Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1914-01-30

word
"I1l steady you," said Abbott, brief
ly, and he took her hand. She did not
appear conscious of his protecting
clasp.
"I see the moon so big" she
went on. breathlessly, without think
ing of that night when it rolled along
the pasture as if it wanted to knock
us off the ~foot-bridge for being where
we oughtn't. 1 never could understand
why you should stay on that bridge
with a perfect stranger, when your
duty was to be usher at the camp-meet-
ingl You weren't ushering me, you
know, you were holding my handl
mean, I was holding YOU hand, as
Miss Sapphire says / shouldn't. What
a poor helpless man-as I'm holding
you now, l presume! But l laughed in
meeting. People ought to go outdoors
to smile. and keep their religion in a
house, l guess. I'm going to tell you
why | laughed, for you've never
guessed. and you've always been
afraid to ask"
AFRAID OF you, iran!
lawfully, I'm going to show you
let go, so | can show you. No, I'm in
earnest-you can have me, afterwards.
Remember that evangelist?
There he stood, waving his hands-as
I'm doing now-moving his arms with
his eyes fastened upon the congrega-
tion-this way-look, Abbott"
Fran! AS IL l were not already
looking"
"Look-just SO; not saying a word
only waving this way and that :.
And 1t made me thing of our hypno-
tizer-the man that W people into
our biggest tent-he seems to pick EN-
up bodily and carry them in his arms.
Well And If the people are to be
waved into a church, 1t won't take
much of a breeze to blow them out.
| don't believe in soulwaving. But
that doesn't mean that I don't believe
in the church-does it?-do you
think?"
"You believe in convictions, Fran.
And since you've come into the church.
you don't have to say that you believe
in it,"
"Yes-there's nothing IN the out
side, and oh, sometimes there's SO
little, so little under the roof-what
do yousthink of me, Abbott?"
Fran, l think you are the most"
but do you'll" she i~nterposed, still
unsteadily. "In the superlatiye? l
don't see how you an, after that exhi-
bition behind the bars. Anyway, l
want you to talk about yourself. What
pade you go away from town? But
that's not the worst; what made o
stay away? And what were you doing
off there wherever it was, while poor
little girls we're wondering themselves
sick about you? But wait!-the
wheels going down-down-down.
+. Good thing l have you to hold
to-poor Miss Sapphire, she can't
come now! Listen at all the street
criers, getting closer, and the whistle
sounds-I wish we had whistles; the
squawky kind. See my element, Abb
bolt, the air I've breathed all my life
the carnival. Here we are, just above
the clouds of confetti. Now
we're riding through pretty
damp. these clouds are, don't you
think! Those ribbons of electric
lights have been the real world to me.
Abbott-they were home. No.
Bill, we don't want to get out. We In
tend to ride until you take this wheel
to pieces. And oh, by the way, Bill
just stop this wheel, every once in a
while, will you?-when we're up at the
very tiptop. All right-good-by."
And Abbott called gaily, "Good-by,
Mr.. Smookinsi"
I'm glad you did that, Abbott. You
think you're somebody, when some
body else thinks so, too. Now we're
rising in the world" Fran was so ex-
cited that she could not keep her body
from quivering. In spite of this, she
fastened her eyes upon Abbott to
ask, suddenly: "'Most-what?"
Most adorable" Abbott answered,
as il he had been waiting for the
prompting. Most precious. Most be-
witchingly sweet. Most unanswerably
and eternally-Fran!"
"And you" she whispered.
And t. he told her, IAN nothing
but most wanting-to-be-1oved."
ITS SO queer" Fran said, plaintive-
ly. you know, Abbott, how long
you've fought against me. You know
1t, and l don't blame you, not in the
least. There's nothing about me to
make people. But even now,
how can you think you understand me,
when l don't understand myself?"
Il DON'T" he said, promptly. I've
Y