Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1932-01-22
stk rs y y \ I \ Z ! ! 3
George and the
South Seas NJ
By H. LOUIS RAYBoLD

Il
GEORGE ABBOTT was very much
~ engaged young man. His flancee,
pretty Sarah Makepeace, had her own
loving ways of occupying his eve
nings and his Office hours were fre1 !.
Quently punctuated by telephone calls
arranging to met him for lunch or
and ptown after work on this errand
It. And because George really
loved her and knew In advance what
a capable, thrifty little wife she was
some day going to be to him. he never
thought Of protesting that her cprorr.1
strings were a bit firing.
Never, that is. until that memorable
night when they read aloud to one
another a fascinating story Of the
ever alluring South seas. maa
When George had kissed Sarah good
night three times, he turned slowly
homewards. ThoughtfuIly, too. For
the first time it struck him that there
were distant lands to be seen, distant
seas to be voyaged, distant peoples
to be met-that is, by those who were
free and had the price. .....
He neither was free to go, nor had
the money, as far as that went. Both
he and Sarah, who gave music lessons
in between being engaged to him, were
saving every possible cent towards
a nest egg on which to marry.
When George reached his room, he
found slipped under his door a white
envelope addressed to himself in hand
writing only family familiar. Curious
", he opened it, and read the letter
that was enclosed.
my dear nephew"-so read the
letter.
"Pm not dead yet nor thinking OF
dying. But I'm playing the dead aunt
to my heirs. That is, I'm giving away
now what you'd probably get later,
each one of you. Please spend 1t to
crafty some secret WISH"
Attached to the inner sheet by
wire clip was a folded check for
$1,000.
It is significant that George did not
at once telephone the good news. In
a way, 1t made their marriage an i'm
mediate possibility and surely one
would expect that any engaged young
mans secret desire would lie In that
direction.
On the contrary, several days went
by and still George said nothing to
Sarah of the windfall. II he ap-
peared distract the very next time he
saw her, she gave no outward sign
of noticing the fact.
To tell the truth, George was an
enigma to himself. Here for months
he had been longing to marry Sarah
and now, at the instance Of silly
yarn dealing largely with beating surf
and honey-colored moons and dusky
maidens, he was yearning to take a
little trip all by himself and postpone
settling down for year or two. His
unexpected legacy seemed to render
legitimate this desire, yet how could
he explain to Sarah? -..
The obvious thing to do would be
to get married and then, II he must
blow the money In such way, make
the tourney In Sarah's company. He
loved Sarah, he was insanely jealous
IL Sarah looked sidewlse at anyone
else, and yet-how he wanted this last
mad fling Of irresponsible youth all
by himself!
Suddenly he made up his mind to
get II over with. He opened his
mouth, shut 1t, cleared his throat and
was about to speak when Sarah, lay
ing down her work, leaned forward
and regarded him.
George" she said solemnly, "Tve
something to tell you. It's hard to
say, but-well, I've changed my mind
about getting married. feel-well,
before settle down, I'd like to go
somewhere, do something, see some
body" .t
"See somebody" echoed George,
feeling as IL the bottom of things were
falling out
"Yes," nodded Sarah, and into her
eyes came faraway ecstatic express
sion. Sometimes I dream of distant
lands where the off-shore surf beats
on the coral reefs, where honey-colored
HlOODS ElSb Oul VI NOANCl o1Nhht I'M
strong, bronzed men in spotless suits,
white helmets and Victoria crosses on
their chests"
"Sarah" by this time George had
risen. Then, with an effort to swal-
low his Indignation, "Just how would
you do all this2" he asked. .
"Well," said Sarah, 1--WE nearly n
thousand dollars 1 was saving towards
the house and"
'And you'd use thatw
"Perhaps when I come back" said
Sarah gently, "Tll not mind marrying
you. But frst-oh, want one last
mad flngw Rising, she threw her
slender arms towards the ceiling.
Then she found herself seized and
her arms falling, fell on Georges
shoulders.
SARAH" he was saying sternly.
Enough Of this nonsenseI I've just
been left $1,000 by an aunt who isn't
dead yet and we are going to be mar
rled at once. Tell me you do love
meW .. ......
SO Sarah told him she did love him.
What she did not tell him was that
any girl knows when her lover has
something on his mind and intuition
plus some guess work will soon help
her discover what II is.
Three weeks later. Georges aunt re.
ceived letter.
Dear Aunt: ...p
your welcome gift made possible o
trip to Niagara falls, a lovely little
blue runabout. and first payment on
ive-room bungalow"
Ca 1881 Mcclure Newspaper syndicat4D
tWNU 1ervioAl