The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-07-22
pEAKNG
THE ICE
a, ALAN HIINsDALE

here was q
- men to her as flowers draw
called her fiirt, not doubt
! she purposely exercised this
.aou upon men In some such
!. a fisherman decoys trout.
asy when we were sitting at a
b0king over a book Of pictures
: Polly drew closer to me than
,seessary for her to see the pic
and some loose strands of her
rssed my cheek. turned upon
d said:
q Of that, Pol. You and l are
We have been brought up
II like brother and sister. If
aOw a spell over me you'll spoil
seemed hurt. Her only reply
ffeproachfui look through those
sive eyes Of hers. I considered
Of her wiles, and it irritated me.
you know what you're trying
You're bent on scooping me
yOu have so many other fellows.
want me to be soft on you for
!; then. when I get beside my
With love for you, you'll say.
a pity that you should have so
derstood mel All our cousinly
iship will be gone, and there will
thing to take its place"
listened to me, looking as If she
about to cry, till / had finished.
aid In an injured tone:
b have no right to assume that
Be ever treated any man dishon-
\. Men have sought my society,
since girls like the companionship
opposite sex. / have encouraged
to be friends. But 1 deny that
We encouraged them to be lovers. !"
hh this she walked out of the room,
Ehg her back to me, evidently to
dampness in the eyes.
vas puzzled. Was this a part Of
method Of enticing a man for the
pose Of refusing him, or was she
King the truth? Whether 1t was
game or whether she wanted me.
Is at loss to decide. If she want
ne 1t seemed likely that she had
a move to break through the or
ly friendliness Of my treatment of
which would be perfectly legiti-
b In any girl toward any fellow
desires to be on lover-like terms
hiehever Of these propositions was
the effect was the same. Polly
inoculated me. With what? I
know. Was 1t curiosity? That
an Ingredient. Was 1t realiza-
that / had not before experienced
! wanted herr Possibly. What
It was it had got into my blood
had produced that fever which &C.
panies love.
mile before this episode 1t had not
ared to me to trouble myself about
many fellows Polly had turned
m, l now began to dread that the
tman who was attentive to her she
|hd accept. Then 1t occurred to me
\ she might have felt an incipient
n for me which / had nipped in the
q A bud destroyed will never bud
lh. The thought was maddening.
wanted to go to Polly and undo
|At l had done.
pot supposing she had simply been
npted to try her Vaccinations upon
p II I went to her with serious
sorrowful face she would laugh al
/ At any rate. what had said to
about breaking up our cousinly
etus was true. When next we met
ne would be something that had
per existed before between us-con
'aht She would be shut up like ar
'ster, ! like a clam.
And so we were. There was no mort
dello, PolT' Morning, BobP then ar
Hefchange of chan, in which / usually
worsted. Polly seemed distrustfu
looking at me. And I was glad o.
Tor If l caught her eye l wouldn'
'Ow what to express in mine. I re
Afked that it was a very disagreeble
mp morning, and she replied, VERY,
tone that indicated the condition.
Aween us were more disagreeabl,
an the morning. Then she took NJ
book and pretended to read. / look
out through a window. Present..
ured Of the situation and nerved my
u to break It
lou seem very much interested Il
.ur book" I remarked.
It's quite interesting" without tab
9 her eyes on it.
silence for awhile, at the end o
alch / said, II presume owe you a
pOlOgy."
zoe looked away from the book. bu
I at me. She was evidently ready t
I should not have accused you"
ent on, "of drawing fellows in t
now them over"
Oh that's nothing. The felloV
'ast look out for himself"
Hnat marvellous consistency Quit
Orthy Of a woman. Nevertheless
lefe was a telltaie look in her ey
ny belied her words. / drew m
NJ nearer. She did not move ava!
foi," / said. Il believe would 1ik
ieel those stray hairs Craze m
Aeek.n
=, 20 reply. / drew my chair close b
1e hers and looked at the book sh
ss reading. It was upside down.
=