The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1916-06-15
BREAKING
THE ICE
q, ALAN HINSDALE

haae i ChlICu "
that she purposely exercised this
'.,,stion upon men ia some such
'.,,,t a, a fisherman dcroys trout.
one day when we were sitting at a
81, Iooking over n book Of pictures
,,s,ther Polly drew closer to me than
~ necessary for her 10 soc the pic
70 and some loose strands Of her
~, ,rszed my check. | turned upon
M and said:
syore Of that, Pol You and l are
,..ps We have been brought up
..,stber Ike brother and sister. II
,"a throw q spell over me you'll spoil
fsI"
sh. seemed hurt. Her only reply
-, reproachful look through those
.,o-essiye eyes OF hers. | considered
soe Of her wiles, ana # irritated me.
spo YOU know what you're trying
:. All You're bent on scOOping me
a az YOU have so many other fellows.
Van want me TO he soft on you for
,vbre. then. when | get beside my
m with love for you, you'll say,
What pity that you should have so
,,understood me" All our COuSinly
,sendship will be gone, and there will
|. nothing to take its place"
She listened TO me. looking as II she
,p,e about to cry. till had finished.
nsu said in an injured tone:
you have no right to assume that
have ever treated any man diShOn-
s.by. Men have sought my society.
nd since girls like the companionShip
4 the opposite sex. have encouraged
hem to be friends. But | deny that
| have encouraged them to he lovers"
With this she walked out Of the room.
heplng her back TO me, evidently TO
hde dampness In the eyes.
| was puzzled Was this a part Of
.s method OF enticinc man for the
wrpOse Of refusing him. or was she
soaking the truth? Whether II was
kr game or whether she wanted me.
Twas at a loss to decide. If she want.
d ne II seemed likely that she had
rlde q move TO break through the or
| diary friendlineSs Of my treatment Of
M, which would be perfectly legiti-
nate In any girl toward any fellow
De desires TO be on lover-like terms
Nth
Whichever Of these propositions was
rn the effect was the same. Polly
hd inoculated me. With what? L
int know. Was it curiosity? That
US an ingredient. Was II rcaliza-
lon that had not before experienced |
bat wanted her? Possibly. What |
ger Il was 1t had got into my blood |
nd bad produced that fever which ac-
nnMnles love.
While before this episode Il had not
rrurred to me to trouble myself about |
kT many fellows Polly had turned
tsn, now began to dread that the
kItman who was attentive to her she
you'd accept Then It occurred to me
M she might have felt al incipient
ss Tor me which | had nipped in the
va A bud destroyed will never bud
IAN. The thought was maddening.
wanted to 60 to Polly and undo
nat | had done.
Sul supposlng she had simply been
tnpted to try her destinations upon
"! IL ! went TO her with a serious
W ~rowful face she would laugh at
At any rate, what had said TO
" aoout breaking up our cOusinly
uus was true. When next we met
he would be something that had
"s existed before between us-con-
Hant She would be shut up like an
FTer, like clam.
aaa 80 We were. There was no more
aele Pol" Morning. Bobr' then an
1enange OF chat, In which usually
Sofsted Polly seemed distrustful
.Osing at me. And l was glad of
@ II caught her eye | wouldn't
=. wnat to express in mine. re-
hed that It was a very dIsagreeble.
p morning, and she replied. Very"
@ne that indicated the conditions
sn Us were more disagreeabIe
- .0e morning. Then she took I'D
! wa and pretended to read. I look ,
Wv through a window. Presently
!. sa OF the situation and nerved my
w seem very much interested I'm 4
~ ooof,' remarked.
~ quite Interesting" without TAX. 4
Cher eyes of II.
Sence for awhile at tho end n,
sdeC" owe you an 4
@ looked away from the book. bnt Z
=. ne' She was evidently ready to Z
~. 0Old not have accused YOU" Z
~. w. OF drawing fellows in to Z
y that's nothing. The fellow :
= sOk out for himself 0" $
srss marvellous consistency! Quite (:
~ woman. Nevertheless =:
| h 49, telltale look In her eye Z
Oh s her words. I drew nv .
pss,er. She did not move away. :
-, ! said, q believe I would like :
asss stray hairs Craze my z
q bss . ! drew my chair close be- a
ma nd looked at the book she a
~ : 1t was upside down. In .
ii - = pee the better 1 placed nv =
| n near hers tbat .bo -,