Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-11-28
Cynthia White
Pest
00
By VINCENT q. PERRY
copyright, ISIS. by Mcclure Newspaper
6yndicate.)

WITH a quick jerk Horace S~angs,cr
pulled his line from the water, and
then cried out with disgust. The fish.
II there had been one, had got away.
Three hours without IA catch-lt WAS
enough to annoy q man with normal
nerves., and Horace was far from that.
He drew In his line angrily and at
tempted to wind 1t up, but something
had gone wrong with his reel. That
was the last straw. He sat down Oh
q rock and sw0re.
The sound OF the word startled him.
He had not sworn for years. HIS
nerves were certainly making II wreck
OF him. The solitude Of the place was
a%ggravating him, too. They hat! told
him the simple camp life, with lots Of
fishing, would make a new man Of him.
Such bosh! Why, there was hardly Il
thing about 1t that did not make him
feel worse.
This was the second day, and he
was going to make 1t his last. To be
gin with, he had had trouble pitching
his tent. The storm In the night had
kept him up keeping out the rain. Ev-
cry crack of the bushes or sound Of
the birds In the trees caused him to
start uneasily. 1t was nearly as nerve-
racking us an afternoon session with
the fourth-year class. The thought
Of the fourth-year girls lrlftatea him
the more. They had been the cause
OF his breakdown, he felt confident.
For mouths he had looked with dread
on the hour each afternoon that he
was forced to teach them mathematics.
They were just silly, thoughtless girls,
aud would not have been SO hard 10
put up with had it not been for their
ringlcNdcr, Cynthia White.
without exaggeration Cynthia was
the worst girl he had ever had under
his tuition. Her main object In life
seemed to be to torment the professor
Of mathematics. Something always
turned up for her to argue about or
laugh over There was always some
thing for her to rldicule. and she new
er missed an opportunity to make him
feel mean-perhaps because she was
so large and he was so small.
As he sat there thinking 1t over, Hor-
ace made up his mind he had been
foolish. 1t would have been easy to
have arranged for her dismissal from
the college. Why hadn't he done it?
There was something he liked about
Cynthia, in spite Of everything. The
spirit Of fun behind those twinkling
black eyes Of hers appealed to him,
and the warmth OF her laugh made him
long for Notwithstanding that
was not In his life.
Suddenly the laugh sounded close be
side him. He nearly toppled into the
water from the shock 1t gave him. He
turned quickly to con,ront Cynthia,
little way Off, her eyes bullying ove'
with merriment. After rubbing his
eyes to make SUR he was seeing
Alright, Horace smiled forth a greet
Ing. Even the pest Of his life was wei
come in that solitude.
"Oh, Mr.. Sangster, you look 50 fun
ny there" she laughed. IF the girl
could only see you In your bare feet!
"Heayensl Horace tried to hide
bis feet behind a log. He had forgot
ten that he had taken off his shoes ant
socks to wade a creek.
"Don't be alarmed" she smiled en-
couraglngly, II am going to take of m!
shoes, too. One can't fish well witt
shoes on. How do you like my cos
tuner
She was clad in khaki from head +
foot, md her hair was hanging In curl
oyer her shoulders. He had never re
allied how beautiful she was before.
"Joye! You look peachy," he mui
INJURED, admiringly. not realizing tina
he had used the word "~peachy'' for tn
first time since he had got his degree
That encouraged Cynthia to take
seat beside him. Not that she needle
encouragement, for she would have 50
there sooner or later. It did not TAX
Horace long to forget that he was
college professor and she was q me.
student. Soon they were chattin
gayly.
$500 Her home was neal by and she ha
spent every summer fishing In thu
stream for years. She led him to
place where he vas "sure to cate
something, no matter how poor an a
pler he was" When his luck renal
ed poor and he still made vain attemp
to land a trout, Cynthia did not fall
laugh Mt him and assure him that
was MS funny as he could be.
Somehow It did not bother him
be laughed at oct there. The air seel
X ed to have got into his blood and Civ
him a sense Of humOr that respond
to her witty rldicule. He was not 10
In catching onto the right way to drt
in the line, and before the afterno
vas over he was catching as ma
trout as Cynthia. When they part
he had gained her promise to scar
him out the next day.
Camping agreed with him after tn
Fishing was the most w0nderful sp'
In no world when one had q. comps