Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1916-01-14
A Quick
Transition
By EUNICE BLAKE

NhhJ hiShtS hOW' Sot SOuue loSS
blazin' on the hearth, and I'll bring up
some birch beer from the cellar
Josh Morehouse, a bachelor of forty,
accepted the invitation and was soon
sitting on n end of a sofa drawn be-
fore the fire, while Amanda Waters,
aged twenty, sat at the other. Beside
Josh stood a table on which were a dish
of nuts and a bottle of birch beer. Aft
er a swig of the beer be began crack
ing the nuts and invited Amanda to
tell hin what he could do for her.
Law sakes, Mr.. Morehouse, l don't
believe l can"
"Waal, now, that's surprisin'."
There's somep'n l want you to do
for me. but it's awful hard to say it.
Fact is, l want to borry you for
awhile"
'Borry me?'
Mr.. Morehouse paused while crack
ing a nut and looked at Miss Waters
inquiringly.
"You know Enoch Rogers. Well,
Enoch has beer talkin' soft to me late
ly, and l don't want him to do it. He's
a nice Teller, but he's nothin' but a
boy. l don't cotton to these kids, but
Enoch is givin' me an awful lot of
worriment. l don't want to hurt his
feelin's, and I can't stand it to have
him follerin' me about. maxim people
believe l belong to him."
"Why don't you tell him. squar, to
keep off"
81 have. 1t don't appear to do any
good"
"You don't want me to give him a
lickin', do your"
"Oh, no, Mr.. Morehouse. l wouldn't
have you do that"
"What do you want me to do?"
"Waal, I've reckoned that If you
wouldn't mind make b'lieve for awhile
l belong to you mebbe he'd give me up
and be ~ruckensiled to get on with
out me-"
"Oh, 1 see! That's a mighty good
way o. lettin' him down."
His mother and my mother are
mighty good friends, and Enoch is a
nice boy. So l mustn't do anything
to make bad blood. Jest as soon al
Enoch sees that some un has got
ahead of him he'll draw off and find
another gal"
You don't mean that he'd think
you'd look at an old Teller like me, do
youY"
La sakes, Mr.. M%orehouse, how you
talk! You're just the age for a wom-
an between eighteen and twenty-five.
Girls want a husband to look up to.
They don't want a boy that they kin
wipe the floor with"
you don't mean it. Waal, now, |
wouldn't "a thought any gal except an
old maid would want me-"
Mr.. Morehouse looked very much
pleased. The fire cracked merrily,
dancing on the fender and gliding artt
cles in the room. The birch beer had
a delicious flavor, and the nuts, hav-
ing been newly gathered, were the
same,
when shall we begin, Mr.. More
house?" asked Amanda, moving from
her end of the sofa toward her make
believe lover.
Begin? Begin what?"
"Why, pertendin' we're engaged"
isn't there a big difference between
p%ertendin' and the real thing?'
"Mebbe there is, but if we don't act
engaged before people they won't be-
lieve we're engaged. Enoch'll think
I'm just sayin' I'm engaged to shet
him Off"
''That wouldn't do, would it? But
how are we goin' to act engaged?".
"LawsN-massy, Mr.. Morehouse, you
don't reckon we're goin' to know how
to act engaged without any practicin'.!"
"Mebbe not"
Mr.. Morehouse took another pull at
the birch beer, and when he had set
down his mug he found that Amanda
had moved to the middle of the sofa
and there was barely room for a sheet
of paper between them. The fire was
cracking and giving out its genial
warmth. Mr.. Morehouse felt very hap
py. He looked sidewise at Amanda,
while she looked down at her lap,
smoothing her dress. He wondered If
a borrowed lover practicing to play his
part was entitled to take a kiss. He
dropped an arm, which was resting on
the back of the sofa. to her waist. She
did not move. He felt encouraged.
He drew her toward him till she was
leaning up against him. Her head top
pied to the side: he turned her face.
and his lips were drawn magnetically
to hers.
"By jinx,' he exclaimed. 81 wonder
if bein' a real lover is better'n a bor-
ryed oner'
Nobody kin tell that without try
in" said Amanda.
Another kiss helped him on, and still
another helped him on further, till at
last. as he afterward said. 'the words
just came right out by themselves
without my havin' anything to do with
if"