Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1928-08-24
MARY
AND HER
PAL
OAOSO%OS-<<oSDs-O-s-S
&c BY D. J walshD

clearer vision She had re
moved her hat and her gray hair lay
close about her thin. plain, gentle
face Having cleaned her spectacles
she put them on and rummaged In
her bag for her crochet work. Nothing
like crochet work to steady her nerves
after what had happened
Mary sighed as she picked out the
clOyer-leaI pattern She had intended
to give the completed strip Of edGinG
to Genevieye, but. land sakes. Gene
We've didn't wear garments that took
kindly to homemade trimming SILK all
the way through. that was GCneyieye's
| slogan. II had made a big though not
the biggest. difference between her and
her mOtherih-law
-Four whole days nusi elapse before
| she reached home The home. Four
lonely uncompanioned days with
memory nagGng at her And some
thing worse than memory-the thing
that Doctor McAtee had told her be-
! fnre she went out West.
Sn,lchody had paused beside her.
| She lifted her eyes from her work and
| the man smiled down at her. He was
Young biz. full of vigor. Brown Of
skin with gray eyes that looked deep
| into ones consciousness.
AN aloneF' he asked Mary nod
ded $50 am |. And there isn't a soul
on this train that wants to pal with
| me-"
That's queer, Mary said But |
guess you won't lind anything very
| entertaining about IN old woman like
| me"
Come out on the observation plat
, foluL he said. "fhcrc's no one out
there now and we can have good
talk"
Mary went, crochet work in hand.
1t was pleasant In the open air.
| Thanks to Genevieve she was travel
| ing de luxe But then, she sighed
again Genevieve would have done
anything to get rid Of her This man
she turned her attention to him. Ills
voice had pleasant sound At first
she was more Interested In his tone
than in what he was saying
They went In TO lunch together.
Mary had no reservation; he had He
commanded courtesy without appear
ing to do so They Dick. Smlthed 1t
she had learned that word recently
She paid for her own toast, tea and
egg. 1t tasted better because he sat
opposite.
Next morning they breakfasted to
gether. Afterward when the train
stopped he made. her go out will
him on the platform for a marathon
She chung to his arm and tried 4
step out the way he did. The colol
came to her face
After lunch when he had gone into
the smoker for a plpeful of tobacco
the older Of two yOungish women whC
had been watching Mary and her pick
up approached her.
81 am Miss Bell said the woman
81 advise you to look out for tina
bounder. He's the sort that preys OF
unsuspecting old ladies'"
Mary scratched her nose with tn,
crochet hook and looked at Miss Bell
Guess you're mistaken" she salt
quietly. TITS none of your bushes
anyway"
Miss Bell flushed angrily.
81 hate to see you bamboozled," sh
said. "IIe tired to scrap Acquaintance
with me and my sister and we froz
him. So did everybody else he spok
to- The idea Breezing through a ca
that way and talking boldly to folks
You're the only person who fell 70
him."
Mary studied the clover leaf so in
tently that the woman was obliged t
withdraw.
Good landw she thought. II mus
look like | had valuables about m
somewhere. But | wasn't going to tel
her that Pye got only nineteen do
lars besides my ticket" She smiled
! really amused.
He came back with a box of candy
Such pretty box, all done up in shin
stuff. She hated to open II as he n
quested.
ITS good for you" he said. mi
bic away" Then he bent close. "AnN
body warned you against me YETI" h
asked, with a vibration of laughte
( in his deep voice. Mary looked en-
, barrassed. "Oh, see what's going OF
And | enjoy ii. Once In n while | d
run up against bunch like what
on this train. Lucky to find n senslbl
body like you, Pal"
There was something stimulating (
his presence. Mary didn't care who q
what he was; she liked hin Iii
name was unknown to aer she ha
not told him her name But name
didn't matter You didn't pick nowe
for the name That was one of IN
many things he said which she fcl
she must treasure In her heart as Ion
as-she lived.
The third day she said suddenly
Theron wasn't particle like you.
Wasn't he?" returned Pal. Mayh
he was good deal better than me.
He spoke us If he knew all abou
Theron
She went on to tell him abou
Theron, her only child lie wOuldn'
look AZ one of the hometown girl.
hut when Gcnevieye came to visit he
aunt nothing would do but he mus
marry her lie had thrown up every
thing and followed her back to he
home Mary never saw him again; SCI
dom heard from him lie had take
| just about all the money thcN bot
had {" sci up In business But the hus
NJ