Americus times-recorder., 1920-05-06
PRINCE AND PUPPY
BY CHRISTINE HAYES.


five seconds before the twine did.
''He has the cunningest little nose 7"
AS always with Zaidee when excited,
the. last word came In a clear and
astonishing high "g."
"But his skins too loose" confided
Dorothy, sadly.
"Oh, that's all right" laughed Auntie
Vic, adding, as Dorothy's dark eyes
still doubted, He'll grow to fit 1t; you
wait and see."
When Victoria had kissed the twins
and petted the puppy and rescued the
skirt of her new tweed suit from his
undiscriminating teeth, she inquired: :
"Where's your motherT
"GOne to a party. She left a note
for you. It's on the hall table"
$50 get it, Zaidee," Dorothy sug
gested. Victoria opened the note care
lessly, which read:
"Sorry l can't be here, dear. Make
yourself at home. Ollie will give yon
some lunch. See you soon. NJ. C.'s
in town."
Victoria gave little breathless, In
voluntary, "Oh!" and her face grew
as white as g healthy coat of tan
would let 1t.
whats the matter2" chorused the
twins
"NOt thing, sugar angels" replied
their appalIingly untruthful aunt, tex
I'm hmm aOunI0 nf
bears"
''If she was so awful hungry" Zai-
dee wanted to know, when the adored
young aunt had gone to change her
dress, ''if she was so awful hungry.
Dots, why didn't she eat anything?"
But that so far as Dots was con-
cerned, seemed destined to remain a
mystery.
Meanwhile, Victoria, donning ruff
fed blue voile, hummed a popular
song. That didn't seem to go so very
well, but she caught herself singing
something she had not meant to sing
and stopped abruptly. It seemed she
couldn't get away from Mark Crane
if she tried; even his silly song pos
sesSed her.
Oh, well, she shrugged, his being in
the same town needn't make any differ
ence to her. She hoped, of course,
that she wouldn't Reet him, but If she
did-well, what of that? She wouldn't
admit she was sorry until Mark gave
In, and she knew Mark we'll enough to
know that he never, never would give
in till she showed that she was sorry.
SO there it was-a vicious circle
She didn't care. anyway. Not a bit.
She cried little then and there just
to prove it.
''She does weigh more than two
squirrels!" Shrill alteration from be-
low interrupted the current Of her
thoughts. Left to themselves in the
heat of debate, the twins were apt to
scratch and pull each others hair with
a fury calculated to set the neighbors
a-speculating on the Darwinian theory.
Victoria hurried down.
'Don't you weigh more than two
squirrels, Auntie Vic" demanded Zai-
dee, passlonately.
swell" reasoned Dorothy, ''we ask
ed mother how much she weighed and
she said as much as a horse and two
squirrels and q monkey, and you can
see for yourself that If mother
weighs"
plump sisters subterfuge to keep the
entire neighborhood from knowing her
exact weight.
where's the puppy?" she asked.
This diversion proved more than sue
cessfuI for the puppy was in fact,
missing.
And only yesterday" Zaidee mourn
ed, ''he chewed up my little live duck"
Her aunt stared aghast "Well, any
way" she qualified, 81 pretended 1t
was alive"
After futile search, 1t developed
that Rus, the grocer's boy, had seen a
small yellow dog-"Yes'm, down the
street a little ways" So Auntie Vic,
with doleful twin clinging to each
hand, set out in the direction indicated.
They came upon the puppy sitting In
front of dry goods store 'looking sor-
ry" as Dorothy put it. "Oh, look |"
she shrieked, delightedly, "he's waving
his ear at usl'
He gave them an unquestionably en-
thusiastic reception, and as Victoria
stopped to pat him, his awkward eag-
er paw caught in the slender gold chain
about her neck. The chain broke and
the locket It had suspended spun into
the gutter.
Permit me-" 1t was Mark Crane
who stood, stiffly courteous, holding
out her locket to her. A bit OF paper
escaped from it and fiuttered to the
sidewalk. AS Mark stopped to recover
that also, he read on it in Victoria's
handwritin Prince of Dreams" In
picking it up he shamelessly tipped it
over with his nail-the photographed
face was his own
''Th-thank you," said Victoria, in
voice not much louder than the one
with which conscience is credited
Their eyes met, and Mark grinned-.