew her hands from the suds
and looked at him a%nxiously. "Jeff'son,
yo' reck'n Mars John gwineter fotch
dat Yankee CONAN heah ter Danny
Co'ot, ter be ouah mistis? ?"
"Humph!" scoffed her spouse. Dat
highfalutin' gal whut done swaller de
ramrod? No suh-ree-bob-taili De
oldah yo' gifts, de mo- foolishah yo'
citations isl DON yo' TEX no mo-
trouble on yo' back den yo' kin keek
off'n yo' heelsl She ain gwineter run
dis place, er OF Devil-John tuhn ovah
in he gravel"
Sunset found Valiant sitting in the
MUSHROOM before the old square pi-
ano. In the shadowy chamber the
keys of mother-of-pearl cleaned with
dull colors under his fingers. He
struck at first only broken chords, that
became finally the haunting b~arcarole
of "Tales of Hoffmann." 1t was the
air that had drifted across the garden
when he had stood with Shirley by
the sun-dial, in the moment of their
first kiss. Over and over he played
it, im%provising dreamy variations, till
the tender melody seemed the dear
ghost of that embrace. At length he
went into the library and in the GRIM
soning light sat down at the desk,
and began to write:
Dear Bluebird of Mine:
81 can't wait any longer to talk to
you. Less than a day has passed
since We were together, but it might
have been cons. if one measured time
by heart-beats. What have you been
doing and thinking, l wonder? have
spent those cons in the garden, just
wandering about, dreaming over those
wonderful. wonderful moments by the
sun-dial. All, dear little wild heart
born of the flowers, with the soul of
a bird (yet you are woman, tool that
old disk is marking happy hours now
for mel
How have I deserved this thing
that has come to me?-sad bungler
that l have beenl Sometimes 1t seems
too glad and sweet, and l am suddenly
desperately afraid ! shall wake to find
myself facing another dull morning
In that old, useless, empty life of mine.
am very humble, dear, before your
love.
"Shall I tell you when it began with
me? Not last night-nor the day we
planted the ramblers. (Do you know,
when your little muddy boot went
trampling down the earth about their
roots, l wanted to stoop down and
kiss it? So dear everything about
you wasl) Not that evening at Rose
wood, with the arbor fragrance about
US. q think l shall always picture you
with roses all about you. Red roses
the color of your lips!) No, it was not
then that it began-nor that dreadful
hour when you fought with me to save
my life-nor the morning you sat your
horse in the box-rows in that yew-
green habit that made your hair look
like molten copper. No, it began the
first afternoon, when I sat in my mo-
tor with your rose in my handl It
has never left me since, by day or by
night. And yet there are people In
this age of airships and honking high
ways and typewriters who think love-
at-first-sight is as out-of-date as our
little grandmothers' hoops rusting in
the garnet. All, sweetheart, l, for one,
know better!
Suppose l had not come to Vir-
| u4nfo-on6 Lnnuyn uns4 NV hart
jumps when | think of it. 1t makes
one believe in fate. Here at the Court
| found an old leaf-calendar-it sits
at my elbow now, just as l came on 1t.
The date it shows is May 14th, and
its motto is: Every man carries his
fate upon a riband about his neck
| like that.
"That first Sunday at st. Andrews,
| thought of a day-may 1t be %soon!--
when you and l might stand before
that altar, with your people (my
people, too, now around us, and /
shall hear you say: I, Shirley, take
thee, john And to think 1t is really
to come true! Do you remember the
text the minister preached from? 1t was
Dub oil ncu pcICSlNo IAdI thCJ hdfo
riches, and that their faces shine as
the faces of angels l think / shall
go about ~henceforth with my face
shining, SO that all men will see that
l have Iiches-your love for me, dear.
II am SO happy l can hardly Q the
words-or perhaps it Is that the sun
has set. l am sending this over by
Uncle Jefferson. Send me back just
a word by him, sweetheart, to say 1
may come to you tonight And add
the three short words I am so thirsty
to hear over and over-one verb be-
tween two pronouns-so that / can
kiss them all at oncei"
He raised his head, a little flushed
and with ayes brilliant, lighted a
candle, sealed the letter with the ring
he wore and dispatched 1t.
Thereafter he sat looking into the
growing dusk, watching the pale