Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1924-12-26
Shot an Arrow Into
the Air
By HAROLD ROWLAND


ERIC LANDOR glanced at the en-
~ closure before reading the letter.
Hello That fool letter of his come
back? Well, what had he expected
For two weeks now he had been busily
denying to himself that he expected
anything from that wild impulse Of
his. You don't get results in this
strange business of life Sy such sim
pie means as writing proposal Of
marriage and dropping 1t into the post
box at the corner The offer Of
chaps heart and hand and bank ac-
count and everything needed little
more warmth than that to get across.
Such dumb proceeding didn't even
deserve an answer. But, by the Great
Jehoiachlm, he'd got an answer-or
something Here 1t was, along with
his proposal chicken come home to
roost. What on earth could it sayf
He read the letter with feelings that
would have done credit to u chameleon
on patchwork quilt.
Dear Mr.. Landor," he read. II
don't know how to justify myself. In
deed, hardly know how to explain
myself. WeA, here goes: l once lived
at 100 Park avenue"
Oh, indeed Was that SO? Eric Ian
dor was not used to being little more
than name" to the people of his
world. He didn't quite like the I'M
plication. But he read on.
at wasn't until l had fished the
torn envelope out Of the waste-basket
that realized what | had done"
He picked the torn envelope up him
self and read the address: Miss Eve
Ign Anstruther, 100 Park avenue, New
York" That seemed all right. Nice
name he thought. Half automatically
he turned over the letter which he had
been reading and looked at the sigma
ture. Peggy Anstruther." Nice name.
too But obviously not the same. Not
even dOtlng mother or a tongue-tled
brother Of two or so could have turned
Evelyn" into peggy" He began to
suspect that the addressee of his i'm.
petuous proposal Of marriage and the
girl who was now returning II were
not one and the same. In pleased en-
joyment Of his detective skill he read
on:
II blushed from head to foot with
the horror Of It, What could dot
| couldn't send the letter back to Its
rightful owner and let her know that
q stranger had read the lovely things
you had written-tO her. But | must
do something. How impatiently you
must be waiting for your answer.
must let you know Immediately why
you had not had 1t. SO here Is your
nice proposal, sadly married by my
alien hand and eye. Pray forgive me.
1t is all that can say, except-may
you be very happy. l know she will"
She signed herself faithfully his, this
lnterloplng Peggy Anstruther. Then
there was a postscript.
He read the letter again, slowly.
Nice letter, he thought. Not even
Evelyn could have written nicer one,
he decided. Indeed, would Evelyn's
have been so nice, he questioned. Any
way, Peggy's letter deserved nice
answer, he concluded. He couldn't let
the poor girl go on blushing from head
to foot for lack of his forgiveness. He
wrote:
Lovely but Fraudulent Recipient Of
My Hearts OutpOurings: am eager
to forgive you, but forgiveness on pa
per Is so cold. May | not do II In per-
oon9 no you drfnL faa ~
He signed himself faithfully hers,
Eric Landor Then he contemplated
with calculating eyes his proposal to
Evelyn. He did not send II forth
again.
Two impatient days brought brief
reply:
"The Ritz. Tuesday, at Ave. shall
wear lllies-of-the-valley-to symbolic
the penitent's white gown. would
carry tall candle, but--you know the
Ritz"
While they waited for the tea he
forgave her. "Would Evelyn forgive
me, tooT she wondered "No one
would forgive you quicker" he said,
and told her what intriguing letters
she wrote. "Nicer than EvelynsT she
asked. "She has never written me
one" he said, and told her what lovely
eyes she had. Nothing like Eve
lyn'sf" she suggested "When ] look
Into yours, there Is no Evelyn" he
said, and asked her to mary him. II
would" she answered straight and
fair, IF there were no Evelyn"
There isn't" he said. II am poor
how II felt to propose to girl. n ]
should propose TO one In person, she
might accept me. / couldn't take the
risk, for there was no girl that loved.
so wrote a proposal to mythical
Evelyn and sent II TO an address where
knew no Evelyn lived thought
then that had learned how II felt to
propose TO a girl. Now know that I
hadn't. VIII you marry meT
"why. yes" she said. "wllI you
light my clgaretteT
II can't" he said In moment. my
hand won't stop Its trembling. You'll
have to ask the waiter"
When the waiter, whose hand was
as steady as a church, had finished his
task, Eric Lander asked her ques-
ton.
"Why did you come to tea with meT
ITO teach you how It felt to propose
to GIRL" she said
"How did you know that | didn't
known he asked.
"From your letter to Evelyn" he
said. "Your hand didn't tremble when
you wrote that"
"How did you know that ! would
propose to your he asked.
"They always do" she said, "wher
I'm pepltent."