Putnam patriot., 1916-07-21


 q laugh. .Te tell you tbe truth, d1ut come here tO interview you for n uaper Fm afraid I've tried youf fa .elee awfatlEs \ faint lush tius- el her clear complexion. T just came fa H ta -et aa.ue llaws ef Dan"
 -H<s perfectly well and happy and 1a4u see him iii q few days
 Miss Appleton nodded So he wrote rgr couldn't wait Now. won't yoa fFH ne all about hi-a-not anything about his Iael5s and his health but lii te uuimportant things that will mean suHethugt You sec I'm his mother and his sister and his sweetheart"
 ONeil did as he was directed and before long found himself reciting the details of that trying trip up the Salm- river He told her how he had -eal the young engineer out to run the rfa uiuarT survey for the new rail- Haad and added. "IJe is in q fair way f# realize his ambition of having you nHIi Lim al the time. I'm sure that za4 please you
 #Aud il is my ambition to make enough money to have him with ne. sa announced With aH air of some aar.aHee she continued. I'll tell you -a-ret I'm writing for the masa- -sfdries+- She saf ba k await
 his enthusiasm When she saw taa5 t WIS uat fouAaomiHg she ex- tanel ~Alt. how you do rave over tHe oea!
 .i rougratuiate you. of course, but Now. don't feH me that you tried t aaae. or eoutse you d.d know its harmless disease. ike tae measles, aaA that everybody has il when they're #68H- AboYe all. don't volunteer the llormation that your own life is full o romance and would make a spIen- sil novel. They all say thai
 Murray O'NeiI felt the glow of per saaa interest that results from the dis avery in another of a coneeniaf sense af Aumer
 l didn't suppose you had 10 write" He said Dan told me you had in- vested your fortune and were on Easy sfeet'
 That was poetic license. l fiction ize1 slightly in my report to him be- cause knew Be was doing so we'll
 Then vaHr investment didn't turn a1t tortunately%
 Miss Appleton hesitated You seem ta he Kindly. trusting person. Im tempted to destroy your faith in hu- Hau uaturen
 Please don't"
 @Ios, l saall. My experience may he.p you 10 avoid the pitfalls gf high ffHH. c. We'll then. it Was d very sad f5. I.,z n grammar school-just big enough to be If uo assistance. But even a boys s5ze fortuue looked big to me want ed t0 invest if iii something sure-no national bank stock. subject to the dan ger If all abseoedns cashier mind you; lo government bonds with the possibil ity If War to depreeiate them but s5ml thing stable and agricultural, with the iueXhaustib.e resources of nature back of it. This isut my own lan- sHage. l eribbed il Rom the apple man.
 Apple man:e
 'Yes. He had brown eyes and silky mustaehe and q bis irrigation plan over east of the mountains. You gave him your money and he gave you q ANAAtNtie t-1osi it~N -l+es iAAA tA AtN -t'itAA' ed little apple trees. He uursed them tenderly for five years. after which he turned them over to you with his bless ing and you lived happily for evermore. At least that was the idea. Yon could not fail to grow rich, fog the water al ways bubbled through bis little ditch, and it never froze nor rained t0 spoil things. l used to love apples. And then there was my name. which seeIn ed good omep. But lately I've con- sidered changing Appleton to Berry or Hummer or some other kind Gf fruit
 T infer that the scheme Gsiled 0'Neis eyes were half closed witl amusement.
 Yes. It was a good scheme teo. eX eept for the fact that the irrigation ditch raH uphill and that there wasDt any water where it started from and that apples never had been made t0 grow in that locality because of some thug in the soil and that brown eyed Betty's title to the land wouldn't hold water any more than tue ditch. Other wise i'm sure he'd have made q sue cess and I'd have spent my declining years in rocking chair under the fall ing apple blossoms, eating pipplns and Jonathans and Northern Spies. l can't bear to touch them now. Life at my boarding house is one long battle against apple pies. apple buildings, aP~ Die tapioca. Ugh, l hate the very word
 can understand your aversion" laughed O.Neil. "I wonder if you would let me or:er dinner fer both of us, provided I taboo fruit. Perhaps HI think of something more to tell you about Dan. I'm sure he wouldn't ob- iect'-
 "Oh. my card is all the chaperon l need. It takes me everywhere and renders me superior to the smaller con Eenriunalities. Sine handed him one. aud he read, Eliza Y. Appleton-The Review"
 May l ask what the ". stands forf" He held np the card between his thumb aAd finger.
 Miss Appleton blushed for all the world like q boy, then answered stifiy: IT stands for Violet Hut that isn't ny fault. and I'm doing my best to live it down.