Putnam patriot., 1916-02-18

urlou> ip eafh what opinion she might advance. for he had had but lit- fle contact with women free of their 'aShianahle environment and only imagined whit they might be outside fseis fortress of repression and ol,- crvaRce Of ironboHnd conventional les.
 Attitude of he mind she answer el rs she dug into the green rind of he melon; "the return to the simples he shedding of complexities: early to he'd aud early Co rise au ! all the sordid. lg thmgs left behind We wash our so3ilS every day but only wh We .ot ont lisP this da We wash our souls"
 t.a b 9ame just the least bit afraid shaI std d prove ta be that blue 4se.a ef7a. iar Diana never
 tel=-,r head ab0ut the care of sou.s Disaa.
 Il have a curious idea that perhaps
 esHet eaua
 Tas sa1aa p9lssd for moment.
 Yes. lhas is My uIue. But Go not ellts.se lie with tlIe ia. biological god. .e..5. lg.ss. l aH mortal very nor !. iideed,'
 "pMa9n me. did not mean to be l-.ns. ealsat.
 "it is a. i sald. We return to sim
 teS. What is more direct, what is
 .mpief than asking me my given tllc. 1 almost sald Christianl And am just as much pagan Us my name Gapnes Your name is John. Uncle
 ,id5 has been singing your praises since the first cay We went out l was
 eginnin- to hate you. The green corn
 nd the melons were delicious. Thanks.
 an as much in your dent as you are
 mine. And there you have the truth it. Friendship should always bal nee evenly. Weigh obligation against Litigation, or. better still, see that .here are no obligations. Old and trite
 s tae hills. isn't it. May l be counted as friendT' he isked eagerly.
 She rose, spun the melon rind into tle water stopped quickly and cast u stone after it with amazing accuracy. W hy not-ui, here? If we ever meet elsewhere it will be from behind hedges. anu we'll have to play the sume-silly, think it=of having some one to introduce Us properly Another srone flew out and caught the melon on the rim. spinning it. It oyerbalanced aud sank What made you ask nc if my name was Dianaf'
 That. readily, pointing to the spot where the melon had been floating Who but Diana could have thrown q stone like thatY' Not very brilliant inyention.' There was in her glance neither em- barrassment nor eoquetry, nor curios- ity-nothing that he recognized as feminine. Yet 1t seemed to draw the truth out of him as easily as the bucket comes up from the well. When you came into the boathouse Diana sprung into my mind. The im- perturbability" "Ah!" mockingly. with which you accepted the at mospheric conditions"- "Fiddle-dee-d -deer -"struck me as being unlike any thing l had ever seen in woman" Il like the way you finished that sentence. It shows tenacity of pur- pose. Am l n freak?" No"
 He held his hand toward her.
 "All this is very unusual" she said, eying the hand musingly but making no effort to take it. 
 Cranford's boat was about twenty feet beyond the girls.
 Suddenly she saw him strike, and right from under Uncle Billys port oar leaped the big fellow. The sur prise1 girl started back and, to save herself from going overheard, dropped her rod.
 Fortunately it struck the gunwale evenly and balanced She bounced upon il, laughing. T couldn't have acted any sillier If some one had shouted mousew
 "Jee -hossi-phati" murmured Uncle Billy as the bass cleared the water again.
 He made Il megaphone of his hands
 
 Cranford sent back happy laugh.
 The girl watched him, fascinated. He did not seem to care one way or the other whether he lost the fish or brought him aboard.
 Once the bass turned complete cir cle around the boat, and to this ma neuyer Cranford danced hornpipe f,, with Lester ducling madly and shift ing this oar and that
 Everybody was laughing excitedly and offering advice. uncle Billy stool up and shouted, and the girl murmured Ans" and "Ohs," after the manner of children witnessing fireworks.
 Once the black fellow decided to test the strength of the line by tangling it up in the screw.
 My. what time. Cranford immedi- ately called for hep. Lester crept for ward straddlei tine stern and deftly worked out the snarl. Not an inch of slack did Mir Bass get for his cunning
 A glorious battle. superb contest: skill and intellect at one end. fear and strength and cunning at the other. the connecting link thread of silk.
 IL was fourteen minutes by the girls watch when Cranford called for the net.
 The girls palms were wet. and little beads of precipitation stood out upon her forehead. She had gone through the battle as if she herself had fought every turn and phase of it.
 kxv.. sang out Uncle Billy. diving for the ta