The Winslow mail., 1921-06-03
Over the
Hedge
GA<D
BY MILDRED WHITE
ght. 1919. by Western Newspaper Union.)

|
Rosemary stood on her toes and tried
to peep over tie hedge. But as Rose.
mary was small and the hedge high,
she did not succeed
Rosemary had grown up with a pro-
pensity to see the other side of things,
and seeing" had sometimes led her
into difficulty. 1t was because she
had yearned to know whether Rob Full
some could continue true to herself I'M
der alluring circumstances, that she
had invited the fascinating Bess Wilder
to visit at her home and be much in
Rob's company. And when later, Bess
had departed, 1t was evident that Rob's
affection had failed to withstand the
test, for he had followed to the home
of Bess as often and as soon as Oppor-
tunity permitted. Rosemary promptly
returning his gifts had fancied for
time that her own heart was broken
while her unsympathetic family dryly
suggested visit to the home of Aunt
Ellen. And it was in the village where
Aunt Ellen resided that Rosemary
the impossible hedge.
Aunt Ellen, in her various recitals
Of village life, had merely mentioned
the place as old Colonel Hunters.
Rosemary, in the excitement of her
quest, forgot the sorrow which had
brought her hither, forgot, in fact, all
rules of convention, and climbing high
upon the garden gate, bent over low
to push back it's rusty iron bolt. Unin-
vfted, she intended to enter the closed
garden, and to acquaint herself with
it's secret
AS the bolt yielded, the gate swing
ing inward threatened to make her
lose her balance; but nimbly Rose
mary alighted-and at the very feet of
the PROSTATE figure of man. For a
moment she drew back fearfully, for
the man resting upon blanket and pill
low looked awesome in his white wrap
pings. His face, too, was CHASTITY
white beneath the bandage which
bound his head.
/ The mans eyes gave her no welcome
as she looked down upon him, and fret
fully he asked:
"Tow did you get in?'
Rosemary biushed guiltily.
"Over the gate," she answered.
"My orders were that people should
be barred out" said the young man,
81 prefer to do my suffering-in 81
lence."
Rosemary's assurance came back to
her.
"But don't you think" she asked
''that one suffers more-that way? l
mean," she hastened to add, "that 1t
| is much better to have ones atten-
ton diverted from sorrow or suffering
If only for time"
The man stared up at her, then wryly
smiled.
"You are certainly diverting," he
said. "For FIVE minutes I watched
your burglarliks experiments with my
gate lock, and your easy descent over
my no trespassing' sign, only to find
that you have come to give me adj
vice in the end. Well, when fellow
can't move his leg and his head Is
banged up generally, just what mode
of diversion would you adviser
"First" Rosemary calmly suggested.
ut might help you to tell some one all
about it,"
Nothing to tell,' the man answered
crisply. "War-that's ALL, Made them
let me come back to the old home here
to recuperate. Have the best Of care
but everything and everybody seems
to get on my nerves. So I sent 'em
all away, and lie here looking up al
the sky. It's just a mater Of time
before I'll be all right, the doctors say
as if time isn't the hardest thing
helpless man can bear"
Rosemary nodded Understandings
81 know" she said, "it's wanting
to get on the other side of the wall
that makes the time so long. And
while you've been talking I've been
thinking that perhaps l could help you
to make the time pass. | know of
many original ways to entertain an in.
valid and"
"Original, all right, I'll bet,' chuckfed
| TIE SOluloT. ludl Tic III 81 llIut, ne
said suddenly, that I've come near to
a laugh in months"
II know, then" Rosemary said de-
Ilghtedly, "why l had to see the other
side Of this hedge" And then, seated
upon the grass before him, she told
the amused man Of her old curious
propensity and the sorrow to which 1t
had led.
But strangely enough, like Rose
marys family, the invalid refused to
view her sorrow seriously.
"In cheering me along" he said,
"you may help to divert your own sad
heart. l think you had better come
again tomorrow"
1t was an eager Rosemary who later
burst in upon Aunt Ellen.
"You never told me-" she accused,
"that the towns war hero-who had
won that much-talked-of medal