The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1915-01-12
LETITlA'S DEFIANCE
BY COOPER.
Copyright, 1914. by the Mcclure Newspa-
6x~nAtook


per Syndicate.)
"My dear Letitia, you are no more
suited to the lecture platform than /
am to open a mothers meeting" Nor.
mar Prince gazed fondly down at his
sweetheart. There was. however, suf-
fcient of masculine superiority in his
expression to irritate Letitia.
Men always make such absurd
comparisons" she retorted quickly.
Just because you cannot preside at
a mothers meeting is no reason to
suppose l cannot lecture successfully
on better babies"
"The Idea is absurd" Norman said,
more holly than he realized. "a girl
Of your age cant know anything about
either better or worse babies, and as
for ~lecturing on the subject to wom-
On who have brought up children as
old as you are-well, your W COM
mon sense should teach you the folly
Of such an idea"
And your own common n
should tell you that | would not con-
slider ~lecturing on a subject had not
mastered. Just because women have
brought up children is no sign they
have brought them up properly"
And you are going to teach these
mothers what their children might
have been had they heard you lee
ture first" Norman laughed long
and heartily.
Letitia's eyes were fixed wrathfully
upon him. She was very serious over
her proposed series of lectures before
the club and she did not like being
laughed at. She was sorry Norman
was so fine a specimen Of manhood.
1t was difficult to give him up, but
perhaps when she had succeeded In
showing him and her world that she
was an efficient speaker he would
come back to her and bow in acknowl-
edgement Of her gift.
Before she could speak the fiery
worlds that would terminate their N
gagement Norman himself gave ex-
preston to his quickly matured reso-
luton.
"Letitia, I am sorry to have hurt
you, but / think 1 understand you
better than you do yourself. l also
realize that you are going to give
me back my ring and tell me lever
to darken your door again. Isn't that
right?"
"Yesi" retorted Getitia defiantly.
well, under the circumstances, l
think you are right. But l see no
reason why we should sever III
friondrhfr 7 have alurouc hoan vo,r
best friend and always want to be-"
He looked earnestly into Letitia's sur-
prised eyes. Cant you manage to
promise me that?"
Yves" agreed Letitia, trying not
to seem amazed at his readiness to
sever the closer tie. But ! Will be
very busy during the next week or
two preparing my lecture" she added,
by way Of introducing the new Le-
titia. She more or less reluctantly
pulled off the beautiful ring from her
plump little finger and gave It to Nor
man.
ooh, thanks" he said, with a merry
smile, I'VE almost forgot to end things
properly" He put the ring In his
| ROCh0t Will lilo CdSQdl ICAlu1R u
suppose 1t is up to me to find another
girl before this solitaire burns a hole
in my pocket"
Letitia's head went up into the air,
but she made no comment. She was
frightfully hurt, but defiant.
"I want to help you all 1 can," Nor
man told her, with his usual gentle
manner toward her. IF you just
study up your lecture and practice it
on me it will help you wonderfully.
You've no idea how difficult 1t Is to
speak the things out that you have
conceived in your mind, especially be-
fore a seething mass of people. Your
voice sounds like a lost soul when you
first speak and you get positively
CHASTITY weak in the knees" He
laughed in recollection of his own first
attempt. $50 If you just practice up
on me a bit you'll find II win help a
lot when 1t comes to the nerve-rack-
ing ordeal"
Letitia essayed q smile, but she felt
rather weak in anticipation of her first
speech.
you are certainly cheerful and en-
c~ouraging;" she said finally. How
ever, I think your suggestion is a
good one. / will be very glad to speak
my lines over before you. 1t is good
Of you to think Of it." In her gratis
tude Letitia would have offered him
the habitual lovers kiss, but she re-
membered just in time that they were
no longer lovers but only friends.
Norman smiled but made no COM
ment. He had seen her swiftly with
held caress and In his heart rejoiced.
He did not press the advantage, but
shook hands in most friendly fashion
and left her.
After that Letitia threw herself
heart and soul into the preparation Of
her lecture to be delivered before
the club women of the town. She
felt very important and very much in
earnest. Norman seemed to have
suddenly realized that she was a wom-
an of some purpose, and was helping
her in every way. He listened pa
tiently to her speech sometimes twice
during an evening, until Letitia felt
that she could stand before a thou
sand people and say 1t without a
tremor or mistake.
Il don't know what l would have
do2e without you." she told him on
the night before the meeting. you
are going to stand In the wings and
prompt me II l need 1t. aren't your"
"Sure-you can't lose me-" laughed
Norman. He had tried, and with re-
markabfe success, to stifie entirely
any loverlike feeling he had for Lee
titia. If the girl missed the comfort
of his great, strong arms she did
not say SO.
The following morning Letitia
awoke with a peculiar sense of pre-
monition. She felt strangely weak in
the knees, and without apparent rea-
son all the nerves in her body were
twitching SO that she had no desire
to eat. She tried desperately to fling
OF the sickening dread that had
gripped her. During the day she did
succeed and toward evening her
qualms had 80 far left her that she
could laugh at her early morning silly
weakness. She dressed with habitual
care and the result, a mass OF soft
pinks. vas q Joy to behold. Even
Norman, who thought her wonder
fully beautiful, had never seen her SO
altogether adorable. He had difficulty
in restraining the desire of his arms.
but he smiled joyfully and gripped
her hands in q friendly clasp before
Letitia went forward to the platform
to deliver her lecture on Better