The herald., 1921-04-21
LIL.ACS
By NELLIE A. FAIRBANKS.
~~oooo % % oc % % q
q 1921. by Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate

Stubby brush broom to MS Weh-"on
suit, then stopped for moment lo
gaze out across the great green helue'
For l6 years, weather permitting
/ Bill had watched and loved TINS time
of day. when the sun was casting lts
/ last slanting rays.
/ Tonight he was leaving the home he
/ loved so well and the man VINO hau
/ shared his home and with whom he
had worked for 16 years. mat was
the hard part of going. Something
that looked suspiciOusly like tears
welled up in his honest blue eyes, anu
he gazed for minute at the man at
the sink, doing up the supper dishes.
As q rule this man was laxative, out
tonight he was strangely silent.
The nrduous task of making an old
suit look something like new was final
ly completed and Bill stepped out on
the little platform that served as
piazza. He looked sadly at the two
empty arm chairs.
AT the end of two days journey
l will be with Marcia again, ana
once more he could see the little white
clad figure as he left her that last
evening Again he could hear the
soft sobbing as she begged him not
to be away long, and Bill held her
close as he whispered:
"When have made the little fortune
| have dreamed of, then l Will come
back to you. And when l do come
. no N
just like it is today"
The first few weeks had been I'M
bearable to Bill; then as the months
and years passed he fell into that
rut of being perfectly satisfied WIN
working hard all day and spending
the long evenings with his faithful
companion and his pipe.
His little pile of money grew big
ger each year until he ut last decided
!, II was time to go back to the old home
and Marcia. His heart beat faster
as he pictured the little vision in white,
and he sighed happily as he again
entered the little cottage. But MS
spirits dropped when he beheld Jim
sitting with his head resting in his
two hands, a picture of despair. Go
ing over, he placed his hand on Jim's
shoulder and said:
We've spent some very happy years
here, old scout, but now l must be
70 going back to Marcia. 1 wish you
could see her, Jim-so small, with
wavy tresses and
YES, but 16 years makes an awful
difference, old man." Jim answered.
"Yes, yes" Bill murmured, half abb
sently; lin some people, but not Mar
cia"
At last the time came when the
comrades parted. Jim drove Bill over
the two miles TO the railroad station,
and they silently pressed each others
hand, for neither could speak just
then.
Jim drove back to the lonely cot
. tage, seated himself in his arm chair
beside the vacant one, and when the
\ big full moon arose its beams fell on
one lonely figure. and an empty chair
In the meantime the train sped Oh
towards Bills old home and Marcia
His journey ended at noon two days
later, but rs Bill felt terribly roman
tic, he waited until the sun was set
Re ting, then Marcia must see him frs
n by the lilac bush near her door. A:
70 he neared the house he wished he hat
" kept corresponding all these years
IN but then he felt sure Marcia love,
n him enough to watch and wait TO
lie him even though it was sixteen years
#. He was almost at the gate when
~ sudden fear took possession of him
a. Things did not look just right. Wha
pr If Marcia had gone away, or had died
n but no, he must put such thought
I'd away At the gate piercing scream
of reached his ear-just as he was b.
as the lilac tree, where Marcia must Sc
C. him first-and two dirty-faced boy
Ri came rushing around the corner of tn
RI house. the larger one finally overtab
he ing the other, and they immediatel
ne started a fist fight.
n The door of the house opened quick
ly, and q woman, one who would ca:
lily tip the scales at two hundred, al
peared in soiled Bingham dres
- sleeves TOlleu 10 UeT elDONS, tAIiDl
~ ing q pair of fat red arms thickly COY
20 cred with white suds, and the equal
red face showed plainly she had jus
'o' emerged from the family washtub.
IA Bill rubbed his eyes. and locke
oh again. There might just have bee
a. an ordinary double chin attached
~ that face, but Bill could swear he sa
-. four. He also noticed the thin, ha
oh gray locks, twisted into little han
ha knot at the back Of her head. Crusl
-, ing the innocent lilac where he had
;, few moments before So romanticai
placed his hand, he stepped back Ii
- tie farther
There was no miStaking. The ey'
proved it was Marcia, and If the
was the least bit OF doubt left In
\ mind, it disappeared when man
"a overalls brushed past him and call'
zS out, Hurry up and get my Dime
f# Marcia"
f And Marcia was just starting ba
$A for the kitchen when she espied Z
$A man by the lilac bush. Raising
&z voice, she called out loudly:
k3l aCot auoy from tbau1 lilaPS 0r