The Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 191?-19??, 1919-05-21
IIIIIInnIIIIlIIIIIIIIIIIIlIlIIIIiIIIIIHIIIIIIl
AN AIR ROMANCE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
BY CAROL GAY.

whom the neighbors called Mothe
NJ and her three daughters. Ei
ther Elspeth and Jean. They wer'
one and all. tall and most dlvinely fail
Theirs was the straight. vIrile beaut
ia the wilds, clear-eyed and goddess
like. And they were one and all dc
liclously youthful. In fact Esthe
was twenty-one, Elspeth twenty, an
Jean seventeen, thick bbrssits still dow
her back.
Esther was the talIest and the mos
beautiful.
Elspcth was slim and always cla'
In black, in memory Of a-lover. war
killed, with tender gray eyes, over
flowing always with love and klndli
ness; wide, smiling red lips; poor girl
she had taught those lips to smile
again, with steady, patient resolution
and corOnet Of glossy chestnui
.braids.
And JeanI Jean. her starry eye'
forever aglow, was the brightest ray
of Mother Ms halo.
Eaca Sunday eve as Esther depart
ed after her weekend visit, stiff and
starched. with full vaIIse, Jean
would gaze at her with usefulness
and whisper: "Oh, you are so fortu-
nate, Essie.
1t was on Monday. Jean would
never forget that epoch-making date
1t was stormy and Esther had con-
cluded not to set forth until Tuesday.
Old Widow W was i'll of lum-
bago, with not a soul to care for her.
'Prepare basket, and we viii go
to her at once. No help indeed !!
Twas Widow W made my we'd
ding gown. I'll pay her in full for all
her kindliness," declared the kindly
Mother M, as she tied on her
bonnet.
And Jean, eager for the trip, obey
ed with alacrity
The widow made comfortable, and
her mother securely installed in the
humble abode, Jean resumed her ul-
ster and catching up her empty bas-
ket sped toward home.
Not hundred feet from the Wild
ow's cottage, Jean, peering through
the thick fog, dlscerned an unfamiliar
object on the ground. She drew near
err An enormous eagle? No, an air
planet Jean observed 1t fascinated
ly. 1t was poised on one wing. The
rest was shattered. Then Jean stepped
buck in wlde-eyed horror. A still,
straight form beneath
The man was not dead, no. "But
he was badly injured" said Doctor
B as he bent over the boyish
white face on the pillow. 'Luclly that
tAe girl happened along and called
you, mother, else the lad might have
died"
Jean, encouraged by his manner,
asked In small, frightened voice, i'll
the patient could be moved to her own
home; explaining that there was
scarce room for the widow and her
attendant, much less for the aviator
and lean, in the small cottage.
1--WE will see, We win see. Perhaps
when he Is better" smiled the doc
Or and that ended 1t.
Jean ran home TO tell her sisters the
news, while Mother M lowered
,apabiy between the two patients.
Saturday. The aviator had been III
OR nearly month. Esther arrived to-
lay for her weekly visit and John
&, for that was the young mans
lame, was to be moved to the NJ
lwelling, there to convalesce.
At last he was sitting there In the
shabby old armchair smiling up at her
With his funny, quirky grin.
"a penny for your thoughts, little
naid," he said at last. Jean laughed
and patted his hand.
"They were of you and Esther, dear
But his mind was far !
way as he gazed out of the little win
low. /,
Esther came and with her strange
pirit of shattered peace that puzzled J
nd disturbed her youngest sister.
Poor little maiden, running to the
weet shelter Of the crowding mists,
Ighting back the sobs as she spoke to
he eerie white shadows that followed
Ter ever and anon: "But l love him, /
owe him! Why? found him here in
he valley. You brought him to me.
10 not take him away! love him ~
That day and the day after Esther
ras constantly at his side, smiling,
alking, attending him, her blue eyes
indled at last.
And Jean, miserable little Jean, lay
obblng in the cherries loft. But 1t is
iyen to him who hath So 1t was re
tored to her who had found and cher J
she'd. Jean, bidding farewell to her
lister Monday morning at the turn Of
he stone-bordered path, said listless-
y; SISTER, how soon will you and the !
agleman be marriedg Esther stared
nd laughed. "You mean John3 Why, !
he boy is only twenty-one, You silly
tile sister! Why do you flush and !
tart so, Jean?"
Jean paused solemnly, Because
.ove and Adventure have sWooped I
pom me from the West. Good-by, Es-
Ie."