The Belding banner-news. (Belding, Mich.) 1918-1973, 1919-10-08

fromT she inquired. as she waved the
letter In front Of her mothers eyes.
II presume the best way to find out
is to open It." her mother replied smil-
ing.
Marion opened II eagerly and gave
the contents a hurried glance. Listen
TO this, mother" she said as she I'M
folded the entire sheet.
"sMy Dear Miss Holt am anxious
ly hoping you will not feel offended ut
my writing to you In this manner, but
as expected you were to stay at Sea
Crest the remainder Of the summer, I
was counting on having an introduce
ton to you sooner or later. When ]
heard that you had gone back to the
city yesterday I saw how slow had
been In not abiding by that old prov
erb. "don't put or until tomorrow what
You can do today" am at Sea Crest
recuperating from severe illness,
and IL you would spare me few min
utes of your most valuable time,
should be more than delighted to hear
from you.
"'Sincerely,
"TED NORTON
ooh, mother, isn't that nice let
terT Marion exclaimed as she laid
1t down on the table.
"Why. yes. It's nice enough, but you
shouldn't write to stranger like
that" objected her mother.
'But the poor fellow has been sick,
and I'm only going to cheer him up.
shall probably never see him anyway"
Marion argued.
After more debating. Marion finally
won her side Of the question and sat
down to write him little note.
az won't be able to write so often
now" he wrote, ''but / shall be wait
| ing for mail from Marion Holt al
ways"
The weeks few by. bringing Christ
mas and all its joys. Marion observed
1t by sending Ted her photograph, and
within three weeks time had his In
return.
One day letter came telling Ma
rion he had been granted a furlough.
| OF course, she lived on excitement un-
| I'll the time came when she should see
her adopted soldier" But fate had
doomed her to disappointment once
more. as on the morning Of his APP
pointed arrival telegram came to the
house. "Furlough cancelled. Write
later" 1t read. Marion tried her best
to hide her disappointment, but her
mother could read 1t In her face.
"Never mind. Marion" she said.
comfortingly. he'll be home for good
soon, we hope"
"That doesn't do any good now-this
very day." Marion said despairingly.
In order to bear 1t better she sat
down and wrote Ted a long letter, tell
ing him how disappointed she had been
when that telegram had come. She
wrote on and on, writing things she
never would have dreamed Of saying
had he been sitting beside her. At the
end she related some funny experience
she had had since the last letter, and
then ended with the hope Of seeing
him soon.
Seven months more slipped by with
out so much as a glimpse Of Ted Nor
ton, and then one day the whole coun-
try was In an uproar Of Joy. Agree
able terms had been found and HOSTILE
ties had ceased In the war-stricken
land. The camps at home had begun
to demobilize and soldiers and sailors
had already begun to start on their
| way homeward.
The morning Of the last day Of the
last month Of the year dawned bright
and sunny. The telephone rang jerk
lily and Marion ran to answer 1t before
her mother could reach It before her.
"Hello. Miss Holt-Marion," voice
said In musical tone.
"Hello, who Is this speaking,
pleaseT Marion answered back.
This is your very grateful friend.
one who Is too grateful to tell you over
the telephone. May call this eve
ningr
Certainly" she replied; 'Tm SO glad
to hear from you"
After a few words he shut OF and
Marion lost no time In telling her
AnOthNA tuC JOyAul ueWcs 1nC untiSiRd-
ton had been very pleasant, but now
the time had come when she was real
ly to meet him. His voice sounded
like flute, mother" she added when
she finished her story.
Her mother smiled. Oh, the Joy of
youth. the ever-softening spirit Of
youth She thought Of how she had
met Marion's father years ago, and
how her head was just as care-free
then as was her daughters now.
Promptly Mt eight o'clock the bell
rang. and rather excited Marion went
to answer the call. What she saw
that night on the step did justice to
her mental picture.
After that Ted was frequent Wis
itor at the Holt house. much to the
delight Of all the family. One evening
three weeks later Ted called at his
usual hour. but with very different
expression on his face. As he looked
into Marion's eyes, he said: my
dear vof1r 1offora xr,oro 1fko tho an0oIQ