The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1919-03-24
THE DAILY
SHORT STORY
A Little Past Twelve.
BY IZoLA FORESTER.
Copyright, 1919, by the Mcclure


Newspaper Syndtcate)
EkY TILL soon be there" wyeth
leaned forward at the wheel
peering into the gray mist
that hid the road ahead Of them.
TITS at the top Of the hill"
I'VE haven't passed any one for
miles, Randy. It's awfully lonesome,
isn't II? Have you been here be-
Eore?"
Wyeth smiled down at her, the girl
he was most in love with for the
time being. How could he tell hen
how many times he had been up this
long hill road before, always with a
different girl beside him in the I'M
derslung gray car? It was usually his
first experimental trip, way up to
the little inn at the top Of Mount
Shawneen. A girl hardly ever show
Cd her best side down in the city,
IN the environment she knew well,
but take her up here, into the I'M
known, into the silence OF the hills,
and she became human again. II he
only could find one who would stay
that way with the little wistful nat
urGl woman way. Always taken back
after tea at the inn or dinner they
slipped back into the same type he
dislfked. He wondered II Shirley
would.
She had been eager to take the
trip, partly because he had used thu
inn as tho scene of the story. partly
because he had told her how ne liked
It personally. And she had worked
at It SO steadily and unselflshlv know
ing he was hurrying 10 get away as
soon as 1t was finished. He could
not tell her what an inspiration her
very presence had been to him. as ht
walked the studio floor, debating 10
her.
The west window caught the sun
SGT light, and always sent shaft
down to CLEAN on her bowed heao.
with its fluffy red-broWn hair
lie wondered whether she would DO
the one he would ask to marry him.
He felt the curiosity Of the fatalist
whenever he had permitted a romance
to drift along in his own mind, until
he found himself at the point whert
he wanted to test the effect Of the
girl in the old inn setting. Would
Shirley slip as naturally into it as II
she we're some tender-eyed old paint
Ing being framed anew?
He stopped the car before the broad
low veranaa, with its swinging lamps
suspended in long chain brackets.
Two terriers bounded to meet him,
aud the door opened with Marcus's
beaming face behind 1t, smiling a
welcome 10 him.
ooh, broathed Shirley, softly,
when she saw the great hall interior,
with its hunting trophies, and deep
rock fireplace. "Isn't 1t splendid
here?"
Wyeth placed her In one OF the
deep chairs before the fire and gave
their order to Marcus in leisurely
contentment. 1t had been long run
With two breakdowns and the clock
over the mantel showed halt-past
nine.
1--WE may be late getting back" he
told her, sinking into the chair be-
side her indolently. II wish we were
never going back, don't you girl dear?
Shirley shook her head emphatical-
II. It was curious how out Of place he
Eaemed way off up here in the hills.
He was SO emphatically the dilettante
type of man, the dreamer and drttter.
SSe wondered where Phil was to-
niEht: If he was thinking Of her at
All. He surely could not think she
had meant all she said. he must
understand that after a girl has earn
ed her own living for years she does
not leap at an offer of marriage as
IL It were life preserver.
Besides, he had his sisters to sup
mort, and she didn't want any one IN
her home but her husband and her
self when she married. And he had
told her CURLY that If she really loved
him she would be willing to live IN a
Samoan family hut with him.
Nyeth was talking to her, and She
had not even listened IL him. think
ing az the other man, and how he
would look standing on the greaH
bearsbfn rug before the fireplace
looking down at her now.
they dined out on the glass-inclos-
ed veranda blaze burning behind
them in the open fireplace. Shirley
hardly noted the passing of time. 1t
was all SO unreal to her and Wyeth
kept talking, telling her Of his own
life, dwelling on their happiness to-
gether and Of how different she was
70 all other girls he had ever met.
She did not. notice the lights OF
the other car as it swept around the
curve Of the road but when the door
opened behind her she heard is voice,
and bent her head over her plate. He
was with party of men. His laugh
came to her roundly every now and
then, and she knew he was sittins
Just behind her and had not recogniz-
"a her.
.eYou know" wyeth was saying, as
de put aside his cordial and leaned
nearer her, "you know why brought
you here, Shirley. You know because
you read my little confession in the
Btory. And l want to tell you thai
you alone, Of all whom have brought