The Watertown news. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1917-1919, 1917-10-03
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THE COWARD.
BY EARL REED SILVERS.
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1t was the kind of day young lovers
dream about. The late afternoon sun
cast streamers of gold on the simmer.
ing river; from the porch of the mas.
sive hotel drifted the sound of soft
music. Myrtle Thorpe, her chin cupped
in her hands, looked with unseeing
eyes across the water.
81 can never marry you now" she
said listlessly.
The rather good-looking man sitting
beside her opened his eyes with un-
affected surprise. The scar on his left
cheek grew livid.
"Why?" he asked.
Because you're a coward"
The girl spoke evenly, as if she were
commenting on the weather but there
was a fnality to her words which
brooked no argument. There was
something about the set of her mouth
and the smooth curve of her chin
which told Ned Randolph that further
words would be useless. Nevertheless,
he refused to accept dismissal without
an attempt to justify himself.
"Why am I a coward?" he per-
sisted.
you know the answer as well as I
do" she said shortly.
"But I can't SWIM"
''That doesn't make any difference.
You might have tried to do something"
"But there wasn't anything I could
do"
The girl dropped her hands in her
lap and turned searching eyes toward
the man beside her.
do you think that if I had been a
man and someone was drowning not
twenty-five yards away, would have
run to the dock and would have tried
to get in a boat? No, l would have
jumped into the water and swan out
to him."
Myrtle, you're unreasonable. I
couldn't have done any good in the
water.''
cit was the most humiliating ex-
perience I've ever KNOWN" the girl
continued. "There you stood on the
beach, with half the hotel looking on,
yelling for help as if you were child.
Why didn't you do something's"
81 did the only thing possible.
called for help and then went to the
rescue in boat"
"Yes, and before you got half the
way, Jim Turner ran down from the
porch and swan out to the man who
was drowning. Now everybody says
he's hero and you're coward"
"And do you think so, too?"
Eyes" There was hopeless final
ity to her answer.
Bravery doesn't always consist in
doing something that is rash and fool
fsh," he said.
'sYou don't know how much it would
have meant to me if you had proved
yourself a hero" she said. "My family
have always counted heroism as the
one best thing in life. Five of my an
cestors wer,: in the Revolutionary war,
and my two brothers are down at Fort
Myer."
"And you think that I ought to. en-
list?''
"Yes."
'1t wouldn't do any good"
"Why?"
Because I'm physically unfit
you're surely big enough" She
rose suddenly to her feet. "It won't
do any good to talk about it," she con-
tinued. "I-I couldn't help wondering
why haven't you done something
about the war, and now I know.
You're afraid"
''rm sorry you should think that"
he answered. maybe sometime you'll
find that you are wrong"
''Tm glad that found out about you
before it was too late" the girl went
on, ignoring his words. II was fool
ish to consent to marry you, anyway.
We've only known each other for
few weeks, and you haven't told me
single thing about yourself except that
you've been to Europe for two years
and have come back to rest from bust
ness. You didn't even tell me what
kind of business it was"
SIS it all over, them"
eyes, it's all over"
For a moment Ned Randolph stood
as if debating further eX-
PLANTATION. Then, without word, he
turned and made his way to the porch
Of the hotel. After he had gone Myr-
tie sank down upon the sand, her head
in her hands. For long time she lay
quiet, and then she discovered a small
lying in the sand where Ned
had been standing. She picked it up
and examined it curiously. 1t was
Victoria Cross, and on its back YVES in
scribed the name of Theodore Ran
dolph. She found Ned sitting in the
far corner of the veranda. Her face
crimson she went to him directly,
holding out the insignia of honor.
TT found this on the sand" she
said softly. rs it yours?"
Eyes," he answered. Its mine."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Il was going to this morning. But
when YOU called me a coward I decid-