The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1918-10-26
4 TI77TS AND F4NCTES FOR WOMAN AND THE HOME CRCLE
THE DAILY
SHORT STORY
CYNTHIA White-Pest.
BY VINCENT G. PERRY.
(Copyright, 1913, by the Mcclure
AYS---1aaa. C--S3oa%oN


W ster pulled his line from the
w water, and then cried out with
disEust. The dSh, II there had been
0ne, had got away. Three hours with
out q eatcfl-ft was enough to annoy a
nan with normal nerves, and Horace
Vas far from that. He drew in his
line angrfy and attempted to wind it
No. but something had gone wrong
Nth his reel. That was the last
straw. He sat down on a rock and
sWore.
Tie sound Of the word startled him
He had not sworn for years. His
nerves were certainly making wreck
4lof him The solitude Of the place was
aegraTating them, too They had told
jhim the simple camp life, with lots OF
fishing. would make a new man OF
him. Such bosh! Why, there was
hardly a thing about 1t that did not
make him feel worse.
This was the second day. and he
was going to make It his last. To
begin with, he had had trouble pitch
inc his tent. The storm In the night
had kept him up keeping out the rain.
Every crack Of the bushes or sound
of the birds In the trees caused him to
start uneasiIy. It was nearly as nerve
Tscking as an afternoon session with
eaa Fourth Year class. The thought
Of the Fourth Year girls irritated him
the more. They had been the cause
OF his breakdown, he felt confident.
FOR months he had looked with dread
on the hour each afternoon that he
was forced to teach them mathemat-
les. They were Just silly, thoughless
Urls, and would not have been so hard
% nut up with had it not been for
their ringleader. Cynthia White.
Without exaggeration Cynthia was
the worst girl he had ever had under
HIS tuition. Her main object in lie
aeemed to be to torment the profes-
sor Of mathematics. Something al
vays turned up for her to argue about
ar Ianeh over. There was always
something for her to. ridicule, and she
. never missed an opportunity to make
him feel mean-perhaps because she
was so large and he was so small
AS he sat there thinking It over,
Horace made up his mind he had been
foolish. It would have been easy to
have arranged for her dismissal from
fbe college. Why hadn't he done It?
There was something he liked about
Cynthia, IN spite Of everything. The
spirit Of fun behind those twinkltng
black eyes Of hers appealed to him,
and the warmth OF her laugh made
him long for soaethinS-something
that was not in his life.
Suddenly the laugh sounded close
beside him. He nearly toppled INTO
the water from the shock It gave HIM
re turned quickly to confront Gym
thia. a little way on. her eyes bullying
over with merriment. After rubbing
HIS eyes to make sure he was seeing
Alright, Horace smiled forth greet
ing. Even the pest Of his life was
welcome In that solitude.
'oh, Mr.. Sangster, you look so fun
nv there" she laughed "1f the girls
could only see you in your bare feet!
11Heavens!" Horace tried to hide his
feet behind a log. He had forgotten
that he had taken of his shoes and
socks 10 wade a creek.
Don't be alarmed" she smiled en-
eouragingly. 81 am going to take on
my shoes, too. One can't fish well
with shoes on How do you like my
costume?"
She was clad in khaki from head to
Soot, and her hair was hanging In curls
over her shoulders. He had never re-
allied how beautifully she was before
~
INJURED, admirinSly. not realizing that
he had used the word "peachy" for the
first time since he had got his de-
gree.
That encouraged Cynthia to take
seat beside him. Not that she needed
encouragement, for she would have sat
there sooner or later. 1t did not take
Horace long to forget that he was
college professor and she was mere
student. Soon they we're chatting
gayly.
Her home was nearby and she had
spent every summer fishing in that
Stream for years. She led him to a
place where he was sure to catch
something, no matter how poor an an
der he was" When his luck remained
Door and he stu made vain attempts
TO land a trout. Cynthia did not fail to
laugh at him and assure him that he
was as funny as he could be.
Somehow It did not bother him to be
laughed at out there. The air seemed
20 have got into his blood and given
him a sense OF humor that responded
TO her witty ridicule. He was not long
fn catching onto the right way to draw
= the line, and before the afternoon
was over he was catching as many
trout as Cynthia. When they parted
he had gained her promise to search
him out the next day.
Camping agreed with him after that.
Fishing was the most wonderful sport
Sn the world when one had a compan-
ION like Cynthia, he decided after two
weeks OF glorious days Nerves? Why.
he had forgotten he had such things:
They would have still stayed out Of
his mind had It not been that rainy
day broke In on them. It made 1t nee
esSary to stay In his tent, and try and
spend the day reading. wondering ali
the while what Cynthia was doing.
Making fun OF him, most hkely-the
thought came u him quickly and left
him staggering. Perhaps she was.
Perhaps she had spent NIL those days
with him Just to have something to
ten back to college. He would have
Il would be Just ike Cynthia 70 do
H-but would 1t? This new Gym
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