Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-26
THIS AND THAT


with that extra solemnity which seems
to be a matter of course at Summer re-
sorts. he was the enthusiastic recipient
of It,
Truly she was a beautiful girl. Balti-
more girls. some say are the pretttest
In the United States. bur however that
may be, there was no doubling the good
looks of Kathryn. AS with most women,
however her type did not make a uni
versnl appeal, which Is perhaps lucky
for women, and certainly 1t Is for men.
Gearshift had quite case" before q
week was up Cases arc easily worked
up at the seashore, as every one knows,
and when one is only 10 years old they
come as a matter of course.
It was not until several weeks later
that voting Henry Gearshift realized
Just why 1t was that the beautiful and
dashing Kathryn permitted him to be
her perpetual escort. It was a plain
case of quarrel with her "Steady"--She
made use of an ancient and we'll known
trick of lovelorn ladies, selecting VIC
tim with whom to make the other
jealous.
The realization by Gearshift Of this
innocent maneuver. of which he was
the central factor in one sense at least,
made not whit bit of difference in
his attitude. He insisted on writing
poetry to his love, and solemnly mail
ing it to her at the desk, where she
would receive 1t. AS she read, smiles
dimpling those sunburnt checks, Gear
shift got great deal of pleasure out
of sitting solemniy in the easiest chair
in the hotel, as was his won't, and re-
viewing the proceedings.
We are now come to the turning
point in the life of Henry Gearshift, or
at least so he believes. It was to be
the night upon which he decided that
| women, no matter who they are or what
they do, are at heart angels.
Surely that would be a solemn night
in the life of any young man. In retro
spect one thinks 1t ought to have been
decorated with stars and strange glearn-
ing lights, but 1t was just an ordinary
night at the seashore when the hotel
was deserted for some event or other
down the boardwalk.
There was no halo around anybody.
not even around the pretty head OF
Kathryn, who implored Gearshift to
"join the party" He would not. He
was sleepy, he said, and would sit on
the porch until they all came back
again. Even Kathryn could not induce
him to go.
Sleepy lovers being entirely out of
place, Kathryn left him, and after she
was gone he roamed around the now
deserted hotel. sitting for space on the
porch. listening to the roar of the surf,
then going indoors to read for the fifth
time the volume of Dickens which some
departed guest had left on the piano.
There was a coy corner of from the
main path of guest travel. 1t was upon
/ this at last that Henry Gearshift curled
himself up for sleep, The cushions
were of green, old and faded They
snelled of seaweed. He put his head
down, and before long he was engulfed
In that deep, dreamless sleep that the
young and healthy know beside the sea.
His next realization was simply OF
something exquisite bending over him.
He blinked Two bright eyes we're look
ing into his. A face resolved itself out
of awakening. A smile of tenderness.
like that of mother for child: a
touch of capable, brown hand: a
breath of salt air and perfume.
Wake up, Henry" said Kathryn.
That was all there was to 1t. Yet
somehow from that smile at awakening
Henry Gearshift got an ideal. Do not
ask us how he did 1t. Men are absurd
creatures at best and impossible at
their worst Their ahsurdity. however,
often carries great deal of certainty.