The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1918-01-19
WAOA The GODS SEND
By SUSAN E. cLAeETT.

work piling UP, but your letter made
me think there was dire necessity. l
expected to find you i'll. Instead, you
look as if you had been glimpsing para
disc" There was a touch of wistful-
ness in the voice and some exaspera-
ton.
THAT is just what has happened,
Pauline. l am glimpsing it every min
ute, every hour of the day. My hear
is singing, for | am going to have a
home"
"a home? You have one. What on
earth do you mean?"
THAT is true, but | have always
wanted one of my very own, where my
wishes would come first after those of
the only man.
MY dear, Betty, you cannot make
me believe you have found a mar in
this God-forsaken spot?'
81 did not find him. He came. To
be perfectly frank | think he subcon-
sciously retained a memory of a girl,
a moonlit sea and northern lights. But
for my happiness, consciously, or other
wise, he came. Romance comes near-
est to being the real thing on board a
slow-going steamer thar anywhere else
in the world. / was not looking for
romance, however. AS you know, l
was sick, unhappy. l had no heart to
talk, but somehow the tall Scotchman
managed to interest me. He rested me.
7 Opinva1 v-a. ,a,,nD+ np That rnGt
and accepted him as one whom the
gods had sent for my diversion"
Il have never heard you speak of
him.
him. Yet for a time after my return
| was keenly alive to his personality.
We had taken many little trips to-
gether after we landed and came to
know each other fairly well, but home
duties soon absorbed me and memories
peared entirely. Then all at once they
came back to me-"
THE morning it all came back had
been so ov~erburdened with work that
my soul had risen to revolt at the
thought l would never be able to get
away from the household drudgery.
Suddenly my inner consciousness took
a series of somersaults and found my
self standing upon the deck of that old
steamer as she plowed through the
moonlit sea toward the northern lights.
when l took my mental gymnastics
| was coming through the orchard and
then and there stopped short at the
sight of a once familiar figure. Walk
ing up the driveway toward the house
was the very man who had come into
my thoughts the minute before. What
would you call that? Telepathy?"
at would seem SO. l suppose you
were glad to see him?"
81 was not" The reply was emphatic.
Il was provoked. He should have let
me know he was coming. A girl may
be fairly free from vanity, but even
then she dislikes to be caught in a
huge kitchen apron with her face red
and wet from the heat. Before | quite
realized it both my hands were held
IA us oAl0 liz q oOhlIS " II
at me in a way that l found slight
ly embarrassing, and this was his
greeting:
81 thought l was never going to
have the time to come to you
ut was an absurd thing for him to
say. l had not invited him to come
here and consequently was a little at
sea as to his meaning, but before |
could ask him what he meant, to my
utter bewilderment he told me he had
come South to marry me. He seemed
to have taken it for granted that
would be ready to say yes whenever
he had the time to ask the question.
isn't it odd, Pauline, how everything
worth while hinges upon a little word
of four letters. With it the poorest
man and IN are rich, without it
the richest is the poorest of Gods crea-
tons. That it should come to me some
day | frankly acknowledge | have
hoped, but that it should come in the
form of an awkward, homely. deter
mined man was not to my liking, for
lie Is HOlIely.
But he was my first lover. That
fact threw a glamour over me-. Yet
there was no lovemaking. at least, not
the kind of loyemaking | had read
about. And with the glamour | felt
Indignation that he should think |
would be ready at his first word. But
indignation faded into amazement at
the thing that was happening to me. |
felt my world turning upside down at
this sudden coming of love.
However. later on, when | was sit
ting quietly in my room | was tortured
by doubt. Could love come all in a
moment? | had before had a
lover. Was | moved by his e%arnestneSs
or was it something that had to be. |
asked myself these questions until |
became desperate with the fear that |
had peer mistaken. | was afraid to go
down to him. | opened and shut my
door. opened 1t again and heard his