The Winslow mail., 1920-01-16
THE SUBSTITUTE
BY GRACE WEATHERBY,

George Thompson. familiarly known
to his shipmates as Jake" idly turn
ed over in his hands the letter the
mail orderly had just given him. He
scarcely glanced at it. 1t probably
was from Sister 10, anyway, as she
was the only one who wrote to him
lately. Jake was homesick. Just at
present his ship was in drydock for re-
pairs, and Jake had 24-hour "lib-
erty" hanging heavily upon his hands.
There was no place to go, and moth
ing to do. Suddenly he remembered
his letter. Without gancing at the
address, he tore it open, but repent
ed of his act the next moment, for
he realized that the letter was not
meant for him. AS he looked at the
address on the envelope his suspicious
were confirmed. The letter belonged
to "Jacob Thompson" and not George
Thompson" 1t was easy to see how
the mail orderly might get the two
confused, as the latter was known as
Jake" Shamelessly Jake read the
short note written In a girlish hand.
Dearest Jake, am 80 glad you are
home. Please DO come ap and see me
very soon. won't you, for I am anx-
ious to know what my sailor looks
like. With love, Mildred" In spite
Of himself Jake laughed. Jacob
Thompson was surely not much to
look at He was short insignificant
looking man, with wisps of colorless
hair. Amused and little puzzled
Jake went in search of him. He found
him busily writing, and the young fel-
low noticed what perfect penman he
was. "Say, Thompson" he began, Il
got letter Of yours here. The NAH
orderly opened it. Pm very sorry"
A half hour later Thompson himself
approached Jake. He was gruff as
usual but plainly disturbed. Without
a preliminary he said, "You know that
letter you SO thoughtfully opened for
me2" Jake nodded, curious. "Well,
the girl who wrote it is friend Of
mine. She made this sweater and I
found her name in it and wrote to her.
I am a pretty decent writer and she
thinks l am good-looking young chap
who is in love with her.
'"That doesn't happen to be the case.
for I'm no lady's man, so, my lad you
take my place"
"But why" asked Jake, "don't you
60 yourselff
Thompson twisted his ungainly fig
ure uncomfortably.
pointed If you go, while one sight of
ME would knock her air castles to
nothing You'll go?"
After thinking it over. Jake decided
to agree, on condition that he might
tell her who he was.
Accordingly, at three o'clock Jake
presented himself at the home Of Miss
Mildred Campbell A little serving
maid admitted him, plainly confused
at the sight Of the handsome sailor.
With many bows she showed him into
a cOzy little room, where, at one end,
an old-fashioned fireplace attracted his
attention. He seated himself stiff1y
on a straight-backed chair, but he
settled himself comfortably on the
wide couch, soft with many pillows,
his boyish head buried in the pillows
1t was thus Miss Mildred Campbell
found him when she came downstairs.
He did not hear her when she came
and her girlish laugh aroused him.
He sat bolt upright in an instant. a
deep flush staining his cheeks. ooh
I beg your pardon, I just couldn't help
It; that couch looked so inviting y
Mildred soon put him at his ease and
before long he was telling her nu'
merOus tales of his adventures in the
navy. When he left at ten O'Clock
that evening he had promised to come
again. Thompson was waiting for
him when he got back to the ship and
In his customary gruff way demanded
to, know what had taken place. Jake
was only too willing to tell someone
Of the wonderful Miss Campbell. That
young lady ready for the night was
engaged In earnest conversation With
her pet cat, Funny Face" and she
confided to that feline that Jake
Thompson was absolutely the nices1
man she ever metl
The days flew by and the heart Of
Jake was in grave danger. AS yet he
had not told Mildred Of his deceit ant
each day made it harder to do
Thompson paid no. attention to hin
whatever except to listen silently t.
Jake's accounts of his visits to Mil
dred. At length one day Jake sum
moned courage and told her.
She did not speak until he had fin
ished and then she only said: "Yol
must bring the real Jake to see me.
Accordingly Thompson accompanies
Jake on his next CALL Mildred greet
ed them graciously and poor Jake wa
quite astonished when she said L
Thompson, "You see, you were reall,
more than kind to US, for il 1t weren'
for you, Jake and I would never hav
met, and that would be terrible for W
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