Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-12-25
 ROMANTIC EPISODE
  By j. ISABELLE BURNHAM.
1H1S. bN MeClurc NcWsNop'I Syndiratc.)

"Now. what shall l do ncxt?" thought miSchievou~ little Miss Court ney Burke. She made q very pretty picture as she Sa on the dark sofa. her golden head laid against il and her dark gray eyes gazing earnestly at the ceiling.
 As she was sitting there her broth CTS little two-year-old girl came into the room. She tOddlcd up to Courtney and said: Me witc letter to papa poor papa way off dere in iancc
 "What have you got, lIclen:" Court ney asked her.
 Helen held mp d newspaper which showed several pictures of soldiers.
 Suddenly CourtnrN'S eyes danced michieNouSlN and she eagerly scanned the faces of the soldiers t.- ,ind ,!.r to whom she thought the word romance would fit.
 She came to the name of Lieut. Ar thur Stanton. Then she stopped and looked at the half-fniShcd sweater be- side her,
 cru finish this sweater."' she said, 'and there won't be any harm in writ lug little note for lonely soldier.
 Accordingly, after the khaki sweater was finished she wrote a chpcry little note and signed her niecc'S uame, Miss Helen Burke" to it.
 Time went on. and Courtney had very nearly forgotten about letters and sweaters. when letter came for her little niece. Upon dpcning t she found very interesting and grateful letter from Lieut. Arthur Stanton
 He thanked her for the sweater also for the letter. which, he said, was the first that he had received from the good old |. $. A.. closing by asking her to write as often as Was possible.
 Courtney wrote to him. and she re- ceivcd his-@nice letters. .4bllt all the while she 4ltad the guilty feeling that she was deceving him.
 4 long time elapsed and inc letters ceased. She wondered and watched for them. Until now, she did not know how much those letters had meant to her. Sne Was angry Wlln herself for thinking and feeling as she did What did she know about him? Nothing. only what he had writ ten her.
 She soon rad other things to take up her mind. as her brother had writ ten that he was coming home on a short furlough.
 It was q very warm day in June that Courtney had just finished comhing her little nieces hair. as IIelen'S papa was a strong resemblance between the en,een-year-oId aunt and hrr little twO-year-Old niece -a s4
 The bell rang and Courtney jumped Up and ran out of the nursery. She hurried fo the door. but instead of see ing her brother as she expected. she looked into the merry brown eyes of young soldier.
 "Does Miss Helen Burke li>e here" he inquired politely.
 Courtney replied in the affirmative and afte>asking him In she called her iiti'' hIVtS.
 The soldier expressed no surprise at seeing the little tot instead of a grown up young lady hut he introduced him self as Lieut. Arthur Stanton.
 Courtney turned red. then white. She didn't know whether to cry or to laugh, 50 Ahe turned to the window until she could get control of her self.
 What would she do? Here he was making himself right at home. paying no more attention to her than if she wasn't there. Oh. dear. why did she write that letter? She might have known she would get into trouble--she always did, My. but he was d very good-looking fellow at that. Well. the only thing to do was to tell him the truth.
 'Lieutenant Stanton. wish to make an apology" she said He raised his eyebrows and stood up. His young figure was very erect. as he stood with his head thrown back. and she just couldn't >hclp but admire the man. His black hair waved -she always did love curly hair. Oh. why did he look at her so close ly. It made things so much harder. ''Oh, >Helen.' she said suddenly, please go and get the newspaper in aunty's desk
 As the little one toddled away, Courtney looked at him again, and she thought, 'how could I ever have done such thing
 Lieutenant Stanton stood waiting in silence for her to speak, and if there was a twinkle of fun in his dark eyes, she failed to see it.
 She opened her lips to speak. then burst into tears. He let her, cry a while, then spoke very gently: Miss Burke. I think know what yoil are about 10 say. Please don't apologize for anything. know all about it.,
 She raised her head quickly and looked at him questioningly.
 You see,' he said, 'your brother