The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1919-05-07

II r susan mad not lived IN semi.re.
tirement for all the years OF hel
: girl blooming 1t wtlld not have
been so tragic? But 1t did seem as
st all Kittery Bend rejoiced with her
when Dudley Ames finally made up
his mind and left a diamond ring lii
her hand after seven years Of inde-
cision.
II YOU leave the train at Fairfield
Junction and take the trolley eight
miles along the shore you come to
Kittery Bend. It lies on small pen
insula jutting out into Long ISLAND
sound. One rambling main street,
with the residence section GROWING
piney point. Here on the Point Su.
san had lived with her two brothers
ever since her father. old Cant Rog.
ers, had been laid away In the sea.
mems burial ground behind the ola
Point church.
II hal rot seemed then as II any.
body would ever ride along and play
prince Of romance to Susan's dreams.
She. was too proud and exclusive
ever to attend the village social af-
fairs, and no local sutton had the
temerity to climb the hill and show
serious attentions before either Su-
san or her two elder brothers. So
the early years OF her teens had.
passed and she was twenty-six when
Dudley sold OFF his old rocky home
for quarry and suddenly found
courage,
Susan stood on the varanda that
first day with the new thrill of won.
derment yet upon her and the dia-
mond on her left hand. She had al
ways felt It would be Dudley who
would ask her to marry him, and We.
now. that il had come true. she felt
q curious sense of disappointment.
He had been so deliberate and sure.
81 guess you've known right along
now how I felt toward you, Susan"
he had said. 'Tve brought the ring
with me and don't think the boys
can make any fuss about it now.
rye got as much as any OF you"
No, she thought, there would be no
fuss. There would be quiet wedding
aud she would simply drive over to
tho old Anes tunsteah and taxi,
Dudley's mothers place there for this
resi- Of her life. And as SIZE thought
Of II. aonGtnw there cane swift
reaction, vague, haunting longing
fer ali the d,eams u, lie, .cnsotne
girl days, when she had dreaded
Dudley's steady calls, and had hoped
somebody might cone to the Bend
and carry her away from the ever.
lasting san1eness OF things.
You're in mighty good luck, Sue.
to get a man like Dud." Dave told
her at dinner that night. You're
not as young as you might be, and
there isn't girl en- the Point who
wouldn't be proud to wear tnat ring
on your hand"
Susan turned the ring about
thoughtfully, looking at her other
brother. It had always seemed es
IL Clayton understood her hotter than
Lave, yet he, tic, smiled at Mer and
scattered gently.
az g.g.aye my consent y.years ago,
SIS.
1t was raining after supper that
night, raining with a light breeze
blowing in off the water, and all the
garden lifting its burden Of sweet.
ness to the moisture. She slipped a
long cloak about her and went out
softly, down the back steps into the
little path that took the edge Of the
hill above the shore. The tall spider
lilies caught at her thin dress as she
passed, and she stepped on wilo
roses growing low along the path,
and the pink Bouncing Betsies.
And, oddly enough. she knew that
she was deceiving herself 1t was
not the beauty Of the night calling
her; It was the hope Of seeing the
lights on Neil Mccleod's schooner.
down IN the little crooked channel
that formed the harbor OF Kittery
Bend. Neil was a newcomer. He
had even trespassed on that hill path
up to the Rogers place, not knowing
that only the family ever took the
shortcut. And there he had first
found Susan. watching alone from
the little old pilot house that served
as summer house, and had come
from her fathers first ship, the
Three Widows.
After that, every time he came to
the benQ ne LOOk Iue iii pdtu' duo
susan watched for him, knowing IN
her heart he was on forbidden
ground II the boys were to see him
there. Through Jimmie, the grocery
boy, she heard Of how he stood in
the village.
.He amt steady goin, Miss Rogers,
they say. Sorter wild. Spends all
his money soon as he gets it. Says
he wouldn't live on land for anything
He's been everywhere in that
schooner Of his Says he'd Just as
soon 20 round the world in her as
not. Amt afraid of nothing. Gee,
/ IKE to hear him talk"
So perhaps Susan had woven
romance. about him because Of his
wandering tendencies. Nobody ever
,longed to travel away from the Bend
and the vistas Of Ffney Point as
much as herself.
She sew the schooner's lights as
soon as she came near the edge of
the hill, and even while she held her
breath, one hand close to her throat,
she heard his voice singing as he
came up the path:
soh, Billy was a bo'sun. bold and
brave.