Cheraw chronicle. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, 1916-01-13

| Ir1endS With all the SprlenulnesS o.
which she was capable.
In that process she firmly intended
to make him the center Of things ant
to see that he had good time. IL
relieved her Of that tremendous bur
den. however. for after moving through
the introdmctions with a cordial ease
which not only delighted but surprised
her, until she was reminded that he
had been introduced to more notables
than she would probably ever see. be
quietly disappeared into Marley's der
and smoked fat cigars in calm com
fort. with stein Of cool beer at his ell
bow. leaving the young people to enjoy
bleir hilarity without the damper OF
his presence.
Molly, mindful Of her duties as host
ess, dropped in occasionally to see thai
he was satisfied, and each time she
found him in exactly the same position
as placidly contented as he could pos
sibly have been In the little back room
Of the Occident saloon. On one Of hel
visits, after answering In the affirma
tive her inquiry If he was all right, he
rose from his comfortable nest in the
big leather chair.
II suppose we eat" he guessed.
~ think you'd call 1t bluff" she
laughingly returned.
81 get you," he replied. mostly dec
orations. Souvenirs?"
"The usual"
Hand 'em these and he thrust into
her hands two bundles of small envel
opes, red ones and white ones.
She looked at them blankly a mo
ment.
T-get you" she smiled. 1uShil:
slightly as she wondered whether ii"'
adoption of his phrase WIS llaI,rry I"
ridicule. RED ones, in honor Of il.
roses, are for girls, and The white "i!"
for the boys. What are they:
Jaw, nothing much" he diili.!rn'l'
replied as he resumed his seat ''S"a
son tickets for grand opera week il
the red ones and for the Athletic chI'
fights in the white ones. Admit tw"
Is it all right?'
"Is 1t all right? It's glorious" Sh'
assured him, with shining eyes.
Delighted with this unmatchable nov
city, Molly was herself placing thu
red and white envelopes at the cover:
in the dining room when Bert Glider
found her there and closed the dool
after himself.
"Molly, you're carrying this Sledg'
joke too farT he hotly charged.
"Who elected you?" she quietly
wanted to know and laid white en-
velope at his place with extreme care
angling the corner Of it just so.
Both of us, I hope" he stated, dis
playing q warning signal by pulling a
the top of his collar to give his throa
more room. "Molly"- And he advanc
ed toward her.
The symptoms were unmistakable
Molly, having rounded the end Of the
table, slipped out through the pantry
door and handed her remaining en-
velopes to the intellectual looking but
ler.
"Place these on the table just as
haze dQne-uAlternate red and white
I next time Bert saw her she was tn,
live center Of the laughing taffy pull
ing. She had preferred to escap'
rather than to treat this matter eithe
seriously or fippantly when she wal
annoyed with him.
At 11:30 Mr.. Marley, with the worr!
of eight absent mothers on his owl
shoulders, was fretting over some in
vention to send them home when tht
earth split open in the wide stretch o.
vacant land across the street ant
elected into the sky, with a loud, un
earthly noise, a tremendous assortmen
Of fiery meteors, mostly red. Roman
candles In reckless punches shot NJ
from behind every bush, skyrocket'
dragged their spiraling tails through
all the available circumambience, whil
fancy bombs carried their aerial float
ers and other brilliant pyrotechnica
surprises into all the celestial terri
tory hitherto unoccupied.
Through it all Sledge stood as i'm
movable and as impassive as If he hat
been glued to the spot and frozen
Even when the display flowed out int
the middle Of the highway and pilet
up the street cars for two blocks II
both directions he remained a calm
and disinterested spectator. The pres
ident of the traction company wa!
thrown into extreme agitation by thi!
excess of zeal, for he had some con
sideration for the feelings Of the pub
lie, and he rushed right out to restore
the scattered schedule
Here, what's this?" he demanded o.
a demon with smoke blackened face
why are you holding up the carsT
"Sledge's orders" replied the demon
lighting the fuse Of red rose Sc
piece. "He said everything went, ant
it's going"
Mr.. Marley came back.
Sledge was no longer on the porch
Molly had slipped in to wrap up some
cake for Baby Peters, and Sledge, wh'
seemingly saw nothing, had followed
her.
"Well, is your party a hitf" he an1
iously inquired.
"It's q screamr' she said, unable Il
control her laughter. Really, Mr.