Omaha daily bee., 1922-05-14
LOVE AND LEARN
By PETER CLARK MACFARLANE

mot to speak Of" Joe dissembled.
with . play upon his words.
well, wasn't that just too loyelyi
II seems as II everything Is turning
out wonderfully for us. doesn't M.
"For usw Joseph Hancock. grim In
his scared heart. continuing to study
his. little type beside him as II he
were q scientist and she were some
very gaudy little new special OF but
terily. noticed that she said, "ior u.s."
and speeulated sardonicaliy upon jus.
what she might mean by these two
last words.
"Seen much OF Franklin la,elyl"
he inquired. with calculation in the
question and none whatever in the
timbre of its utteranee.
"Not since night before last" Leila
answered In aggrieved tones and with
the appearance OF = cloud upon her
brow. wasn't Il cheap OF himl He
didn't ring up or anything about 60
ing to the meet Why. II |, hadn't
been for you. Joe, ! might have been
moping there in that old attic all
day long. o, well!" and she shrugged
her shoulders, III he wants TO sulk
he can sulk. Great big baby like
that getting the sulks abou,-about
something"
Joe felt something knock dismal
ly inside OF him. which should have
warned him that his love was not so
dead after all: but il did not Yes.
he perceived gioomily. she and fa,
were engaged all right; the girls
manner told him that; but since. dur
ing an entire period Of thiriy-six
hours beyond the moment OF his VIC
tory. Fat had mysteriously failed 10
press his attentions. the natural re-
suit was that the lady in the case
was miffed, and-little poaehcr!-she
was willing. therefore. TO accept more
favors from Joe. Knowing what he
knew, Joe felt a certain sense OF re-
sponsibility for Fats failure to ap-
pear, but was not thereby moved to
enter any defense for the absentee.
But a new interest had by this time
seized upon the volatile girl, as she
noted with enthusiasm the pennants
with which Joe had dressed the cor
ners OF the car, and the packages Of
confetti and serpentine on the front
seat. for use at the pavilion in the
afternoon.
"Joe! You're a dear!' she cx-
claimed impulsively, and clasped the
nearest of his hands and shook it.
"Why-why-your palms are all cal
loused," she discovered with amaze
ment. you've. been doing hard work
manual labor"
Joe threw up his hands and
laughed at the preposterous idea; but
this was mainly a maneuver to get
one of them away from her clasp.
He could not bear her seemingly in
nccent. comradedly touch. Perhaps
this was because. as the day ad-
vanced, he lost his extremely analy-
tical viewpoint. His heart began to
covet her again, and he could not be
comradely with another mans treas
ure. Instead of analyzing he began
to find excuses for her. and was even
sadly happy that, although lost to
him. he was nevertheless permitted
to give her day Of pleasure.
At noon they turned in for lunch
con at Eagles Rest. There must
have been a dozen automobiles park
ed in the circle outside the rustic
chalet, with more arriving every
minute, and already 20 odd merry
studies were lunching. For Leila to
learn that Joe had thoughfully tele-
phoned an advance order. and to
have in consequence just the cutest
little table for two reserved upon the
vine-grown piazza at Just the very
best spot for overlooking the entire
gay scene, was absolutely thrilling.
Besides tho sheer joy of the ex-
perience, it ministered greatly to
Lela's feeling of self respect to find
herself looked after in this way. And
Joe had done twas doing it. Not
Jack English or Milt Franklin, sons
Of millionaires, but Joe Hancock. the
coop waiter, to whom each single
dollar was at least as large as the
moon at its full. From time to time
the girl found herself looking Joe
over curiously to see what it was in
him that she might have missed no.
ticing before.
As for Joe-he was not studying
the girl any more. A little under
her spell once again, he was just no.
ticing things in her character with
the interest Of reappraisa1 that
was rather rueful. At the track
meet, for instance, he noticed her
loyalty to Pioneer. her outbursts of
joy when a Pioneer man won, her
little gasps of pain when he was
beaten, her moments of tense anxiety
and extreme excitab1eness when the
issue hung in the balance. She was
only a freshie, and yet no senior in
all that crowd lived the anguished
joy and despair of that contest more
fully than she. To q man who loves
his college, such an attitude is most
commendable.
"Ow shrieked Leila at the last,
jumping up and down frantically.
Pioneer has won! Pioneer has wonl
Joe. we have got the ragr
She seized her escort and shook
him violently in the excess of her
joy. Nothing could restrain her. She
rushed pellmell down the tiers and
into The nrncession of thA Pioneer |