The Press., 1915-12-08
Who Kissed
UMO q 20 4.
""e d.,
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A Story of the Breaking Out
OF the Great European War. !,
By JOHN Y. HARMED

Edward Beaverton was considered
lhe handsomest man in his class at
college. His was not that class. Of
beauty that is purely physical; he was
an intellectual fellow, man Of char
acter, and this was stamped upon
his features. Moreover, though there
were girls who were stupid enough to
tell him that he was an Apollo, instead
of making him conscious Of his beauty,
it Disguised him. 1877
On leaving college Ned concluded to
see something Of the world before set
Ting down to work. He sailed with
the American multitude in June for
Genoa, from there proceeded to the
Italian lakes and thence on into Swift
zerland through the st. Gothard tunnel
In the train leaving Lugano and in the
same compartment with him were half
d dozen American girls travelling under
the care of a middle aged lady. The
girls We're evidently having the time of
their lives. Their duenna was giving
them instructions by the way, pointing
out this and that object of interest,
peak, cascade, the track of an ava
lanche, anything that they should, no
tice
Ned had met no Americans in his
journey thus far-at least had made
no acquaintance among them-and
was at once seized with desire to
know these young ladies. One does
not realize how precious ones fellow
countrymen are till he meets them in
a foreign land. Not only We're these
ladies fellow countrywomen of Ned,
but they were all pretty, some of
them very pretty, and there was one
of them that had a pair ofsthe most
kissable lips he had ever seen. q.
The young man, though DESTROYS; of
forming the acquaintance Of this par
ty, and especially the one with the
kissable lips, sat with them for some
time without meeting any excuse for
doing so. One of them dropped a
guidebook, but before Ned could pick
it up the girl recovered it herself.
he watched for an opportunity,
none came, At last an idea came to
him, -t.~r'- T..
1t occurred to Beaverton to put this
party off their guard by pretending to
be a foreigner and ignorant of the
English language. He spoke German
and French tolerably.
When the guard took up the tickets
Ned asked him some questions in Ger
man. This was sufficient to indicate
his nationality. Later when the. duen-
ma asked him in English how many
were required for the train to
pass through the tunnel he replied in
German that he did not understand
her. ~ -
This loosened the tongues of4s'thei
girls. llss"'t
"Lill." said one to another; you've
lost your bet that he is Italian, xsms
And you've lost yours that he ~.
English" n. r So
u knew he was German. L ne iy1is ffyy
ideal of the principal character Iii Wig
ner's opera Of 'Lohengrin,, = said en-.
other. ~,.s s,..-,r ~.
These remarks were made in a low
tone, with continuous glances at, Ned,
who was apparently intent on the,
splendid scenery through which the
train was moving. He did not hear'all
that was said, but he heard enough to
tell him that he was an object Of in
terest to his fellow travellers. Indeed,
he received more attention than the
peaks and the waterfalls along the
route.
The kissabie young lady in the par
ty was, judging from a mischievOus
smile that lowered about her pretty
lips, the arch mischief maker. Of
the lot. They called her. Jack, all ex-
cept the duenna, who addressed her as
Jaquelin. To her not even the most
peak lifting it's head far
above the clouds was d" matter of Sc
rious consideration. 1t was Of red
stone, and she spoke of it as the fred
headed one" She made several COM
ical remarks about Ned which he heard
plainly and caused her companions to
laugh. .,.s4 are ):
There is u station near the southern.
entrance to the st. Gothard tunnel,
where all trains stop before plunging
into the. mountain, and many of the
alight to stretch their legs.
Ned got out and walked back and
forth beside the train. When he pass,
ed the compartment occupied by the
girls two of them were at the window
They looked at him, their eyes dancing
with mischief. .-4, .;..:
81 should not be surprised he, said
to himself. IF, before this journey is
over, these imps will play some game
IN me-" 49,
When the, train was about to start
ne re-entered the compartment, and
he few hundred yards separating the i
station and the mountain were soon
Just before leaving daylight
Ind observed that the light had been ),
covered by wOman's travelling hat
)ut had mo time to determine how, the !!
eat had been accomplished. When
he train entered tie tunnel there was
lot a ray of liz hit in the compartment. j
1t requires just quarter of an hour
o pass through the st. Gothard tun-
lel. Not word was spoken during
he passage. Some five or six minutes |
.ad elapsed when suddenly Ned felt a
'air of lips pressed against his. That |
ley were feminine was evident from |
he fact that. besides himself, there
were only women in the compartment.
Ned made a grab, but his hand slipped
over a fabric of woman's apparel.
. One of the girls had kissed him.
Whoever she was she must have nladea
| careful observation as to his exact |
position. fer she could not see him |
She first struck his cheek, but instantly |
passed to his lips. The whole contact /
only one or two seconds.
Nine or ten minutes of darkness re-
NAMED, during which the perpetrator
# this bit of mischief might compose
herself. Doubtless all the girls were
and would bear themselves,
% such manner as to protect the guilty
me. Probably the kissing had been
lone on o bet. Ned's opinion was that
'ack had been the perpetrator, but he