The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1918-11-21
CYNTHIA White
Pest
@o
BY VINCENT c. PERRY

copyright, 1918. by Mcclure Newspaper
Syndlcate)
with Il quick jerk Horace Sangster
pulcd his line from the water, and
then cried out with disgust The fish,
II there had been one, had got away.
Three hours without II catch-it was
enough to annoy man with normal
nerves, and Horace was far from that.
He drew In his line angrily and Mt.
tempted TO wind II up, but something
had gone wrong with his reel. That
was the last straw. He sat down on
n rock and swOre.
H. had not sworn for years. His
nerves were certainly making wreck
OF him. The solitude Of the place was
agsrnvatlng him, too. They had told
him the simple camp life, with lots of
fishing, would make n new man OF him.
Such bOsh Why, there was hardly n
thing about II that did not make him
feel worse.
This was the second day, and he
was going to make II his last. To be-
Gin with, he had had trouble pitching
hl- 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. II was nearly as nerve
racklng MS an afternoon session with
the fourth-year class. The thought
Of the fOurth-year girls irrltatcd him
the more. They had been the cause
Of his breakdown. he felt confident
For months he had looked with dread
on the hour each afternoon that he
was forced To teach them mathematics
They were just silly, thoughtless girls,
and would not have been so hard ia
put up with had II not been for their
rIngleader, Cynthia Wh.te.
without exaggerp,i1, Cynthia was
the worst girl he had ever had under
bis 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 ridlcule, and she new
er missed an opportunity to make him
feel mcan-perhaps because she was
so large and he was so small.
As he sat there thinking it over, Hor'
ace made up his mind he had been
foolish. II would have been easy tC
have arranged for her dismissal from
the college. Why hadn't he done III
There was something he liked about
Cynthia, In spite of everything. The
spirit of fun behind those twlnkling
black eyes of hers appealed TO him
and the warmth Of her laugh made hin
long for sometking-somethlng that
was not In his life.
Suddenly the laugh sounded close he
side him. lie nearly toppled into the
water from the shock II gave him. liz
turned quickly to confront Cynthia, {
little way Off, her eyes bulging OveI
with merrimen.. After rubbing his
eyes to make sure he was seeing
Alright, Horace smiled forth greet
Ing. Even the pest of his life was wei
come In that solitude.
"Oh, Mr.. Sangster you look so fun
ny there" she laughed. 'If the girl!
could only see you In your bare feet =
"IIenvensw ~ Horace tried to hid,
his feet behind log. lie had forgot
ten that he had taken Off his shoes an'
socks To wade n creek.
"Don't be alarmed" she smiled On
couraglngly, III nm going to take off IN!
shoes, too. one can't fish well will
shoes on. How do you like my cos
tume?"
She was clad In khaki from head I,
foot, and her hair was hanging In curl
over her shoulders. He had never rc
allied how beautiful she was before.
"Jovel You look pcachy," he mur
INJURED, admirngly, not realizing tha
he had used the word ''peachy" for tn
iiISt time since he had got his degree
That encouraged Cynthia to take
seat beside him. Not that she needle,
encouragement, for she would have sa
there sooner or later. II did not TAX
Horace long to forget that he was
college professor and she was mcr
student. Soon they were chatting
guyly.
Her home was near by and she ha,
spent every summer fishing In tha
stream for years. She led him to
place where h. was "sure to catcl
something, no matter how poor an an
ger he was When his luck remain
ed poor and he still made vain attempt
to land trout, Cynthia did not fail +
laugh mt him and assure him that h
was as funny as he could be.
Somehow It did not bother him t
be laughed at out there. The air seem
cd To have got into his blood and give
him sense of humor that respOndc
to her witty ridicule. He was not lon
In catching onto the right way to dra,
In the line, and before the afternoo
was over he was catching as man
trout us Cynthia. When they parte
he had gained her promise to scare
him out the next day.
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