The Nevada County picayune., 1922-08-24
ILLUSTRATIONS BY RH.LVINGSTONE.
 %

" casually that the school was to have q slsigh-r1de and supper the next Fri aav afternoon and evening, and that psnl Mayhew had asked me to go with him.
 "A sleigh-ride, supper, and not come home until eveningT cried Mother. And with whom, did you sayY'
 Paul Mayhew," I answered. I still tried to speak casually; at the same time I tried to indicate by voice and manner something of the great honor that had been bestowed upon their daughter.
 Father was impressed-plainly i'm pressed; but not a all in the way had hoped he would be. He gave me | swift, sharp glance; then looked straight at Mother.
 "Humph Paul Mayhew! Yes. I know him." he said grimly. And Pm dreadlng the time when he comes into college next year"
 You mean" Mother hesitated and stopped
 "I mean I don't like the company he keeps-already," nodded Father
 "Then you don't think that Mary Marie" Mother hesitated again, and glanced at me.
 Certainly not" said Father de cidedly
 knew then, of course. that he meant couldn't go on the sleigh ride, even though he hadn't said the words right out I forgot all about being casual and indifferent and matter of course then. I thought only of show Ing them how absolutely necessary 1t was for them to let me 70 on that sleigh ride, unless they wanted my life forevermore hopelessly blighted.
 explained carefully how he was the handsomest, most popular boy in school, and how all the girls were just crazy to be asked to go anywhere with him; and I argued what If Fath- CT had seen him with boys he did not like-then that was all the more req son why nice girls like me when he asked them, should go with him, so as to keep him away from bad boys. And l reminded them again that he was the very handsomest, most popular boy In school and that there wasn't girl I knew who wouldn't be crazy 10 be in my shoes.
 Then I stopped, all out of breath. and I can imagine just how pleading and palpitating I looked.
 l thought Father was going to re- fuse right away, but I saw the glance that Mother threw him-the glance that said, Let me attend to this. dear" I'd seen that glance before. several times, and I knew just what it meant; so I wasn't surprised to see Father shrug his shoulders and turn away as Mother said to me:
 'Very we'll dear I'll think it over and let you know tonight"
 But l was surprised that night to have Mother say I could go, for I'd about given up hope, after all that talk at the breakfast table. And she said something else that surprised me, too. She said she'd like to know Paul Mayhew herself that she always wanted to know the friends of her little girl. And she told me to ask him to call the next evening and play checkers or chess with me.
 Happy? I could scarcely contain myself for joy. And when the next evening came, bringing Paul, and Mother, all prettily dressed as If he were really, truly company, came into the room and talked so beautifully to him. l was even more entranced. To De sure, 1t did bother me little that Paul laughed so much, and so loudly, and that he couldn't seem to find any thing to talk about only himself, and what he was doing, and what he was going to do. Some way, he had never seemed like that at school. And was afraid Mother wouldn't like that.
 All the evening I was watching and listening with her eyes and her ears everything he did, everything he said so wanted Mother to like him so wanted Mother to see how really fine and splendid and noble he was. But that evening-Why couldn't he stop talking about the prizes he'd won, and the big racing car he'd just or dered for next summer7 There was nothing fine and splendid and noble about that. And were his finger nails always so dirty?
 Why, Mother would think
 x1 tr< hn III