The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1916-12-26
An Exchange
of Tokens
1t Was Made on New
Years Eve.
By F. A. Mitchell


in. Among them were Lena Wads-
worth and Frank Andrews. The COM
pany had not yet passed into the sup
per room, and these two were sitting
apart from the others.
Come, Lena" said Frank, you have
put me of long enough Give me my
answer"
"You know very we'll why have put
you off, Frank. You are captivated by
every pretty girl you meet If / said
yes, before three months had elapsed
you would wish to be released. / have
no fancy for such an engagement"
TRY me-"
Miss Wadsworth toyed with a flower
she held in her hand and remained
silent Finally she said.
Il will not consent to an engage.
ment, but I will say this: If one year
from tonight you can assure me that
you have not made love to another girl
you can ask me again to be your wife,
and l will accept you"
That's assuming all the constancy
is on your side"
81 think It Is"
The party vas as gay as the supper
was excellent. The guests sat down
at the table at 10 o'clock and left 1t at
a. m. A great deal of wine was
drunk, and doubtless a great many
things were said that were not well
considered before the saying. The
party broke up singing "Auld Lang
Syne," and half an hour later the ban
quet hall, deserted, bespoke the evanes-
cence Of all worldly pleasures.
At II o'clock the next morning Frank
Andrews awoke. On a table beside
his bed were his eyeglasses, his watch
and a gold locket In the shape Of
heart The eyeglasses and the watch
were familiar objects in a familiar
place. But the gold heart? Frank
looked at 1t earnestly, then thoughtful-
ly. How it had come to be with the
other articles he could not imagine.
That which had deepest root within
him first showed itself above a confu-
sion of happenings pertaining to last
nights conviviality. He remembered
one thing perfectly. He had persuad-
ed Lena Wadsworth to be his wife on
condition that he remained true to her
for one year. But he had no remem-
brance of her giving him this bauble
in token of the agreement.
Whence then had 1t come? Had
some one dropped 1t, and had he found
it? Had some one given It to him as
token of something now forgottenf
Up to the present moment his connec-
ton with it was blank.
Pushing an electric button, he called
the butler.
James," he said, when you were
here last did you notice. that-that gold
lHcket?'
mo, sir; didn't see 1t, sir"
did you observe this table espe-
cially?"
Eyes, sir; did. There was a glass
on 1t, and removed 1t, SIR"
Nothing else?"
mo, SIR
Prank thought for awhile, the butler
waiting, Finally Frank asked:
''Any mail this morning2"
eyes, sir. One delivery about half
an hour ago"
Bring it up"
bills and a scented missive addressed
in a delicate feminine hand Frank
opened it and read:
Dearest-I cannot sleep without saying
to you that you have made me, oh, ever
so happy. And l am going to step out to
the letter box right before the door and
post this, so that you'll get it tomorrow
morning and have a pleasant New Year
day surprise. How can ] wait till / see
you again2 Come as soon as you can and
tell me again, tell me thousand times,
that you love me. have your gold pen
Gill; and you have my heart. May the
pledges they stand for be sacredly kept
Your loving GWEN.
p. S.-A million kisses.
"Oh, my good
Frank finished the exclamation with
q groan. He must have fallen again
and this was the longest fall he had
ever made. Who. was Gwen? Most Of
the girls present at the New Years
party he knew by their family names
but not their Christian names. There
were Miss Willis, Miss 4Everhart and
Miss Worthington, whom he knew
quite well, but which one, If any, OF
them was Gwen? He looked for q
heading to the note, but there was moi
even a date. The postmark was nc
guide at all.
What deepened the mystery was that
Frank had not immoderately INDUCED
In the potent cup. There was no time
during the, evening that he INDUCED In
lovemaking with an exchange OF
pledges that he would not have beer
conscious Of the fact. But here was
indisputable evidence that he had
There was no other explanation. He
went over every episode, so far as he
could recall them, that had occurred
during the evening without result. But
five hours at an exhilarating supper
party embraced a good deal.
'All I've got to say" remarked Mr.
Andrews to himself. "is that If I'm tC
be made happy every New Years
morning in this way trust shall enc
my earthly career on the 31st Of De
cember next"
There were two horns to the trouble
Ono was q fear that Lena would Learn
that he had fallen from grace within
a few hours after he had assured her
of his constancy, the other his ignor
ance as to who was the girl he had ex
changed pledges with. GettiAg out of
bed, lie took up his dress vest and felt
In the pocket where he carried his gold
pencil. 1t was gone. Oh. how he tried
to remember where it had gone! OF
all his horrible entanglements-and he
had passed through a number Of them
this was the worst.
There would have been something
like comfort in his not remembering
the girl he had made love to had 1t not
been that he shrank from doing o dis
honorable act The girl, not receiving
a visit from him, would suppose that
he intended to jilt her and would be
too proud to trouble him again. But
from such position he shrank. And
would she not tell some friend who
would tell another and the matter
finally get to Lena?
There were so many awful things
that might grow out of his relapse
that he resolved to Danish them ALL.
With one kick he removed the bed
clothes and in few minutes was driv-
ing the blood out of his head with
shower bath. Then when dressed he
sailed forth for breakfast
Time was when New Years day was
devoted to calls. This custom having
passed away It is a holiday without