The patriot. [volume] (Indiana, Pa.) 1914-1955, 1919-05-17

'DId uelIFeIy DOG No. %, Ou LLC OI4iSI
side.
1t was a gusty, disagreeable day. At
intervals, the rain whipped down in
sheets, alternately slackening to a
sticky, penetrating drizzle. The wind
tore at the willow branches that dip
ped into the stream, and the waters
Of the bayou writhed under it's vio-
lence.
Half way across the bridge an ag-
greSsiye gust suddenly seized the
girls umbrella and flung it viciously
INTO the turbulent black water. Turn
ing invOluntariIy, with a futile grasp
at the flying parachute, Matilda abb
ruptly twisted her foot Sideways
catching the heel Of her boot in q
crack between the planks Just then
Gn angry cloudburst broke relentlessly
upon the unprotected head Of the hap
less prisoner, and with hands tightly
gripping the railing Of the bridge, she
waited with all the patience she could
command, for it's fury to subside.
Presently the wind ceased, the rain
shrank back into the clouds, and the
lead Of the Sky broke up in patches Of
LIue and silver. With renewed hope,
Matilda scanned the road from east to
west And then, glory Of glOries!
man was just hcaviDg into view on the
brow Of the hill opposite. She watched
him eagerly, thankfully. But as ne
came nearer, near enough for her to
recognize the broad straight shoulders
and the massive head under the drip
ping Panama, her eyes widened and
the blood began to pound in her
throat and temples. Mallory Cheatham
the very last person on earth she
wanted to encounter!
IN her hand was the still Unposted
Ietter, addressed to him. 1t contained
cnly a few lines, but it had taken her
half the night to make up her mind
what to say and the other half how to
say it. She had refused him, firmly
and finally.
When he was almost up to her, Ma
tilda's face grew scarlet with bushes.
Held like a criminal in the pillory, she
returned his look Of CONSERVATION with
one Of belligerent silence.
After Cheatham cOmprehended the
situation, a smile struggled through his
establishment
''I was beginning to grow impatient
Of your answer, dear"
'fDo get me out of this !" she inter-
rupted petulantly, fiinching with pain
as she gave her foot an impatient
twist.
Full Of solicitude, Cheatham stoop-
ed, and with few deft manipulations,
succeeded in lOOsening the imprisoned
Eeel.
"And now," said he, rising and look
ing ardently down into Matilda's de-
c!dedly cross face, "don't I deserve
something for that?" He eyed the let
ter cOvetously.
But the girl said nothing, and she
did not yield up the letter, either.
Its addressed to me, isn't itY
urged Cheatham in a crestfalIen
tone.
Eyes, but-Ohw Just at that juno
tUre an accommodating zephyr lifted
the envelope from her fingers and
tossed it out on the water, where q
still more accommodating current
bore it swiftly into the eddies.
Cheatham thrust his hands into his
pockets and stood staring at her,
mingled curiosity and alarm showing
a., "A rrONH lCnl-fpr Foao
'YOu-you've changed your mind"
he said at last, very gravely, after his
recent exuberance.
The guilty crimson flushed over Ma
t'lda's face, and without word she
turned and began to retrace her steps
back toward the camp.
AS they came in sight of the camp
ers' tents, Cheatham paused and look
ed sternly into the face of the girl at
his side.
Mallory" The exclamation was
sharp, indignant, but Matilda's eyes
lifted their sober curtains long enough
TO emit a lambent little flash that was
nothing if not contradictory.
'If you care to come into the camp
until I can change these rags" she
said demurely, 81 think-I think we
can talk better"
Cheatham divested himself of his
raincoat and left 1t on a bench in the
ward. Inside he rOamed about the
lirtle reception parlor" Of the tent
waiting, like Gagged lion, for the girl
to make her appearance.
She came in at last, gOwned in some
d.aphanous white thing that Chea-
than thought made her look exactly
like a star floating in a gauzy silver
cloud. She was smiling, and her eyes, |
as he held them in his own, were soft !
and dreamy with their subtle confes-
sion.
Cheatham reached forth eager arms
to draw her into them, but the apollo
getic entrance of an ebony-faced in
diyidua1 caused him to reconsider for
q moment.
81 begs pardon, but somebody wish
to speak to Miss DriScoll on de
phone"
go GOOD ono71ob said Chao+hoD,