The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1919-08-14
Hero Mine
ga<D
By r. RAY BAKER


Copyright, 1918. by Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate.)
Verna Pomeroy had q mania for he
roeS.
Il will marry the man who goes
through fire, water, blood and iron for
me-" was the way she expressed 1t.
Many there were who would have been
willing TO go through water, provided
It was not too deep; ard also through
blood, as long as it was not Of their
own or their shedding; but as to fire
and iron-well, the former was a 1T
tie too much to expect and the latter
was difficult.
If Vcrna had waited a few years
she would have experienced no diff
Guilty In finding a hero for herself.
They are plentiful nowadays but they
were scarce when Verna was twenty
one and the pretty stenog" in Jones
X Jones' real estate office on the fourth
floor of the Ashton building.
Somehow Verna figured that Dan
Williams was destined to be the man,
He was a fireman In the station house
three blocks down the street, and he
clung rather heroiCally, she thought.
to the red juggcrnaut that rO0red and
Screeched past the Ashton on an aver.
age of at least four times day. There
was q man who would at least go
through fire, ana certainly through
water, and probably meet the other re.
Qulrements. He was strnpplng
blond young man, with strength rip
pling through every muscle, and he
was very good for a hero worShlper to
look at.
"Some day he'll prove to be my
hero" she had decided on the day
Dan followed his pet maltese cat In
its wauderings from the station house
across the street to the pOmerOy res
idcnce, where yerna happened to be
seated on the porch reading "Brave
Men l Have Met"
That's the way they got acquainted
aud since then Dan had wOoed Yerna
through the fourth floor window every
week day and in the parlOr of her
home every night when lie got time
CT .-
When the siren of the ladder truck
gave vent to Its mournful shrek
Verna always would look up from her
typewriter and exchange wave Of
the hand with Dan as the red demon
dashed by.
But Dan was not the only one who
woOed Verna through the window.
Ben Vincent rode past the Ashton
building twelve times day. His pace
was not as swift as his rivals, how.
ever, because his vehicle was street
car. When he approached Verna's
window be always stood on the rear
platform and waved one Of his hands
while the other rang up fares.
Verna liked Ben fully as well as
Dan, but his life was so prOsaic It of.
fered few heroic possibilities, He had
dark hair and eyes and his face was
attractive, but he failed to come up
to the iiremah's shoulder and there
was no noticeable bulge just above
the elbow.
His acquaintance she had formed
when she moved to residence In the
suburbs and was obliged to use troll
ley car twice each day.
Ben's dark complexion was another
handicap. Yerna had hair that shC
liked to hear called raven locks
and her eyes were Of u similar hue
and she had read that Il person shOult
marry an opposite.
That's the way things stood wler
the rivals met one night half blocl
from the PomerOy home. The conduc
tor had beer calling on Verna and th'
fireman knew It and waited for him
They both happened to be off duty
but Ben had been the first to ask he
for mn engagement
1--WE been waiting for you an hour,
Dan announced as he stepped out iron
the tree against which he had beef
leaning. you've been 10 Miss Pom
eroy's parlor altogether too long.
can't stand for that"
Ben had no relish for fght-no
with those six feet Of muscle--sO h
kept his temper III leash
"Sorry I don't please you," he re
piled with sarcasm.sprlnkled GOODNESS
"r didn't know Miss pomeroy and 20
were engaged
The fireman knitted his brOws int
q savage scOwl and looked disdalufu
ly down at the pebble In his hlghwa
of love.
"Well. We aren't" he declare,
"There is no engagement yet, but ther
is going to be. She wants man, an
I'm it-see7 She isn't going to Il
up with a shrimp like you, so you be
ter make yourself scarce around he
I'm lust warning you, that's ALL"
= About this time Fate decided to tail
= a hand in the affair so a janitC
went to sleep In the basement Of n
. Ashton building late one afternoo
, and a cigarette dropped from h