Weekly Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1919-1920, 1919-03-05
She arose and followed him out
CHAPTER TX.

So Here Then We Have the Problem
Old AS Eden Itself. AS To Which
1t Is Better To Do. Choose Poverty
With Love or Riches With Dissat-
isfaction-Which the Wood Girl
Solves After the Manner of Her
Heart, with Results Far Reach
ing in After Years Because of
Which We Have a Story.
They went out of the Opera House
and across the street and into the
Common where the moths We're
winGing around the suffering, old
fashioned arc-lights. which thre\s
pleasant shadows amid the shrubbery.
They found Il settee-a hideous fancy
iron settee-and they sat down and
Mary waited anxiously. Across the
street, high in the hall, the music
struck up in another waltz.
give got to be going back, Her.
bert" she said. "Jack viii be sur
prised not to find me when he returns.
What was it you wanted?"
He took off his cap and the cowlick
rose terrifioa.l!. He twisted the cap
in his hands. He was pitiful in his
diversified lumberous misery. "You!
he blurted out
"Me? What do you mean, Her
bert?'
"You!" he cried doggedly. "You
kissed him on the stage in
front o. everybody. You been lettin'
him dance most every dance with
you! know got awful feet but
She wanted to laugh but could not.
you've forgotten me since he came
to work over to the Telegraph office, "
Herb said, his eyes averted.
"Oh, Herbert" cried the girl softly,
"what can say? What can I do?'
81 kind O. thought, when you LEM
me kiss you that night in my house"
"Dear Herbert, it was wicked of
me to have done that,-to have en-
couraged you. I've thought about it
and thought about it and wondered
what l could do to make amends.
But I've always decided that to try to
make amends would only fix bad
matter worse. l just hoped you'd
forgive me and overlook it?
"Then l take it there amt no
chance"
"If you want to know it. yes. .
l love Jack, it would be wicked to
deny it. But what can l do when
my heart is that way, HERBERT"
Eyes, | know. He amt a clumsy
lummox like me always putin his
hoof in it! He's good-lookin' and has
got nice ways with the ladies'. Look
at the way he played the hero part
in that show"
at isn't that at all, Herbert. 1t
was that Jack and l seemed like old
friends from the start, although we
both knew we never had seen one
another before in our lives. I could
MT help falling in love with him. I
didn't mean to treat you shabbily; l
just couldn't help it."
you'll be marlyin' him, l sup
pose?"
ale hasn't asked me yet but
but"
"But you expect he will. That's
it, isn't it,"
She averted her face and toyed
with q little pile of sand between the
bricks of the walk.
"Perhaps" she said. "But it can't
be for a long time, you know. Jacks
father failed in business and his cred
itors lost lot of money. Jacks got
to pay that money back, he thinks
he's morally bound to do it; they
trusted him and his father and there's
no reason why they should lose. Per-
haps after the moneys paid we can
begin to save for our home and when
we get enough"
eff Purse owes as much as l hear
he does, you'll be an awful long time
gettin' married"
"We're young yet. There's ample
time. Meanwhile we're together"
EYES," said Herb sadly, YOU'RE
together That's a lot. I'm sorry
it's him, Mary. l was hopin' it
might be me. l was hopin' l could
use the money I'm comm into to
make a nice girl like you-happy.
Wouldn't you, Mary? Wouldn't
you?"
Momentarily a vision of that lux
urious front room in the Truman
home fled before the girl! She gave
thought, too, of her mothers exper-
fence with a poor man. But she was
not alone now; the future was not !
1t made a difference.
"Well," concluded Herb philosophi-
cally as he moved away, "-there's
many slip between the cup and the
lip, Mary Wood. Lots of things may
happen while you're waitin' for Purse
n nav I'm four thousand o1,t of civ |