Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1916-06-01
THE ORANGE
sy LOUISE OLIVER.

A~uAtn nNoFF%A a. dpitf . lIutL nNNuN
on her way home and bought dozen
oranges. II was raining, and besides
two other packages she had an UNI
bfella to manage against a strong
wind
Gradually the bag softened with the
dampness and chung like q plaster to
the round. yellow spheres within. A
tiny crack appeared. widened, length
ened. and the whole dozen oranges cat
hpuIted into the street as though shot
out Of machine gun.
Mike Kubelik, carter for seIlem 4
Hatch, was hauling a wagonload OF
oranges from the Bay street market
to West end branch. Crossing South
avenue, rear wheel caught IN q car
track and came of And Immediately
there waa on avalanche Of oranges ia
al directions.
Now when Lucia's bag broke. she,
too. WIS crossing South avenue. and.
moreover. II was AZ the same instant
that Mike lost wheel. So she looked
down to see. not dozen. but hundreds
OF dozens OF oranges roll about her
feet
Already half dozen urchins had
gathered around and were filing
jacket pockets as fast az they could
Mike. with fat. whip and many ours
lngs. was doing the best he could 10
defend bis treasure. but Il was futile
Lucia. seeing no chance OF reyiyIng
her bag into a sembIance OF use. de
cIded 10 use her umbrella az reccp
secle and closed r.. Then she stopped
and started deliberately 70 count a
dozen oFanges into its silk receaaes.
III theroi" Mike came up bellls
erontly iiourishing his weapon. "You
pntfa dem down
Mike reached for tho umbrella Just
as . man stepped between them and
put out a restraining hand.
"I.et the lady alone. Z no said quietly
AT The tone Of authority Mike stepped
back without another word and his
whip fell.
20 aud attend 10 those boys and IN
set policeman 10 help you" the now
conner said. and TO Lucia. Have you
Got all your property II 20. IN help
you out Of tila .
= think have. II was hard count
ing wiih that man shaking his fist un.
der my nose. she laughed The or.
anges are al here ia my umbrella
But rs raining hard. You1l get
soaked
1--WE no other place 10 pat them
Whats the matter with these eeep
pockets In my coaif~
nut you mustn't 70 home with me.
ilYaoh. evar 20 far
80 much the better. Thego. and
tsseYe ana shwre ard &aerni / wneba
I've rot them ALL raising the um.
hreiia.
Az the door the oranges had 10 DO
transferred. Wont you come int
asked Lucia. *Ili get a dish for
them" So the man went IN and they
empsied the fruit into blackand-
white china bowl
"Thirteenis he exclaimed. ny love.
we've cheated the dago"
Tho man divided the odd orange
carefully In two parts and gave her
half
In mosies, he remarked, they tear
eaTda. OF smash shells and each takea
piece A sort OF kismet. you know.
for each Of the two contracting par
ties Now why not an orange skin.
Seal 1-ittlnR two pieces together,
You take one and III take the other.
TO keep a. long as we liyel. solemniy.
When her gallant defender had de-
parted. II suddenly occurred 10 Lucia
that she did not even know his name.
A week passed, Busy days for Lu.
ella. AZ all days were. but not too bnsy
for many thoughts Of her recent ac-
anaintance and hia Identity. But she
Was 70 have q shock One evening she
opened The paper. and there on the
FIRST page waa the picture OF the mani
Below Il she read. zone OF the sua.
poets arrested IN connection with the
Allison jewel case The man. who
gives his name as John Emerson, was
seen coming ont OF the alley IN the
rear Of the residence al ESQ Thursday
evening. and he could not explain hia
presence there, although Il was a dor.
en- blocks away from his lodgings and
place Of business"
Tuesday, That was the night he
had taken her homel And $50 was
about the time be had lef,sher. The
alley In question was between her
street and the Alliaons' He had prob.
ably been taking short cut homel
But why had he not told them bis
errandY
Lucia thought over all the details.
and the orange skin popped into her
head She would send Il 20 him and
he would not refuse to see her. she
knew.
An hour later. among grim surround.
tugs. Lucia was shown into o little
white room. and John Emerson came
In moment later.
why didn't you tell them where
you we're last Tuesday," was her
breathless greeting This Is terrible. =
4 couldn't without bringing your
name into II and | thought I'd rather
be convicted than have your name
hreathed here You shouldn't have
come unless there IL something can
do for you"
There Isl Tell them all about IT,
n Won't.
Then Wilt"
Tho district attorney heard the
story. Mike was sent for and added
his share to the testimony Then John
Emerson was allowed 10 depart
Aud that was only the beginning Of
the end for John and Lucia were mar
ried the other day
copyright. BY the Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate
sussenanes In Nettles.