Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1930-04-25
The Right
People
By JOSEPHINE DUKE

II SNObh 81 AhcAStChAig thC
way OF fun. Her mother was forever
saying to her, "You must not go here.
You must not go there. You are too
pretty" Patsy told herself that only
mothers were so fussy. She looked
forward to the two weeks when she,
alone. would visit her aunt and uncle
at their summer cottage by the lake.
The very first evening of the visit,
a good-looking young man came to
call on Uncle John. Patsy took one
peep at him through the door; and
then ran In haste for Aunt Ellen. But
Aunt Ellen frOwned formidably, shook
her head decidedly, said: Dear me,
you must not meet him. You are too
pretty. 1t is very important to intro
duce young girls to the right people"
Patsy began TO wonder whether
there were any right people at the
lake. She had been there two whole
days. and she had not yet met soul.
Crestfallen. she snatched pen, a
sheet of paper. and an ink bottle.
"Dearest Mother -" she wrote.
'Won't you send for me at once-any
excuse that doesn't sound tishy.
can't endure II here minute longer"
While she was sealing the envelope,
Aunt Ellen's ample figure appeared
in the doorway. IF | were you, I'd
take a nap, Patricia. I'm having
friends in for bridge this afternoon,
and told Mrs. Warrington to bring
along her brother. He's very clever
working on a book-just the sort of
person I'd like to have you know"
"Oh snakes" thought Patsy when
her aunt had disappeared. "She's try
ing to palm me off on some old. fat,
bald-headed, sallow-faced author"
As she walked along the cliff above
the lake, Patsy looked out across the
water and found that the scene was
surprisingly pretty. At that particular
spot, the path Rugged the cliff admira-
bly,. Some twenty or thirty feet be-
low, an arm of sand reached out into
the lake. 81 wish ! could climb down
there" thought Patsy. The next in
slant she spied a tier Of steps in q
state of semi-decay. clinging to the
upper portion Of the steep embank-
meDt. She scrambled safely to the
bottom step. slid the rest of the way
down the bank, sat cross legged In
the sand, and meditated on the Spiel
ness of her little adventure. Present
ly she was startled by cracking
noise above her. She looked up just
in time TO see bulky figure in swirl
Of dust come crashing down the preci-
pice. Patsy sprang to her toes and
screamed, and just then an aston
ishingly handsome young man, the
most handsome young man, in fact,
that Patsy had ever seen, landed face
up at her feet.
He blinked, blushed, fought dust
from his eyes and mouth, and said:
Il beg your pardon. seem to have
brought the cliff and steps along with
me-"
Patsy noticed then that the steps
had given away, that they were no
longer steps at all, but merely splin-
tered mass Of rotten lumber.
SLOW on earth shall ever climb
back?" she cried.
II know" apologized the young
man. IL really ought to be shot. I've
let you In for five-mile hike. The
bank is practically unscalable all the
way to Golden Beach," he added.
1t was the shortest and by far the
most thrilling five miles that Patsy
ever walked. Richard Cruse-he told
her his name in the acknowledgement
to be a paragon of all things charm
ing.
Patsy found her way back to Aunt
Ellen's cottage in maze Of delightful
memories. Two thoughts struggled for
supremacy: Would she ever see Rich
ard Cruise again? What would Aunt
Ellen say? Her heart fluttered with
fear. Then, for the first time, she re-
membered that she had not mailed the
letter to her mother. No time for that
now, though. she sthought, as she
slipped into the house.
Patsy's face fairly bloomed that aft
ernoon. For once, she popped into her
mirror with pride. She thought fool
ish things about Richard Cruise and
said to herself: ~ wish he could see
me now instead Of"
Come, Patsy" called Aunt Ellen,
and Patsy went obediently into the
living room. And there. by the door,
stood Richard Cruise, and Aunt Ellen
was not frowning but smiling. Every
thing went wobbly before Patsy's eyes,
even Richard Cruise
But Aunt Ellen's voice rang out,
bell like, clear: patricia, this is Mr..
Cruise. Perhaps he will tell you about
the book that he is writing"
That evening Patricia began anoth-
er letter. dearest Mother This is
a heavenly place. have met the
most thrilling young author. He asked
me to play golf"
NO" she said to herself, "that will
never do" and tore the paper into
scraps. She selected fresh sheet and
this time wrote: dearest Mother
1t is pleasant by the lake, although
Amt Ellen is very very strict She