Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1918-03-13
LEAVE OF ABSENCE
copyright, 1918, by the Mcclure Newsp
per Syndicate)
BY MELVIN STEVENS.

son were in love with the same girl.
Less than year ago. before the war
cloud overshadowed all other consid-
erations, they had both been promising
young business men of Glendale, n. J.
Every morning they took the 500
train for New York, and every evening
they caught the 80 back to Glendale.
hoping that Margery Smith would be
Tree to entertain them after supper.
So things stood when President
Wilson declared state of war ex-
listed between this country and Ger
| many.
ut means that We'll send hundreds
OF thousands Of soldiers over there"
Dave announced. "And believe me,
I'm going to be one of the first to co."
But John laughed disparagingly.
ut doesn't mean any such thing" he
| answered. Gan Wen do will be to
| patrol our coast more carefully and
to make more munitions for the al
| iies.''
And so, according to their lights,
| Dave applied for entrance to the First
|
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 o. the>axiom that all is fair
In love and war, John had had a rath-
| er glorious time of it during Dawes
| three months at the training camp.
| Margery was rather lonesome; and al
| though she wrote at least twice 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 a 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
| 9lternated 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
,lander 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 it was his turn to
visit Glendale. He told Margery then
that it was probably his last visit !;
and something in her eyes filed him
with sudden hope. But although his
brain urged him to ask her the ques-
ton which quivereG ON his lips, his
heart failed him in a most unsoldier-
like manner; so he went back to Camp
Dix feeling very much as If the bit
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. I'll 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 way
side inn which was really converted
farmhouse, and after they had finished
eating, they sat still for a long time
and lust looked at each other across
the table.
"Why didn't you plan to come to
Glendale this Sunday?" Margery asked
finally.
81 did," Dave answered, "but knew
that with John there, I couldn't say
what 1 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
I could do was to have you here"
| Noroorv nodded
"What did you want to say to me?''
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
ished 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 the