Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-09-16

So they parted, Barry waving hi
hat from the stage until it vanished
over the brow of the hill. Then Ruth
turned and went slowly toward home
+, Her eyes were SO heavy with un
shed tears that she did not see all ap
preaching runabout until the horn
! blared generously in her ears She
turned aside.
i rs that you, Ruth - asked a mans
surprised voice.
"Oh, DAM" she laughed shakily
brushing away the telltale tears. How
you frightened me-"
Dan Wales looked down at the girls
slim figure and noted with a frowr
that she had been crying. He lad
loved Ruth, always, long before the
handsome city chap had cut him out
If Ruth was happy, Dan could resign
himself to that but Ruth was cry
ing!
Where is Barry Lane?" he asked
abruptly.
Ruth's face grew scarlet and then
white. How readily Dan had connect.
ed Barry with her tears.
He has gone home" said Ruth,
coldly, and I must be hurrying along
With a hasty gesture Of farewell she
slipped past the little motor car and
disappeared down the road.
=
That evening, in the library of his
handsome home, Barry Lane told his
parents of his love for Ruth Fielding
and showed them her, picture. Two
hours later he stepped out to the near.
est letter box and mailed a letter to
the girl he had left behind in Seaport.
The morning after Barry's depart
ure from Seaport the little postofice
was crowded with its usual expectant
throng.
Eva White, behind the partition,
peered at the gossiping crowd, her up
curling knowingly as she identified
each one and mentally guessed the
hopes and fears that brought them
there so regularly three times a day.
Eva Whit knew them all and their
pure human frailties. But there was
one face that she did not see in the
crowd that pressed around the open
window. She did not see the face OF
Ruth Fielding. 1t was not until the
crowd had departed with its need OF
Joy or sorrow that Ruth came into the
p~ostofice. She looked sweet and
dewy in her pink Bingham and nodded
a greeting to Eva White before she
peered into her own letter box.
1t was empty!
Ruth grew pale. How confident she
had been that Barry would keep his
promise and write to her. Perhaps he
had missed the outgoing mail. Surely
this first disappointment could not be
an omen of others to follow!
She laughed at her fears and left
the office, but she could not forget the
contemptous smile that lowered about
Eva's lips.
o. course Eva White had guessed
that Ruth was expecting a letter from
Barry, and she must have known chat
the girl was disappointed. The knowl.
edge stung Ruth's pride, for Eva White
had made no secret of her i~nfatuation
for Barry and his answering devotion
to Ruth had embittered the postOft1ce
assistant.
Ruth went home and wrote her
promised letter to Barry Lane. How
she hated to post it, knowing that it
must come under Eva's scrutinizing
eye. She gave it to her father to mail
and resigned herself to waiting until
the evening mail should bring her
Barry's belated letter.
But day after day passed, the au-
tumn waned, the first snow fell, and
Ruth had not received that promised
letter. Gossip was rife in the village;
people were saying that Barry Lane
had been like many another city chap
- he had loved and ridden away.
A, New Years Ruth returned Bar.
rvs ring by registered mail. The
usual receipt card came back to her,
signed with Barry's firm hand, and the
episode was ended.
Ruth was white and thin, but pref
tier than ever in a fragile way. Her
parents. burning with resentment, did
all they could to make her happy.
Gradually Dan Wales renewed his
wooing of Ruth, and by June their
wedding day was set. Dan knew that
he did not possess Ruth's entire heart,
but he was confident OF winning it in
the end.
It was a beautiful day late in June
when Ruth Fielding stood in her bridal
attire before her simple dressing
1t was a pale, thoughtful face that
confronted her in the mirror. Sudden
she went to her bed and knelt pray
ing that God would help her forget her
,aithless lover and increase her love