The Ocala evening star., 1921-11-26
The Missing
Letter
BY HAROLD sINcLAIRE.

@k@~~~~S~~~$~S~~~~~~
Copyright. 1921. Western Newspaper Union
We all looked upon Libby Arliss as
an old maid, absurdly old, although
her age could not have been more |
than thirty-five. But after her mother |
died she ceased TO 90 about much III |
our village society; and by the time |
she was out of mourning she had set
sAGsD. down into lonely life in her lit
- home. She had fine garden, ami
we boys and girls used TO steal her
pears and mock at her when she came
out and threatened u.s.
I'D like to get even with Miss Lib
by for being 50 mad about our taking
| her wormy old pears" said Steve
Marks, the bad boy" of the village.
/ None of us liked Libby. That wss
how we came to cOncoct the love let
! ter
Why we hit upon William Tabor l
can't quite remember. The Tabors
had once been the most respected
family in our village. but William was
wild when he was young man and
went West, returning broken down in
health, a year or two before.
Three of the high school scholars
concocted the letter. 1t ran like this
my Dearest William:
MAY I-dare one whom the world
calls a sour old maid, avow to you
something against which have fought
for many months in vain? William,
love you! There, have avowed IT,
and you cannot guess how shrinking
; Iy / write down these words which
my hand is powerleSs to stay. i love
= you-and now have told you all. The
rest is with you.
LIBBY ARLISS."
Why Eot send Libby a letter by the
same post? asked. No sooner thought
of than acted upon. Williams letter
: ran in this way:
'' "My Dearest Libby Arliss:
= Because my tongue Is weak and
n falters in your presence, would fain
: write down the words long to say to
you. Libby, / love you. May i cal
to see you and tell you Of the fatal
4 passion which you inspire In my
. heart? WILLIAM TABOR.
We dropped these epistles into the
letter box and waited with bateC
breath, metaphorically speaking. W.
IL saw Mr.. Tabor's buggy coming a
is breakneck speed down the rOa'
y In a cloud of dust He pulled In tn
A horse outside the gate and hitched l
n to the fence. Then he got out ant
IS went In, walking very quickly. ID
;r rang the bell and Miss Libby came Z
o the door.
= And as she stood there looking
him and smiling up at him, he too
her In his arms and kissed her.
oI That was enough for US. We wer
E. all thoroughly scared. We took {
+. our heels and ran home.
"Well, lady, there's news In the vi
ly lage," said my father, when he cam
of home that night.
T. 81 know, dear" said my mothe
al smiling. Libby Arliss and VIII TabC
ON have made up again"
Trust a woman for findiRg OF
these things" my father said. I'VE
S' I'd always hoped 1t would come
ce pass, but never thought 1t would
In lust that way. 1t seems that 81
had written him a letter two yea
- ago, when he returned, and he -four
it, unopened, yesterday evenin
on among a lot Of old papers that his I
iss ther left"
ho The next morning met Ste
o Marks and he caught me by the Wrii
- what do you thinkT' he exclaime
hu Indignantly. Sylvia Temple has Ju
e confessed that those letters neV
no reached them at all"
'3O what? Why?" 1 shouted.
Because she sneaked back to t
postoffice after we had gone, a
be fshed them out with piece Of sti
am with a fish hook in the end, and tC
If them up-thats why"
'SThen how did 1t happenf' / ask
- I'm blessed If l knew" he
swered, scratching his head, and
'eh that moment who should come ale
ia but Miss Libby herself. She look
or ten years younger, and she smiled
Mr. prettily she gave me quite scare
and $50 you boys know all about II
see" she said, when we blurted
our congratulations. "T can't begin
arv tell you how happy 1 am and-an'
10 well. guess I've been a pretty crabl
:. sort Of woman for a long time.
new / want you all to come into
garden this afternoon and pick
the many pears as you can carry aw
'urt They're just about ripe.
for Well. you could have knocked
/ in down with a feather, for had