The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1921-01-22
Illustrated by Lucius Wolcott Hitchcock.

brow. and her l.px moved, silently but
with raptdlty. as il she repeated to her
self something Of almost tragic import.
Flo-eucc had recently read Il newspaper
account Of the earlier struggles of =
now successful actress: how. as Il girl.
this uumiStakahlc genius went about
the streets repeating the lines of Tar!-
Gus roles 10 herSelf--ConStautly rch"ar-
sing. in fact. upon the public thoroGh-
fares. so carried away was by her IN
tended profession and SO determined to
BE- famous. This was what Florence
WAS dong now. except that she was
not rrhearsnG any role in particular
and the words formed by her lips were
neither S"Quential nor consequential, be-
ing. in fact. the followinG: oh. the
darkness. newer. never. never. you
couldn't. he shouldn't. An. mother!
.Whcr" the river swings SO slowly.
All. no." Nevertheless. she WAS doing all
she could for the elderly stranger and
as they came closer, encountered, and
passed on, She had the definite impress
sion that he did indeed take her to be 4
Struggling young actress who would
Someday be famous and then lie
might see her on night of triumph
and recognize her as the girl he had
PASSED on the street. that day. SO long
ago--Bui by this time the episode was
concluded; thc footsteps or him tor
whom she was performing had become
inaudihlr behind her. and she began to
forget HIM: which was as well. since lie
went out OF her life then. and the two
never me; again. The struggling young
actress disappeared. and the previous
derisory SuprrciltousneSS was rcSumd.
II became notably emphasized AS boy
OF her own age emerged 10 her view
from the side yard" OF house at the
next corner.
The boy caught sight of Florence in
plenty of time 10 ahServ" this striking
change in her manner, all TO obviously
produced by her sensations at sight oil
himself: and after staring at her for "A
moment. He allowed his own expression
to become one OF pain. Then he slowly
swung about. as II to return into that
Side-yard ohScurity whence he had come:
making clear by this pantomine that he
reciprocally found the sight Of her In
siderable. In truth. he did: for ne MAS
not only her n"ighbOr but her first couS-
In as well. and short month Older.
though taller than ShC---tIl beyond has
years taller that need be in fact, ana
still in kniCkrrboCkcrS However, his
parents may not have hccn mistaken in
the matter. for il was plain that he
looked as we'll IN kuickcrbUckrrS as he
could have looked in anything He had
no visible beauty. though ~ course II
was possible u hope for him that by the
time h. reached his manhood he would
be more tightly put together than he
cd NJ nd indeed 10
appeared to have some consciousness OF
insecurity in the fusteningS Of his menu
bers. for il was HIS habit observable
even now as he turned to avoid Miss
Atwatcr) to haul at himself. TO sag anC
hitch about inside his clothes. and TO
corksCrrw his neck against the swath-
ing OF his collar. And yet there were
times. as the most afTcctionate of his
aunts had remarked. when. for mo-
ment or so. he appeared to be- almos<
Knowing; and. seeing him walking be-
fore her, she had almost taken him for
n young man: and sometimes ne SAID
something in n settled kind OF way that
was almost adult This fondest aunt
went on to add however. that OF course
the next minute after one OF these
tieetiuG spells ne was sure To be over
,akrn by his moro accustomed moods
and his eye would again glow with the
fundamental aimlessnesS natural to his
years In brief, he was at the age when
he spent most OF his time changing hiS
mind about things, or. rather. when his
mind spent most of it's time changing
him abo+S th!ngS-and this was whaS
happened now.
After turning his back to the hateful
.ss-hs 81 70
Florence at her freshest, he turned
again. came forth from his place or
residence. and. joining her upon the
pavement. walked beside her, accom-
panying her without greeting or In
ouiry. His expression Of pain. indicating
her insufrerableness, had not abated;
neither had her air of being duchess
looking at bugs.
You are a pretty one" ne said: but
his intention was perceived to be FAR In
deed from his words.
"Oh. am |. Mister Atwatcr? Florence
responded. It awfly glad you think
so!"
Il mean about what Henry Rooter said
her cousin explained. Henry Rooter
told me- he made you believe you we're
goir' 10 have grape vine ciimhin' from
grapes with tho seeds in 'em. He says
he scared YOU into tits. and you thought
you'd have to get carpenter TO build
a little arbor so you cold swallow u for
the grape vines to grow on. He says
Florence had become an angry pink
! THAT little Henry Rooter IS the worst
falschooder in this town: and | never
believed a word he said In his life. Any
way, what affairs is IL of yours, Ia
like YOU TO please be so kind and "ollE-
ing for 10 tell me-. Mister Herbert IL
lingswortn Atwater. ECkSquirc?
What afrairs?" Herbert echoed. IN
plaintive satire. What affairs is II
Of mine? That's just the trouble. It's
got 70 be my affairs just because YOU
! got to be my first cousin. My goodness
I didn't have anything TO do with you
being my cousin. did r."
I We'll. I didn't" Florence !nterposcd
! hotly.
That's neither here nor there" said
! Herbert. What | want 10 know is,
how long you goin' TO keep this up"
Keep what up"
II mean. how do you think | Ike
! havin' somebody Xix" Henry Rootcr
! comm round me tellin' what they made
a cousin Of mine believe. and over thtr-
teen years old. Eoin' on fourteen ever
: since about n month ago almost
Florence shouted: "Oh. for good
! ness sakes!" then moderated the vol
! ume but not the intensity OF her tone.
! Kindly reply to this. Whoever asked
| you to come and take 4 walk with me
! today"
: Herbert protested 10 heaven. Why,
| I wouldn't take walk with you. OF my
! own free will unless I had To be killed.
wouldn't take walk with you Il
! every policeman IN this town tried ~
} make mo. 7 wouldn't tax" 4 walk with
! YOU II they brought million horses
! and