The Snowflake herald. [volume] (Snowflake, Ariz.) 1913-1969, 1917-01-26
An Exchange
of Tokens
II Was Made on New
Years Eve.
By F. A. Mitchell

y
in. Among them were Lena Wads-
worth and Frank Andrews. The COM
pany had not yet passed into the sup
per room, and these two were sitting
apart from the others.
"Come, Lena" said Frank, ''you have
put me off long enough. Give me my
answer"
'You know very we'll why have put
you off, Frank. You are captivated by
every pretty girl you meet. If / said
yes, before three months had elapsed
you would wish to be released. have
no fancy for such an engagement"
TRY me-"
Miss Wadsworth tOyed with flower
she held in her hand and remained
silent. Finally she said:
81 will not consent to an engage
ment, but l will say this: If one year
from tonight you can assure me that
you have not made love to another girl
you can ask me again to be your wife,
and will accept you"
That's assuming all the constancy
Is on your SIDE"
81 think it Is
The party was as gay as the supper
was excellent. The guests sat down
at the table at 10 o'clock and left it at
3 a. m. A great deal Of wine was
drunk, and doubtless a great many
things were said that were not well
considered before the saying. The
party broke up singing "Auld Lang
Syne," and half an hour later the ban
quet hall. deserted, bespoke the evanes-
cence Of all worldly pleasures.
At II o'clock the next morning Frank
Andrews awoke On table beside
his bed were his eyeglasses. his watch
and a gold locket in the shape of
heart. The eyeglasses and the watch
were familiar objects in a familiar
place. But the gold heart? Frank
looked at 1t earnestly. then thoughtful
ly. How it had come to be with the
other articles he could not imagine.
That which had deepest root within
him first showed itself above a confu-
sion of happenings pertaining to last
nights conviviality. He remembered
one thing perfectly. He had persuad-
ed Lena Wadsworth to be his wife on
condition that he remained true to her
for one year. But he had no remem-
brance Of her giving him this bauble
in token of the agreement
Whence then had it come? Had
some one dropped 1t. and had he found
it? Had some one given it to him as
a token Of something now forgotten?
Up to the present moment his connec
ton with 1t was blank.
Pushing an electric button. he called
the butler.
James," be said, when you were
here last did you notice that-that gold
locket?"
mo- sir; didn't see it, sir"
Did you observe this table espe-
ciallyY'
Eyes, sir; l did. There was glass
on it. and 1 removed it, sir"
Nothing elseY'
mo, sir"
Frank thought for awhile, the butler
waiting. Finally Frank asked:
"Any mail this morning?"
eyes, sir One delivery about half
an hour ago."
Bring it up"
There were several Enclosures Of
bills and a scented missive addressed
In a delicate feminine hand Frank
opened it and read:
Dearest-I cannot sleep without saying
to you that you have made me, oh, ever
so happy. And / am going to step out to
the letter box right before the door and
post this, so that you'll get it tomorrow
morning and have a pleasant New Year
day surprise. How can / wait till | see
you again? Come as soon as you can and
tell me again. tell me a thousand times,
that you love me. have your gold pen
ell, and you have my heart May the
pledges they stand for be sacredly kept
Your loving GWEN
P. S.-A million kisses.
"Oh, my good
Frank finished the exclamation with
a groan. He must have fallen again,
and this was the longest fall he had
ever made Who was Gwen? Most of
the girls present at the New Years
party nG huCW ny LACh AuuA1lJ AdhSSS
but not their Christian names. There
were Miss Willis, Miss Everhart and
Miss Worthington, whom he knew
quite well, but which one, If any, of
them was Gwen? He looked for
heading to the note. but there was not
even a date. The postmark was no
guide at ALL
What deepened the mystery was that
Frank had not immoderately INDUCED
in the potent cup. There was no time
during the evening that he INDUCED in
iovemaking with an exchange Of
pledges that he would not have been
conscious of the fact But here was
indisputable evidence that he had
There was no other explanation. He
went over every episode, so far as he
could recall them, that had occurred
during the evening without result. But
five hours at an exhilarating supper
party embraced good deal.
GAIL I've got to say" remarked Mr..
Andrews to himself, 'is that if I'm to