Ellsworth American., 1920-03-24

the little room that used to be his and
stu was bis, in fact, for his mother
kept the bed ready for his occupancy
and had never touched any of his be-
longings except to clean them-not
even pile of read-from-cover-to-
cover, out-of-date magazines.
In the afternoon Oliver went out for
a walk, desirous of renewing acquaint-
anceships. He thought he knew every
body that lived in plainwell, and con-
sequently was surprised at the nslm-
Der of new faces. However, the town
itself seemed to have undergone few
changes.
Hello, Oliver" he heard a voice
behind him call as be walked along
the main street Don't you recognize
| your friends?'
ae turned and saw two girls stand
ing on the walk behind him. For a
moment he surveyed them, or rather
one of them, who had wreaths of rich
red hair flowing down over set of
black furs. From behird black muff
the face peered, and it was rather
roguish face, albeit covered with frank
ness and freckles.
''Irenep' he exclaimed, going to her
and grasping a dainty little hand.
Irene, you certainly are looking fine.'
She was one girl he was not afraid of.
He talked with her several minutes,
and somehow the girl on the wall
seemed forgotten. 1t certainly did
seem good to see and converse with
Irene again. He had forgotten about
her, but he was sure she had not been
so attractive in the days when he used
to live in Plainwen and call her his
| girl. He so far forgot the calendar
girl that he asked Irene If he could
call on her that evening, and she
agreed with alacrity.
| While walking home after meeting
her on the street, Oliver suddenly
came to, as II were. He realized how
| he had forsaken the calendar girl in
his thoughts. His first act, therefore,
on reaching his room was to take her
| from his suitcase and hang her on a
nail over the bed. Still he was not
| quite so enthusiastic as he had been
about her.
The evening passed quickly-too
| quickly. Irene made fudge and played
the piano, and those were divers two
weaknesses-fudge and piano music.
And how Irene could stir up sweet
tasting things with spoon. and how
she could stir up sweet-sounding things
with the ivory keys.
1t was good old-fashioned eve
ming, at least 1t seemed old-fashioned
to Oliver, fresh from the city, and he
enjoyed every minute. He fell beneath
the spell Of his "old girl" in the old
town, and he liked It. Before either
of them realized 1t they were speak
Ing Of things that We're tinged with
the sentimental, and yet they did not
seem sentimental, because the two
had talked of them before and made
them sound matter of fact by their
| repetition. OF course that was q
year and a half ago.
There was no resisting the Fates,
and presently the conversation devel-
oped into a discussion of furniture
and bungalows, not a limpid, gushing
discussion, but sane and practical.
The situation did not develop into
an out-and-out proposal of marriage.
That would be a trifie too sudden for
either of them, after this year and
half Of separation; but when Oliver
left Irene's home he was treading the
skies, and the moon was shining as it
had never shone before and the stars
were exchanging mysterious winks.
Oliver entered his room and switched
on the light. The black eyes of the
girl on the wall popped at him, some
what accusingly 1t seemed, and her
ruby lips smiled.
He stood at the foot of the bed and
surveyed her critically with his eyes
you're a nice-looking GIRL" he OBJ
served, but you can't make fudge,
and you can't play the piano, and
well, really you're not of any use, ex-
cept TO tell me the day of the week,
and the date of the month, and the
month of the year; and / can keep
track of them without you"
He took her from the wall.
Booml Downstairs the old clock
got into action. The boom was re-
peated eleven times.
With care Oliver tore the girl from
the calendar. The date part he re-
turned to his suitcase while the girl
was put TO repose in the waste basket.
"Red hair beats black hair all TO
pieces" Oliver observed as he crawled
into bed ten minutes later.