The Washington herald., 1916-07-09


deal with him"
But he
Take him out. boys" ordered
Fletcher, "and turn him over to a po-
liceman. AS soon as l can get my
head tied up, I'll come around to the
station and make the formal charge"
And I'll charge you with criminal
libel. yelled Mason, with criminal
libel and"
Shut up" snapped the reporter.
clapping his hand. none too gently,
over the captlve's mouth. shut up and
come along quietly. or we'll drag you
out by the heels. And never 90 suing
any paper for criminal libel. either.
II you do. they're apt to prove 1t on
you"
In the Masonburg police court, an
hour later, Fletcher's testimony
Cbacked by that of his ONCE boy. who
had seen the whole fghD, proved
clearly that Mason had been the ag-
gressor.
Even the mag!strate-who owed his
appointment to the Senator-had no OPP
ton but to believe the story. He made
the penalty as light as possible, impos-
ing upon Mason merely a fine of ten dol
lars and an almost respectful command to
keep the peace in future.
The Senator went out Of court, voice
less with fury, at his foes moral tri-
umph. He battered his raging brain for
some way to injure the man he hated
Fletcher returned to his office equally
enraged at the thrashing he had received
and the meager penalty meted out to has
assailant His cut head swathed in band
ages. he sat down to write a caustic ac-
count of the affair for the next days is
sue of The Appeal" In due time both
warriors took their grievances to their
wives, and from each, according to her
kind. received full need Of sympathy.
Somerston is fifty miles. by rail. from
Masonburg. II is a fairly pretty village.
noted chiefly for two institutions that
Is the Somerston Military Academy. The
other is the Somerston Seminary for
Young Ladies. Stephen Fletcher's only
son, Tom, was a cadet captain in the
former. Senator Mason's only daughter
Rose, was a member OF the senior class,
in the latter.
Between the academy and seminary
there is supposedly no communicat tion
whatever. Cadets who glance interest
edly at seminary girls on the village
streets are sharply reprimanded. Big
eyed and f1uffy-haired girls, who surrep-
titiously peep over the Yine-clad wall of
the seminary grounds as a SQUAD of ca
dets march past, are sent to their rooms
for the rest OF the day.
Everything that professional minds can
devise to keep the girls and the cadets
from seeing anything OF each other is
most rigidly enforced And in most in
wasted. For youth and adventure have
ever proved too strong a combination for
age and reason to cope with.
Thus. nearly always between the two
schools there was a half-dozen active
fiirtations going on. unsuspected by the
authorities. One elopement would be
enough to ruin the prestige OF both In
stttutions. Yet, such an elopement oC-
Cured. in spite OF all the care taken by
the principals and the faculties to pre-
vent such a tragedy. Here are the brief
details OF the romance:
From earliest childhood Tom Fletcher
and Rose Mason had been sweethearts.
In kindergarten, in dancing school and
at church back at Masonburg they had
been inseparable. That was before the
Fletcher-Mason feud had begun.
And even after their respective faith
ers had locked horns the two young peo-
pie had graveIy agreed that their own
q ffair need not be marred by parental
differences in which neither of them
sympathized. They cited the celebrated
case OF Romeo and Juliet to prove that
family quarrels are no barrier to true
love.
1t was q very serious and important
matter, this romance between Rose Ma
son and Tom Fletcher, as the romances
Of the very young are so prone to be.
They decided that heaven had ordained
them for each other-that no lives since
the birth Of time could compare with
theirs-that destiny had inseparably link
ed them. 1t was all very beautiful very
innocent, very idiotic.
When Tom took his company on prac-
tice hikes or on route march, he was
certain to lead them past the seminary
garden. at precisely the moment that
Rose had chosen to walk there.
If the cadets ever chanced to notice
flower dropped from the wall at their
captains feet, or a three-cornered note
iicked deftly across to her. they merely
grinned and kept their own counsel like
good fellows.
But one day the girl dropped a note in
front OF the marching company which
contained more than the usual gushing
pledges OF deathless love. Tom surrep-
titiously picked up the scrap of paper
from the roadside dust. palmed It, and
read:
Dear Heart: There is trouble-terrible
trouble. Old Mother Hinkle (the girls
nickname for the seminary principaD,
was nosing around in my room, this
morning. and. when l wasn't looking she
opened my inner desk drawer, ana found
a whole handful of your letters.
Before l could stop her she read them.
She was horrible about 1t. She says she
is going to write home to father ask
ing him to take me away in disgrace.
And she Is writing to the principal of the
academy, telling him all about II, and
she says you will be expelled
"Oh, Tom what are we going to do? If
you can come to the corner of the wall at
10 o'clock tonight, I'll try to steal out
there for talk with you, and then we
can decide.
Il am heartbroken. And I'm scared to
death ROSE"
A little before 10 that night Tom Fletch-
er discarded his spruce gray uniform for
civilian suit and let himself down by
rainpipe from his dormitory window.
Promptly at 10 he stood under the corner
of the seminary gardens wall A jump
and his fingers clasped the coping A
wriggle and he sat astride the wall top.
looking down into the dark garden below
him
Presently a white and slender figure
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, Tom sha whispered agitatedly.
as their hands met in the dark, II had
such an awful time getting hereI Mother