The Mount Holly news., 1919-12-30

The Foe-Muffisd Sounds Of Music.
suddenly from the immaculate heights
of lifetime of the utmost correct
ness down into the depth of-attend-
ing, alone and unchaperoned, a pub
lie dancel
Fleeing desperately from her bore
dom. Sally Anne felt her way to the
end of the little beach street and
there took a trolley for q mile or so
to a mammoth pavilion she had noted
on the day Of her arrival, where a
great sign read, Dancing Every
Evening"
A long flight of steps led toward
circles Of blurred light, from beyond
which came the fog-muffied sounds of
music. Halfway up ticket booth
challenged. The tone of the man be-
hind the grating was firm: mo
ladies without escorts admitted"
A long arm reached over Sally
Anne's shoulder, q bill was thrust
through the opening. A deep voice
said "Two" A hand grasped her ell
bow lightly and the same voice re-
marked pleasantly, "I'm so glad you
came Hurry and we can make this
waltz"
Sally Anne loved to dance-and
could. So could her partner, as she
soon discovered. He was taller, much,
but ! the creeping mist which sifted
In at doorways and windows and
through which the half hundred
couples circled weirdly. it was diff
cult to get clear impression of his
features. That the tall man was a
courteous gentleman was self-evident;
the floor and the music were good.
Aside from a few tweaks Of con-
science just at first, Sally Anne thor
oughly enjoyed the evening. They
danced much, sat out and talked
some. The strange man, without Civ
ing a ghost of a hint as to his identi-
ty, mentioned his services overseas.
He told some amusing experiences,
incidentally referring to his top SER
geant and often to his first lieuten-
ant, but never calling them by name.
A couple nearby spoke of the hour,
which was late. Hurriedly Sally Anne
started up. saying she must go at
once. Suddenly a full realization of
what she had done came to her. Her
escort walked silently down the steps
beside her. At the bottom Sally Anne
suggested nervously that he leave her
there; she could get home safely The
tall man whistled sharply; coupe
let appeared out of the mist. Take
the lady to the address she gives you,
Henry" he ordered. Then he assist
ed Sally into the car, thanked her for
a very pleasant evening, lifted his hat
and closed the door.
The next morning dawned bright
and sunny. To Sally Anne the fog
and her dereliction Of the night be-
fore seemed a dream. She preferred
to think of them as such. But she
couldn't help pondering little as to
who the tall man might be. He had
not appeared to be any more familiar
with the place than herself.
Jerry's cheerful signal whistle from
down the street interrupted these
thoughts before Sally had decided
just how and when to ''fess up" to her
escapade. OF course she would do
1t sooner or later; she had never kept
anything from Jerry yet, and she
wasn't going to begin now.
Almost before the first hug and kiss
were over Jerry sprung the news.
His beloved captain was spending the
summer nearby. 1t seemed they had
| just met at the station. "Blakes wife
isn't here yet" Jerry explained; "she
stayed in town to 60 to some social
gh-jinks-thought she was going to
have a fine chance to show him Off
Blake hates that sort of thing, so he
skipped. They had some sort of tiff,
1 imagine. Guess that, or the fog or
! something got the old boys goat, be-
cause he told me about going up to
that big public dance hall last night
Picked up some fair mystery and
danced with her all evening-said she
wore a wedding ring and didn't act as
though she were used to being out
alone. That sort of thing isn't In
Blake's line usually"
Sally Anne thanked her lucky stars
that Jerry couldn't gee her face. She
didn't reply. How would you like
1t If did thing like that?" Jerry