The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1918-10-29
TIE DAILY
SHORT STORY
R0MANH-BAH!
~ GERALD ST. ETLEENNE.
fCopy1iebt, 1913, by the McClue
lS--5llao- e-AEnaAlN
.ARotINE KELso could not take


Newspaper Syndfcate)
ARofINE KEL.SO could not take
her eyes OF te man across the
table. To her he was 4 curios-
III, ana, ~ he munched away at a
:Dieco of toast In one hand and stirred
4 cup Of coffee furiously with spoon
n thu other hand, with his eyes glued
On the Newspaper before him, she
wondered 81 he was human It had
bSsn the save every morning since
tie first morning at that boarding
house, two weeks before. The land
lady had not thought It necessary to
make them acquainted.
Never once did he raise his eyes at
CaroIlness entrance to the dining room
never once had he offered to pass her
ANYTHING at the table She had only
seen him eat, stir his coffee, read a
1apeF, jump from the table and leave
tie room She had not heard him
speak He was not even decently
polite. He was good looking and
seemed wen bred, too. What~a shame
Tor such good qualities to be wasted
on Z bore ike him, Caroline thought.
HfRomance=bah!" The words came
ont Of the mans lips in disguised ex-
cIamation. Caroline almost cried out
IN fright. He had spoken-the shock
was almost too much. But that was
al he said.
when he turned the paper over she
caught sight Of what had caused the
outburst. It was an advertisement for
HIm play called Romance"
AS Caroline devoted herself to her
Z grapefruit, she thought It over. This
IMAM was a woman!hater, that was APP
parent To him there was no romance
-he seemed to hate the word 1t
seemed to her men like that should
not be allowed at large. All through
her breakfast Caro!ine's indignation
grew. When he got up and went out in
the same old way she frowned after
returned Another variation in his
daily programme. II there were any
more shocks her breakfast would be
spoiled, she felt sure
But that was nothing to the next
shock The man sat down in chair
/, fn the corner and groaned.
care you fl?" she cried. jumping
hurriedIy TO her feet. sympathy over
coming all other feelings.
NO" he said grinly, "but one OF the
IandIady's youngsters is, and we are
under quarantine"
"oh". Caroline exclaimed what
shall We dog"
stay here for ten days at the very
least. Good heavens, and all the work
that ia piled up for me at the object"
ssApd my work, tool" she almost
sobbed. care you sure we are under
qva-antine2"
Before he could answer the landlady
t2--e'f appeared and tearfully CON
1,--s ed.the news. Her youngest child
Il contracted smallpox and had been
removed to an isolation hospital 1t
would be necessary for the household
TO remain under quarantine until the
reuse had been thoroughly funigated.
ard even then they might be held for
ten DAYS until the authorities were
sure no more cases would develop II
the quarantine were broken the break
er would be put under immediate ar
rest.
There was nothing to It but to make
the best OF it. The boarding house
was situated in the suburbs. Caroline
had chosen it to be away from the
noise OF the city so that she could
do some writing at night. There was
a large garden, Enclosed by a fence.
that had always appeared inviting. 1t
WAS beautiful summer weather, so she
could spend her time reading in the
hammock under the shade trees. After
notifying the city editor OF the Even
ing HIaiTn why she would not be able
to report for work for a few days, Car
oIine sought out the hammock. The
Womanhater arrived there first. She
couEhed to attract his attention, but
was really surprised when he took the
hint and offered her the hammock.
After all, he did remember some OF
the laws OF Sociability.
Suddenly Caroline threw aside her
book. A terrible thought had come to
her. The house was to be fumigated.
An papers would probably be des-
troyed, and there were two manu-
scripts OF stories in her room. She
would have to get them out OF the
way somehow. A spade, standing
against the house, gave her an idea.
She hurried to her room and returned
With the manuscripts wrapped in
newspaper, and proceeded to bury
them. When the work was done she
looked up to see the man looking at
her. He pretended he had not seen.
but she knew he had. With a toss OF
heE head she went back TO the ham
mock.
~ miss KeIso, do you think have
Smallpox?'' Somehow he had found
out her name. Caroline looked up from
her book to find him bending over her.
Goodness, MOI, Why?" she cried
he pointed to spot on his forehead.
Caroline gave a sigh OF relief as she
looked more closely at It 1T is only
freddie she laughed. 'YIu have
two or three Of them"
That started q conversation, It be-
gan with freckles and ended with
books and flowers. His name was
III. Latimer, she learned, but by the
second day they were calling each
other Harry and Caroline How she
ever could have thought he was bore
was moro than she knew. He was
really delightful. When the Quaran-
tine was lifted at the end OF ten days
they we're genuinely sorroy.
They both went back to the grind,
meeting only at breakfast, but they