The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1916-09-02


nimble Of body as Of mind. He leaped
sideways from his chair as the muir
derous blow descended. and ducked
away from It, SELLING his assaIlant's
arm.
The two grappled. Up and down
and across the tiny office they pun
meled and wrestled and butted their
way, cllnging together in right un-
loving embrace. MS they fought.
As the Office force. aroused by the
turmoil, ran pell-mcll into the room.
Mason struck his opponent n chance
blow In the face that sent Fletcher
clean off his feet. The editor fell.
hitting his head heavily against the
corner of his desk.
Before Mason could pursue his nd
vantage. half dozen men had seized
him and forced him, kicking and snarl-
ing into corner, where they held him
pinioned.
"Take him out, boys" ordered
Fletcher. "and turn him over to a
policeman. As soon as can get my
head tied mp, I'll come around to tho
station and make the formal charge"
In the Mnsonburg police court. an
hour Inter. Fletcher's testimony
(backed by that Of his office boy. who
had seen the whole Hght,) proved
that Mason had been the aggressor.
Even the magistrnte-who owed
his appointment to the senator-had
no option but to believe the story.
He made the penalty as light rs pos
sible, imposing upon Mason merely a
fine Of ten dollars and an almost
respectful command to keep the
peace in future.
Somerston Is fifty miles. by rail,
from Mnsonburg. It is n fairly pref.
ty village. noted chiefly for two in.
situations that honor 1t by their pres.
ence. One of these Is the Somerston
Military academy. The other is the
Somerston Seminary for Young La.
dies. Stephen Fletcher's only son.
Tom, was cadet captain in the for.
mer. Senator Mason's only daughter,
Rose. was n member Of the senior
class. in the latter.
Between the academy and seminary,
there Is supposedly no communities.
ton whatever.
Everything that PROFESSIONAL minds
can devise to keep the girls and the
cadets from seeing anything Of each
other IS most rlgidly enforced. And
in most instances. the rigid effort Is
completely wasted. One elopement
would be enough to ruin the prestige
Of both institutions. Yet, such an
elopement occurred, in spite Of all the
care taken by the principals and the
faculties to prevent such tragedy
Here are the brief details of the 70.
nance:
From earliest childhood Tom Fletch.
er and Rose Mason had been sweet.
hearts.
And even after their respective
fathers had locked horns the two
young people had gravely agreed that
their own affair need not be marred
by parental differences in which
neither of them sympathized.
One day Tom received a note which
read:
"Dear Heart: There Is trouble
terrible trouble. Old Neither
Hinkle (the girl's nickname Tor
the seminary principally, was nos
ing around In my room. this
morning, and. when I wasn't
looking. she opened my inner
desk drawer. and found a whole
handful Of your letters.
Before I could stop her she
read them. She was horrible
about It. She says she is going
to write home to father, asking
him to take me away In disgrace.
And she is writing to the prin-
cipal Of the academy, telling him
all about 1t. and she says y9u
will be expelled.
"Oh. Tom, WHAT are we to
do? If you can come 70 the cor
ncr of the wall at ten o'clock to-
night, I'll try to steal out there
for talk with yor. and then we
can decide.
II am heartbseken. And I'm
scared to death. ROSE"
A little before ten that night Tom
sat astride the wall top. looking down
Into the dark seminary garden below
him.
Presently white and slender flg.
ure emerged cautiously from among
the shadows that lay between the wall
and the seminary dormitories. Tom
dropped lightly to the ground and ran
forward to meet the newcomer.
"Oh, Toni" she whispered agitated.
". as their hands met In the dark,
II had such an awful time getting
herel Mother Hinkle seemed to sus.
pect something. Her rooms at the
head Of the dormitory stairs. And
she sat there all evening with the
door wide open and the hall lights
turned up. She's there yet for all I
know. couldn't 60 past her. So I
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