Courier Democrat., 1917-11-08

"Yes. it is It's
She had no further speech with him
Breathless. William flung open his
door. seized the hat, racketed down
the stairs and out through the front
door, which he left open behind him.
Eight seconds later he returned at a
gallop, hurtled up the stairs and into
his room emerging instantly with some
thing concealed under his coat
Mrs Baxter sighed and went to a
window in her own room and looked
out.
William was already more than half
way to the next corner, where there
was a car line that ran to the station,
but the distance was not too great for
Mrs Baxter to comprehend the nature
of the symmetrical white parcel now
carried in his right hand. Her face
became pensive as she gaZed after the
flying slender figure. There came to
her mind the recollection of a seven
teen-y year-old boy who had brought a
box of candy-a small one, like Will
liam s-to the station once, long ago,
when she had been visiting in another
town. For just a moment she thought
of that boy she had known so many
years ago, and a smile came vaguely
upon her lips. She wondered what
kind of woman he had married and
how many children he had and wheth-
er he was a widower-
The feeting recollection passed. She
turned from the window and shook
her head, puzzled.
"Now, where on earth could Jane
and that little Kirsted girl have gone"
,, she murmured.
At the station William, descending
from the street car, found that he had
six minutes to spare. Reassured of
so much by the great clock in the sta
| tion tower, he entered the building
and, with calm and dignifed steps,,
crossed the large waiting room. Those
calm and dignified steps were taken
by feet which little betrayed the trem-
| ulousness Of the knees above them.
! He made sure that the person he
sought was not in the waiting room.
Therefore he turned to the doors which
7 fore he went out he paused for an in
slant Of displeasure. Hard by the
| door stood telephone booth, and from
| inside this booth little girl of nine
or ten was peering eagerly out at Will
| liam, her eyes just above the lower
level Of the glass window in the door.
| Even a prospect thus curtailed re-
vealed her as sInudged and dusty
little girl. To William she suggested
| nothing familiar. AS his glance hap
| pened to encounter hers the peering
eyes grew instantly brighter with ex-
citement. She exposed her whole coun-
tenance at the window and impulsively
made face at him.
Three seconds later the dusty faced
| little girl and her moue were sped ut
terly from Williams mind. For as
the doors swung together behind him
he saw Miss Pratt. There were no
| gates nor iron barriers to obscure the
view. There was no train shed to
darken the air. She was at some dis.
tance, perhaps 200 feet, along the
tracks, where the sleeping cars Of the
long train would stop. But there she
stood, mistakable for no other on this
wide earth.
There she stood--a glowing little hg-
| ure in the hazy September sunlight,
her hair an amber mist under the ador-
| able little hat, small bunch of violets
| at her waist, a larger bunch of fra
grant but less expensive sweet peas in
her right hand, half dozen pink roses
| in her left, her little dog Flopit in the
crook Of one arm and one pound box
Of candy in the crook of the other
inenfable, radiant, starry, she stood!
Near her also stood her young hostess
and Wallace Banks, Johnnie Watson
and Joe Bullitt, three young gentlemen
| in condition Of solemn tensity. Miss
Parcher saw William as he emerged
from the station building, and she
waved her parasol in greeting, attract
ing the attention Of the others to him,
so that they all turned and stared.
Seventeen sometimes finds 1t embar-
RAISING, even In a state Of deep emo
ton. to walk 200 feet or thereabout
toward group Of people who stead
fastly watch the long approach. And
when the watching group contains the
lady OF all tho world before whom
one wishes TO appear most debonair,
and containa not only her. but several
tcontInued next week,