The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1919-09-12
THE DAILY
SHORT STORY
The Dear Somebody.
BY A. MARIA CRAWFORD.
Copyright, 1918, by the Mcclure
NIavsnoDer syl,dicate.)


ISABELLA ouILFoRD looked Up
nnd down the long rows OF tables
5tretohtng for ono block on Market
atreet. twenty-five hundred returning
soldiers, her townsmen were 70 cat
there that day, A profusion OF eaF!Y
summer flowers, like gorgeous ram
bow In the tropics, spanned the snowy
tables ,. n,n
1reds Of delicately frosted cakes, the
pride Of many housewife; sandWicn-
es, pies, everything dear to the cough
boys heart had been prepared LOT the
feast. .,,.
Isabella wished that the eyes OF one
khaki- clad man would brighten at the
sieht of her, that a dear somebody
Would hasten to find her. unhappy II
she were not there. But she realized
all too we'll, that the only soldiers she
knew would smile, grasp her hand IN.
differently and pass on TO some slF4
for whom they really cared.
Isabella was thirty, and for some m
explicabla reason she had never had a
lover. She had numbers OF friends, so
MANY that not even the people with
whom she was intimate suspected the
embarrassing truth that none OF the
men who called on her and look her
about wanted to marry her. Many OF
her associates joked her on the subject,
inouiring in feigned sarcastic fashion
what she was waiting for, prince or
a millionaire. Isabella had always
laughed at such questions, but the
laughter was forced.
Ever since the news that twenty-five
hundred local members of the great
goth division, which had done some OF
the hardest fighting, were to parade IL
Their home city on their way to the
rehabilitation camp, she HID coVertiy
hoped shat she would be Csked to serve
them. But the committee in charge
had decided that the very youngest anu
prettiest girls should serve the men
while the older ones, like Isabella,
could stay in the supply rooms to cut
cakes and pies and to prepare the
plates as they were needed.
She thought of the story of Mary and
Martha in the Bible, and reflected,
somewhat bitterly, that the role OF
Mar.ha would always fall to her.
From somewhere far off frenzied
shouts sounded. Torpedoe3 placed on
the tracks of the incoming trains ex-
ploded like the firing Of salute.
There was the sound of martial music,
and then every whistle blew and every
bell in The city rang, adding to the hui
man din. IT was like another arn1ts-
tics day, The boys, their cwn home
boys, had come back to their loved
ones at last.
Isabella's eyes grew bit misty and
she dabbed at them uncertainty as shoj
fastened to help the dozens of other
workers prepare the feast. Many OF
the girls and young women, Unable to
restrain themselves, yelled something
excitedly and rushed off toward Gay
street, the line of march. So Isabella
and the older women, most Of them
married; generously piled the fried
chicken, the pickles and pies en- the
paper mache pla.a5.
"Ipl g'a,l that you'r3 no. man crazy,
Isabella" said one old lady, gruffly7in-
dignant because her own share OF the
work had been disorganized by the un-
expected flight of her young helpers.
"You are dependable, the kind OF
woman who makes a good wife. Now,
you can keep your head!" she ejacu-
lated crisply. She could keep her
heart as well as her head, thought lsa-
bella sadly, thinking of her lack OF low
ers.
Finally the vanguard swung into
view at the far end Of Market street.
The girls were marching with them,
waving flags, shrieking their own Joy.
At signt of the tables, loaded with good
things, a lusty cheer broke frJm the
boys.
Isabella left the street ard went into
the hot, smoky rooms which had been
fitted up as temporary kitchen. She
handed out plates, she cut cakes and
pies until her thumb was sore, but still
the demand came for more supplies.
run outside, Isabella, and see If
anybody could have been overlooked"
said on matron.
Many of the soldiers called to her as
she passed along the tables, waving
L0e!r dTluS dlu Suuulu6 6lCCLlu6SI buI
isabella knew that she was not essen
tial to the happiness of any Of them.
A captain in the medical corps,
stranger, stood little apart from the
others, and Isabella's heart gave a
fl1tter of pleasure at sight of him.
Perhaps she could entertain him, and
so feel that she, was not an outsider
after ALL She vent up to speak to him,
her hand out, q little wistful look OF
longing to be a. real part in the joyful
celebration flushing her pretty face.
Wont yous have something else to
eat don't believe you went out from
here, did you You must have taken
Capt. Newman's command when he was
invalided home, six months ago. l anil
Isabella Guilford," i
$50 I did, Miss Guilford," smiled the |
stranger. "Im from Michigan. Bill |
Burdette is my name, was just be- /,
ginning to feel a bit lonely when you
came. BY being brigaded with your.
townsmen am missing my part Of the
fun in my own home town. But It's all |
IN the game! And these are wonderful !
days, compared with the time we spent |
over there"
AS they stood there in the warm sun
light Isabella tried to make herself
believe that he had come back to her,
that he was glad because she was there