Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1935-10-03
LIE HAD, Jud Draper decided ami.

And for meeting any ana all sltualiohs
with the literally and enthusiastically ac-
cented announcement that 1--WE moost
approshe this busy-ness of leeving with
coo-rash, with deeg-neety an with hu-
more!"
Which was, Jud was beginning to be-
leve, not formula to be sneezed at.
AS he made the turn by Washington's
! statue he made out in his mind list
| of items to be treated by the doctors
nostrums. First he would have to get
| that leg into serviceable shape. Then
| he would have to see what handsprings
| his office had taken in his absence.
And then he saw the girl.
He saw her and stopped. There
| wasn't much of her but what there was
had lovely brown hair and small, hap
| py mouth. She was sitting on one of
the benches watching what were pig
cons or doves, or perhaps both. Jud
didn't know. All he knew was that he
couldn't stand there watching her for
ever. Much as he would have liked to.
| He hurried on, and after he passed
her, he knew something else. Knew it
as surely as he knew that he was Jud
Draper and that he had bum leg. He
knew that no matter how far he went
or how many lifetimes he spent GO
ing there, he would never see anyone
half as lovely as she!
Which was, of course, ridiculous.
You might, in the course of events, see
pretty girl, even an uncommonly pref
ty girl on a park bench. And yon
might, perhaps, decide that she'd be ex-
/ ceptionally swell company on a dance
floor or around the festive bowl or on
the afterdeck of a yacht But de-
cision like that didn't throw dynamite
into your heartbeat. 1t didn't max"
you want to- pull up trees and pusn
over buildings. And that was what
Jud felt IKE doing. Game leg, cane
and all.
He could, he knew. do the conven-
tional thing. He could walk right up
to the girl and mutter, II beg your par
don, but didn't we meet at" and he
would garble the last word into an
unrecognizable hash. To which, If JUL
were any judge of women. the girl
would say, ION your way, John Silver
on your way!"
And quite right, too. But that didn't
butter any toast. And there would be
no point in attempting to follow her.
find out where she lived. The bum leg
couldn't be depended on for that sort
of effort. Suddenly he remembered the
doctor and his counsel concerning 'coo-
rash, deeg-neety an hu-more." He
turned and went back towards the girl.
This time he didn't stop and look at
her. But apparently he didn't pay as
much attention to his walking as he
should have. For when he was jus:
abreast of her. the heel Of his cane
slipped from the board and landed in a
puddle sending a fine spray of muddy
water at the bench and at the girl.
"Ohw she exclaimed, and covered
her face with her hands. Instantly
Jud's good knee was supporting him
on the bench beside her and he was
taking over the job Of holding her head
and tenderly demanding, "WhereT'
The girl hesitated and then she said,
II think it's this one" And she point
ed to her left eye.
Expertly Jud whipped clean hand.
kerchief from the pocket of his coat.
"Just second" he promised her con-
fidently. "and everything will be under
control" But 1t took more than a Sec
ond before Jud poked his handkerchief
back into place and twisted into a more
conventional position on the bench.
She was lovelier than he had thought.
I'm glad" he told her. II was wor-
ried. A thing like that" he informed
her profoundly, "can be very serious"
The girl nodded. II know" she
agreed. my grandmother caught a
cinder in her eye on her first train trip.
And sixty-four years later she died in
bed"
When they had finished laughing, Jud
said, T'm Jud Draper"
"Not," the girl demanded, sud Ora
per of the q. S. AT"
Jud bowed. "The very same" he
told her simply.
The girl held out her hand. "Im
Carolyn Hughes"
"Haryuh, Carolyn" said Jud.
"Haryuh, JUDI" said Carolyn.
"A little worried" he admitted. "Td
thought Of mentioning lunch"
"And," Carolyn inquired, something
stands in the way?"
"Yes," he confessed. He reached for
his stick and stood up. "a guilty con.
science" he informed her. "Tve got
hunch-no, that isn't rIght-Pve got
conviction that you and are going to
see lot more Of each other. And
don't want to start off on the wrong
foot" He paused uneasily and then he
blurted, Carolyn, that wasn't any ac-
cident splashed that mud in your
eye on purposew
Carolyn smiled and stood up. ~
know" she told him as she linked her
| orun In HE ttT Gno,u T,,A 49, Il