The Marietta journal. (Marietta, Ga.) 1918-1944, 1920-04-02
THE ANSWER
BY FLORENCE BURRILL.
Dc. ls2O. by MCCLURE NEWSPAPER syndicate


OF strength and boyishness which WON
en- love, and could easily have beer
very much of a ladies' man had he
not been as bashful as he was hand
some. Girls adored his 1.-the virility
and he received an early invitation to
all of the Winsbury merry-makings
But the presence of the other sex in
variably turnel Neil from a living
laughing Hermes to a frozen statue
And to make things worse, he was
very much in love with Ceclly.
Cecily was wee bit of a lassie
honey-colored as to hair, violet-hued as
to eyes, apple-bossomy as to cheeks
A pretty air of dignity tried to con.
tradict her little-girl figure, and she
was, according to an enthusiastic
friend, "iust sweet Z" And if she had
the appearance of tinted marble
Venus she must have had some of the
attributes Also for none of the many
sultors Winsbury and other towns of.
fered had made the slightest impress,
sion on the cool little heart under hel
dainty laces. She accepted their de.
votion graciously was the merriest and
most fun-loving of the younger set, but
always with a fastidious reserve that
let none farther than the rest.
That is, until Neil began shyly to
show his heart. With him she never
coquetted, his invitations she never re.
fused. toward him she showed a sweet
and simple liking; and soon the big.
dark lad and the small, flowerlke girl
were seen together very often indeed
setting out for a country walk or
drifting through the rhythm of a
waltz.
But this very friendship puzzled
Neil. 1t was so different from her
treatment of other lovers and it never
occurred to him that her feeling for
him might be different also. To his
mind her laugh was the most Joyous
thing on earth, and herself the dear
est But he feared to tell her lest il
end their friendship; so they were pals
through the sparkling January days
and the wistful April ones, with no
hint of anything deeper.
When June came he could stand it
no longer He decided to take the big
chance, tell her, then if she couldn't
marry him, go where his profession of
engineer promised success. How should
he ask Cecily? He never could bar.
his heart with those purple eyes ca
him; letter was so impersonal and
cold; there should be no third partys
laundering, and these were the only
orthodox methods of proposing, un-
less
Neil rushed to the nearest music
store, purchased blank record and
had it on the victrOla at home before
the glow Of the wonderful inspiration
had time to dull. Into the little disk
he spoke his e-Straightforward
yearning, tender, as he could never
have expressed 1t to her in person
NisiOning star-eyed girl in the shad-
Ows, he told how he cared for her with
the simple, honest love of a clean
heart, how eager he would work to
make her happy; but If she didn't,
couldn't love him, she was not to feel
the least bit grieved nor blame herself
at all, for how could a girl like her
love great, clumsy thing like him
only please let me know as soon as
you can, dear; and If it is mo- there is
a position waiting out West, where
work will keep me man. When your
answer comes l shall either telegraph
that l cannot accept-or start at once
Oh, Cecily, Cecily, shall I stay"
The tiny parcel which meant SO
much in life and hopes of Neil Mac
kenzie was dispatched by special mes
senger, and an anxious boy faced the
hours that must pass before an an.
swer came. He could see Cecily re.
ceive the record and run merrily to
try 1t through at once, as she always
did new one; he could see her look
of amazement-but there his vision
failed. Did her face grow tender OF
sad or frightened?
Scarcely two hours had gone before
ring at the dOorbell revealed an
other messenger boy with a parcel
Mackenzie tore 1t open and found-jusr
his record.
He slipped the record into place and
started the machine. How strange tC
hear his own tones! He smiled, half
sadly and half-whimsically, at the pas
sion of the words. The plea came tC
an end: "Oh. Cecily, Cecily, shall
stay?" The needle whirled noisily sew
eral times. Then clear and vibrant
in the voice of his sweetheart cam4
the answer she had spoken into it
Eyes"