The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1918-05-02
LEAVE OF ABSENCE
!, 1918. By the MCCLURE Newspa-
per Syndicate.)
BY MELVIN STEVENS.

which accounts for the fact that Lieut..
David Ashley and Private John Robe
son were in love with the same girl.
Less than q year ago, before the war
cloud overshadowed all other consid-
erations, they had both been promising
young business men of Glendale, y. j.
Every morning they took the S:29
train for New York, and every evening
they caught the 4 80 back to Glendale,
hoping that Margery Smith would be
free to entertain them after supper.
So things stood when President
Wilson declared a state Of war ex-
listed between this country and Ger
many.
ut means that Wen send hundreds
of thousands of soldiers over there"
Dave announced. "And believe me,
I'm going to be one of the first 10 co."
But John laughed disparagingly.
ut doesn't mean any such thing" he
answered. "All Wen do will be to
patrol our coast more carefully and
to make more munitions for the al
lies"
And so. according to their lights,
Dave applied for entrance to the First
Officers Training camp at Fort Myer,
Va, and John continued his duties as
assistant manager for James McCul-
lum & Sons. In the course of a few
months Dave was commissioned first
lieutenant; and John, his skepticism
suddenly dissolved, found himself
drafted into the National army. A
short time later he was ordered TO re-
port TO Camp Dix, n. j., where he
found Lieut.. David Ashley as one of
his company officers.
Meanwhile, the contest for Margery's
hand had progressed merrily. Taking
advantage of the axiom that all is fair
in love and war, John had had rath-
er glorious time of 1t during Dawes
three months at the training camp.
Margery was rather lonesome; and al
though she wrote at least twice a week
to Dave, she welcomed Johns visits.
So, when November found both Dave
and John at Camp Dix, the latter had
drawn almost on even terms with his
rival.
But as an officer Dave had the
easier time of it. Occasionally he
found it necessary to give orders to
his rival, but when he did so there
was twinkle in his eye which robbed
the situation of all bitterness. In the
matter of leaves of absence, he was
perfectly fair also. Each of the men
was permitted to visit home once
| every two weeks, and Dave managed
to fix up things so that he and John
alternated on their visits to Glendale.
Things might have gone along with
out change until the end of the war,
but one evening Dawes division COM
mander told him that within three
weeks it was expected that the young
/ officer would be ordered to report at
/ Camp Mcclellan, down In Admission,
Ala.
1t was Friday when he received word
Of his probable transfer, and on the
| following Sunday ii was his turn to
visit Glendale. He told Margery then
that it was probably his last visit I;
/ and something In her eyes filled him
with a sudden hope. But although his
brain urged him to ask her the Ques-
tio2 which quivered on his lips, his
heat failed him In a most unsoldier-
like manner; so he went back to Camp
Dix feeling very much as If the bot
tom had fallen out of the world.
But when his last Sunday in the
Northern cantonment approached, and
he pictured John Robson sitting be-
fore the big CRATE fire in Margery's
library, he hurried to company head
quarters and talked long and earnest
ly to Margery over the telephone.
/ "Of course I'll be glad to visit camp"
she said. IL was wondering If you
were going South without seeing me
again."
Dave wondered, too, how he could
ever have thought of such thing, and
when he met Margery at the station
the next morning, he told her so.
They had lunch together in a way
side inn which was really a converted
farmhouse, and after they had finished
eating, they sat still for a long time
and just looked at each other across
the table.
"Why didn't you plan to come to
Glendale this Sunday?" Margery asked
finally.
II did," Dave answered, "but knew
that with John there, / couldn't say
what / wanted to. 1t wouldn't have
been fair to cancel Johns leave Of alb
sence, because had promised him not
to early in the fall; so the only thing
1 could do was to have you here"
Margery nodded.
"What did you want to say to met"
she asked.
The room was deserted, the waitress
had miraculously disappeared; and so
Dave told her what he had wanted to
say for ages. And when he had fin.
fshed she reached her hand across
the table and told him, so softly that
he hardly heard, that she had always
been very much In love with him.
And back in Glendale John Robson
tramped disconsolately to the railroad
station and wondered what in ths
world had happened to take Margery