The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1918-12-24
Propinquity's
Part
@0
o. popOrxxv O0Yycr &C
Copyright, 1918. by Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate
By DOROTHY DOUGLAS

"Oh. yes, l shall be braver Her
tone was light. Her heart held tears.
81 shall wait for you-always," she
said, smile as gay and brilliant as
if it played about happy lips.
"But-of course you will, girl
You're that kind of stuff. And I'll
come back to you with a chest full of
medals and arms full of love-" Her
head dropped on his khaki shoulder for
a moment while she almost gave way.
"Good-by," she whispered and pushed
him from her.
He held her for one more moment.
"GOod-by, my girl" he said, swallow
ing the lump that almost choked him.
Then he took his cap and strobe down
the garden path, closed the gate be-
hind him and was lost to her among
the shadows of the trees.
June twisted her handkerchief to a
hard knot, bit her lips and kept her
eyes glued to the opening in the trees
where she had last seen him. Then,
slowly, she let the tears flow down her
cheeks, threw herself into the ham
mock and sobbed.
Capt. Teddy Blake was soon back
in his quarters with the knowledge In
his own heart that this was the last
time he should see June for many a
day. That he would sail on the fol-
lowing day or the next at the latest
he was sure. 1t seemed very hard to
leave June; they had been so happy ;
she was wonderfully lovely. But-he
would come back and claim her some
him, that he could forget-those were
impossible suggestions.
June answered the call of the Red
Cross for nurses. She felt in her first
detection and loneliness as If she must
do something to help hasten the end of
the war that had separated Teddy from
her. She was accepted and went into
hospital for training almost at once.
She became absorbed in the work, met
many new and interesting persons and
soon found herself quite cheerful
again. At night when she wrote her
letter to Captain Teddy she told him
of her work, Of the new faces, of her
ambition to get cover there" and help,
and perhaps take care of him. But
she did not weep; rather she grew
more and more proud of having sent
her captain off so bravely, and con-
graduated herself for her own cheer
fulness.
you're going to make a wonderful
nurse, Miss Prince" one of the doc
tors told her after she had helped him
in some surgical dressing.
"Oh, am I?' she exclaimed. II love
the work."
Doctor Buchanan watched the Won
derful color flood her face at the com
pIiment he had paid her. He was thir.
ty-five and had been so absorbed In his
profession that he had never taken
time to get married.
June worked more earnestly than
ever after that word of praise from
so clever surgeon as Doctor Blu
chanan. Also she now had the temer.
ity to smile at him when she passed
him in the corridors or he CHANGED
upon her in the wards Heretofore
she had never noticed any of the doc
tors, some one having told her it was
better to attend strictly to the profes
sional side of the work and not permit
herself to know the doctors socially.
Captain Teddy's letters were filled
with interesting stories of jaunts here
and there, when he had time to him
self. He spoke more than once of the
alacrity with which he was picking VI
the French language. A pretty French
girl, Jeanne de Naeyer, whom he ha6
met at a canteen, was giving him les
sons on every available occasion. oh
he would come back to June quite ar
accomplished French student, and he
hoped she was not being too lonely.
The war dragged on and June fin
ished her training, grew even more
lovely, with more serious expression
in her eyes, forced there by the knowl
edge she was gaining of the suffering
in this world
Instead of being sent to France
Nurse June was sent to a base hos
pital somewhere ON Long Island" tt
take care of the poor wounded soldiers
who were being brought home By
} every boat. She had little time for let
ter writing now. Her leisure hours
many of them, were spent with Doctor
Buchanan, studying, always learning
| fhnrnrpl,Ixy no &
good nurse. Without having become
aware of it, she had become very fonC
OF the able surgeon who had done sc
much for her throughout her training
! And she had not noticed that he
sought her out on every occasion
Theirs was a serious sort of compan
lonship and they had been drawn to
gether almost daily in their work.
Letters from Captain Teddy, now In
action. still referred to Jeanne, the lit
tie French girl. He spoke rather cas-
ually of her-rather too casually, June
thought once or twice, but she seemed
not to mind.
"Did you ever realize what a dan
gerous thing propinquity Isl" she
asked Doctor Buchanan one night
when they were leaving the grounds
Of the big base hospital for couple OF
hours of rest from duty.
Dangerous? he asked.
She nodded. "Yes-dangerous. Now
dent think I'm going to weep and
have Mysteries or be love-sick at what
I'm going to tell you. You know I'm
act that sort-don't you, by this
timer
"Oh-don't 1. though? You're JUS
the bravest, finest"
June stopped him. "This is my
story, not yours" she reminded him.
TITS story about Teddy-my Cap
tain Teddy, you know. He has fallen
really and truly in love with French
girl, and he's afraid to tell me so In Sc
many words, and he's waiting for me
to find 1t out through my woman's In
tuition-which I've done, true to type
and write him that l know all about
it and hope he'll be happy, and that
his affair and mine, while very sweet
was only young love, not very deep"
June looked up at the doctor for the
effect of her story on him.
"And that is the danger of propin-
quity2" asked the doctor quietly. His
own heart was beating very fast, and
he longed to tell her what wonder
iul thing he thought prOpinquity was,
and of how he would like to write the
letters high everywhere. That French
giri How glad he was that she had
happened to be there-if that was