New Britain herald., 1918-12-30
News For Women Readers and zheafezg0erS-
MY SOLDIER SWEETHEART
Adele Garrison's Continuation OF
REVELATIONS OF A WIFE

| clarion call, so 1ervously loud was
| the "Meester Sto-ckbridge, Mees Ora
| ham" with which she heralded the
visitor and speeded her own depart
| ure to the kitchen.
1 had been intensely annoyed at
! Katie only the minute before, but the
appearance of her retreatiag shout
ders had something ludicrous about
them. I felt my lips twitching, and,
| as l advanced toward Mr.. Stockbridge
I surprised q twinkle in his eyes
which told me that his schoolmasters
schedule hadn't crushed his sense of
the ridiculous.
Something Hauntingly Familiar.
Mrs. Graharn!" He bowed over
my outstretched hand with a touch
OF courtliness which was also unex-
p~cted, and, curiously enough, haunt
ingly familiar. I knew that I'd never
met this man in my life, yet strong
upon me was the impression that /
had seen him him bow thus over a
woman's hand sometime in the past.
Will you not be seated, Mr..
Stockbridge 2" I unobtrusively drew
forward an easy chair. for I had
noted as he came in the door that
the principal of the Bay View school
was lame, that the stick which he
carried with such a jaunty air of US
acos when standing still was a distinct
rs .essity when walking.
Thank YOU" He placed his hand
upon the back of the chair, but wait
ed punctiliously until I had seated
myself before he sat down. There
was the same note of absolute cor
rectness in everything he did, the
happy medium between affectation
and carelessness which so few men
attain That he had enjoyed the ad-
vantages OF a home In which good
breeding was one of the foundation
stones, and had piled upon that foun-
| dalton a structure of the best social
and educational advantages was
certain.
'NThe Fiery Streak"
I found to my surprise that my
! nervousness over the question of Mr.
Stockbridge's acceptance or refusal of
my application was rapidly being
dWarfed by curious interest in his ap-
pearance and personality. For there
was something almost uncan1y in the
/ contrast between the air of the man.
the undoubted charm of his person
ality and his physical appearance.
He was not only lame, but manned
as we'll. He had removed his right
glove as he came il, and the hand
WAllCIl Ilttu shaken nlnC was the right
one. The other hand remained gloved
and my eyes, naturally rather observ-
ant, and now sharpened by curiosity
told me that two of the fingers
weren't quite natural looking. I was
sure that underneath the glove was
a hand with two digits missing. Last
and most pitiable of all, was a. cruel
jagged looking scar reaching from the
temple to the chin of the left side OF
his face. I gave a mental tribute
to the adroitness with which he had
kept that side of his face farthest
away from me until the first fornali- |
ties of our meeting were over
Before we begin our talk about your |
very satisfactory reply to my letter." !
he began when we were both seated, |
and my heart gave a little bound at |
what his words implied. "let me get |
one thing over first. These beauty |
spots Of mine,' he touched the scar, |
his gloved hand and his knee in rapid !
succession, are relics of football and a !
boating accident. They don't bother |
me In the least, / am not sensitive |
about them, and you need never fear |
to hurt my feelings by any inadvert-
ent word or look. I always say this
first to any new--associate" He hes |
itated ever so slightly over the word, |
anu Iheh can comfortably drop the |
subject"
He finished with smile so full of |
charm and courtesy that could vis- |
ualize the handsome lad he must |
have been. But my brain was busy |
with the word football" Even the I
assurance, which for the secoad time |
he had tacitly given me, that the
coveted position was mine, failed to
detract from the knowledge which |
came to me of the occasion upon
which I had seen this man.
FOOTBALL" l repeated, leaning
FORWARD DIT preathleSSly. "You---