St. Tammany farmer., 1922-02-11
RAMSEY
Milholldnd
BY
Booth Harrington
2
Illustrations by
lrwin Myers
Copyright by Doubleday, Page & co.
(Continued from page 81

NA1AONe~0
by the feet of the audience. The wa
ter, consequently, was but brownly
translucent and revealed its secrets re-
luctantly; nevertheless certain dim lit
tie shapes had been observed to move
within it. and were still there. Ram
sey failed to see them at first.
"Where's any ole fsh?' he inquired,
scornfully.
"Look !" whispered the girl who
stood nearest to Ramsey. She point
ed. "Theres one. Right down there
by Willis hook. Don't you see himT'
Ramsey was impressed enough to
whisper. us there7 don't see him.
I can't"
The girl came closer to him and, the
better to show him, leaned out over
the edge Of the bank and, for safety In
maintaining her balance, rested her
left hand upon his shoulder while she
pointed with her right. Thereupon
something happened to Ramsey. This
touch upon his shoulder was almost
nothing, and he had never taken the
slightest interest In Milla Rust Ito
whom that small warm hand belonged)
though she was the class beauty, and
long established in the Office Now, all
at once, a peculiar and heretofore en-
tirely unfamiliar sensation suddenly
became important In the upper part Of
his chest. For moment he held his
breath, an involuntary action-he
seemed to be standing In a shower Of
flowers. .M..#" ...
"Don't you see it, Ramsey?" Milla
whispered. Its great big one.
Why, it must be as long as-as your
shoe! Look"
Ramsey saw nothing but the thick
round curl on Milla's shoulder. That
curl was shot with dazzling ibers Of
sunshine. He seemed to be trembling.
II don't see It," he murmured husk-
lily, afraid that she might remove her
hand. II can't see any fish, Milla"
She leaned farther out over the
bank. "Why, there, goosie!" she whts-
pered. fright there"
II can't see it."
She leaned still further, bending
down to point. ''Why, right th-''
At this moment she removed her
hand from his shoulder, though unwill-
ingly. She clutched at him, in fact,
but without avail. She had been too
amiable
A loud shrek was uttered by throats
ADLER to vocalfze, Just then, than Milla's,
for in her great surprise she said moth
ing whatever-the shrek came from
the other girls as Milla left the crest Of
the overhanging bank and almost hor-
izontally disappeared into the brown
water. There was tumu1tuous splash,
and then of Milla Rust and her we'll
known beautifulness there was moth
ing visible In the superficial world, nor
upon the surface Of that creek. The
vanishment was total.
"Save her!'
Several girls afterward admitted
having used this expression, and little
Miss Floy Williams, the youngest and
smallest member Of the class, was
unable to deny that she had said, "Oh,
Godl" Nothing could have been more
natural and the matter need not have
been brought before her with such in
sistence and frequency, during the two
remaining years Of her undergraduate
career.
Ramsey was one Of those who heard
this exclamation, later so famous, and
perhaps 1t was what reused him to
heroism. He dived from the bank,
headlong, and the strange thought in
his mind was Il guess this'll show
Dora Yocum" He should have been
thinking Of Milla, OF course, at such
time, particularly after the little
enchantment just laid upon him by
Mf1la's touch and Mllla's curls; and
he knew well enough that Miss Yocum
was not among the spectators. She
was half a mile away, as it happened.
gathering botanical specimens" with
one Of the teachers-which was her
idea Of what to do at picnic!
Ramsey struck the water hard, and
In the same instant struck something
else harder. Wesley Bender's bundle
Of books had given him no such shock
as he received now, and If the creek
bottom had not been Of mud, Just
there, the top of his young head might
have declined the strain. Half stunned.
choking, spluttering, he somehow foun-
dered to his feet; and when he could
get his eyes little cleared Of water
he found himself wavering face to face
with blurred vision OF Milla Rust,
She had risen up out Of the pool and
stood knee deep, like lovely drenched
figure in fountain.
Upon the bank above them, Willis
Parker was jumping up and down,
gesticulating and shouting fercely.
"Now guess you're satisfied our
t1shin' is spoilt! Why'n't you listen
me? I told you 1t wasn't more'n three
foot deep! I and Heinie waded all
over this creek gettin' our bait. You're
pretty sight!'
OF Milla he spoke unwitttngly the
literal truth. Even with her hair thus
wild and sodden, Milla rose from i'm
mersion blushing and prettier than
ever; and she was prettiest Of all
when she stretched out her hand help
lessly to Ramsey and he led her up
out Of the waters. They had plenty Of
assistance to scramble to the top OF
the bank, and there Milla was sur
rounded and borne away with a great
and tumult Ramsey sat