Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-10-18
THE DAILY NOVELETTE,
BALLOONS
by ELEANOR n. sPERBy

by ELEANOH Y. sPEHHf
'Balloons balloons Buy the oheei-
dren q balloon! ceo-oo-nsy leland sas
balloons Fifteen eents--two for q quar-
ter coo-oo-ney Island gas balloons y
Tho strident voice reused Amy Whit
comb, seated In her brothers limousine
parked on the outskirts of the fair,
carrying her back TO a day-lons past.
Strange that the Yell Of a hawker could
AFFECT so swift a transportation, and be.
tween two such dissimiiar places. A
country fair In all It's midday garish-
nsss--shelving Rock Hunt the night of
the junior rsvelsi And It was OF Dick
stiles, the maddest, nerriest OF them all,
playing the balloon man, that the voice
reminded her,
From recalling how inimitably, with
his marvellous gift OF mlmicry. he had
peddled his bobbing wares, Amy's
thoughts shifted to the episode which
had taken place on the cool, stariit lawn
at the tag end of the evening. In an
swsr To Dicks plea to marry him, she
had told him. oh. 80 judicially and calm
ly "It would be a mistake, Dick. I like
too we'll serene, evenly ordered exist
ence, while you-why, Dick. one moment
you wear yourself out trying to be the
greatest writer OF the age. the next, you
fancy yourself second r.. r. Barnumr'
1t had all been true. Dick was man
of many talents and with too much
money In the offlng ever to develop any
one of them. But since that night much
had happened Dicks father had lost on
and Anv had heard az him sinee aa n
promoter OF sorts. an agent In brokers'
Office, q salesman for an export firm.
For some time now, she had not heard
at all, She wondered
looms! Buy lem tor the cheeldrenl'
In response to an impulse which she
could not have explained. even to her
self, Amy bent forward to the chauffeur.
IL might be an hour before her brother.
was on the trail of a thoroughbred Jer-
sey calf, ireturned. "Tell my brother I'll
be back presently, II no returns first,"
she directed and, descending from the
car, disappeared in the circling crowds;
Her way was temporarily impeded by
an absorbed, neck els-craning group watch
ing persptring boy throw balls at trian,
gular apertures N an endefVor,to, land
three straight and win Q baby dohTThen.
m as s n ssms,sins @ p%psn surns i
softness touched her cheek: Only a bal
ioon~but, as she lifted her head to brush
II aside, she looked straight into the
startled eyes Of Diok--a Dick who first
psIsa thss sIswIy % s5s gsddsHeat oath for her
her wHra,sss tSrassh he ss tSrosg % and Amy like !,
puppet on a string, obedlently followed
II was in back Of the oranEeade conces-
sion that they found shelter. And It was
II suppose, OF course, Dick, that this
Is some sort of a joke.N She indicated
with a gesture the bunch of gold and vel
low and purple spheres still swayins
from his shoulder,
Dicks face.
You're right, Amy--if I may still call
you by your first name. I'm----err-gather-
Ing local color for my next book p;
told her confdentially. and when the
old yeezer who owns these fell over q
tent rope and laid himself up. ] saw my
a little fun out Of It myself. Never
dreamed I'd run into-into you. / was
? balloon man once before-the revels
Do you happen to remember?' He ratified
Something tugGed at Amy's heart. FL
was the same old Dick. But she did not
believe him the successful author his
words implied No, there were. lines
about his eyes, q thlnness Of the cheeks
look about the clothes
'DlCk, batu ANY BentiE. teii IHe oil
about yourseif-the truth. That night you
asked me to marry you, I was cock
sure young girl, dreadfully spoiled. In,
sure, by the triumphs. such AS they were,
of my first season. Since then, well. I've
learned"
"Great Scott, Dick, I've hunted the
place over for you What on earth
Amyi"
Il was Amy's brother regarding them
with q profound surprise. ~ thought this
telegram might be important" he was
saying, "and nearly got hauled in by
the town police force-quite a decent
young feliow-trying to get here" II was
to Dick ne handed the yellow envelope
And while Dick tore It open. AIoy's
brother, who thought he read permits
sion in Dicks eyes. explained-how he
had never lost touch with Dick. and how
Ddall, after various unsuccessful at.
tempts at business, had settled down de-
terInined to write or starve. And because
he had so nearly starved. he had taken
to running country fairs. itinerant cir