The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1921-12-23


because she knows the news will leak
out here and there, in confidence, lit
tie by little; so by the time she gets
home they'll all have been through
/ their first spasms, and after that she
hopes they'll just send her some for
/ giving flowers and greet her with
] manly handclasps-an get ready to
\ usher at the wedding!"
Well" said Mr.. Atwater, I'm
afraid you're right. 1t does seem
rather like Julia to stay away till the
! first of the worst is over. I'm really
sorry for some Of her love-lorners.
l suppose 1t will get whispered about,
and they'll hear it; and there are
some of the poor things that might
take it pretty hard"
Take it pretty hard y" she echoed
loudly. There's one of 'em, at least,
who viii just merely lose his reason -
(Which one?"
Noble Dill"
At this. the slender form of Flor
ence underwent a spasmodfc seizure,
in her chair but as the fit was short
and also noiseless, it passed without
being noticed.
YES" said Mr.. Atwater, thought
fully. 81 suppose he Will"
"He certainly Will" Mrs. Atwater
declared. Mobiles mother told me
last week that he'd gotten so he
was just as liable to drop fountain
pen in his coffee as a lump Of sugar;
and when any one speaks to him he
either doesn't know it. or else jumps.
When he says anything, himself. she
says they can scarcely ever make out
what he's talking about. He was try
ing enough before Julia went away
but since she's been gone Mrs. Dill
says he's like nothing In her expert
ence. She says he doesn't inherit it;
Mr.. Din wasn't anything like this
about her"
Mr.. Atwater smiled family. Mrs.
Dill wasn't anything like Julia"
NO" said his wife "She was
quite a sensible girl. I'd hate to be
in her place, now, though, when she
tells Noble about thisl"
"How can Mrs. Dill tell him, since
she doesn't know it herseIf?"
"WelI-perhaps she ought to know
it. so that she could tell him. Some
body ought to tell him, and it ought
to be done with the greatest tact. 1t
ought to be broken to him with the
most delicate care and sympathy, or
the consequences"
Nobody could foreten the conse-
quences." her husband Interrupted
mo matter how tactfully it's broken
to Noble"
NO." she said, 81 suppose that's
true. I think he's likely to lose his
reason unless it is done very tactful-
ly. though"
"Do you think we really ought TO
tell Mrs. Dill. Mollie? I mean, seri-
ousIy: Do you?"
For some moments she considered
his questions then aswered, "No. It's
possible we'd be following a Christian
course in doing it but still we're rath-
er bound not to speak of it outside the
family. and when it does get outside
the family l think we'd better not be
the ones responsible-espe since
ii might easily be traced to us. Il
think it's usually better to keep out
of things when there's any doubt"
Eyes" he said, meditating. 81 new
err knew any harm to come off peoples
sticking to their own affairs"
But as he and his wife became ST.
lent for a time, musing in the fire
light, their daughters special convic-
tions were far from coinciding with
theirs, although she, likewise. was ST.
lent-a strangeness in her which they
should have observed. But so far
were they from true comprehension
of her. they were unaware that she
had more than a casual, young-cou-
sinly interest i'm Julia Atwater's en-
gagement and in those possible con-
sequences to Noble Dill which they
had sketched with some intentional |
exaggeration, and decidedly without |
the staggering seriousness attributed |
to their predictions by their daughter. |
They did not even notice her express |
sion when Mr.. Atwater snapped on |
the light. in order TO read. and she |
went quietly out of the library and up |
to her own room.
On the floor. near her bed. where |
Patty Fairchild had left her coat and |
hat, Florence made her second dis
covery. Two small, folded slips of /
paper lay there. dropped by Miss Fair
child when she put on her coat in the /
room. They were the re-
plies to Patty's whispered questions, |
in the game on the steps-the pledged /
Truth. written by Henry Rooter and /
Atwater on their sacred words /
and honors. The infatuated pair had
either overestimated Patty's caution,
or else each had thought she would |
so prize his little missive that she
would treasure it in a tender safety. /
perhaps pinned upon her blouse Cat |
the first opportunity over the heart
1t is positively safe to say that neither
Of the two veracities would ever have
been set upon paper had Herbert and
Henry any foreshadowing that Patty
might be careless; and the partners
would have been seized with the ut
most horror could they have conceived
the possibility of their trustful mes-
sages ever falling into the hands of
the relentless creature who now, with
out an instant's honorable hesitation,
unfoided and read them.
"Yes. If / got 10 tell the truth. I
know I have got pretty eyes," Herbert
had unfortunately written. 81 am glad
you think SO. too. Patty because your
n 1