The Omaha guide., 1938-01-01
The Maiden's
Choice
BY EDWARD 4. LAWRENCE
g. Mcclure EeH paper Syndicate
NNU Service.

aus reg ~"t HHf on WY EdN
and blifhesome. She WAS. size Just
knew, eNuding gaitY from every
porte. And the bathing costume
helped. It nas grsaa, and Il Hfted
ber diyinely-or her mirror had He'd
and the red cap was sHue and
saucy.
The short night - sand secured
Steps that led from TIE B~eachmere
|halhh0use to the beaeh was no more
difficult Of descent I6ln the RIM of
steps, bHf from ~ fbe attention
she was receiving rom Lcr escorts,
she might hive been descending The
5efth face Of Tire Mafterhorn.
She looked mp ut theE brightly.
SIZE smiled mt Tom E8scom. drug
salesman and |exafhlele and at
afof. Alexander Talbot. specialist
"A r0manfir literature. And she
efel them both. Tom Hascom's
sfmbling iatialty. aud ALEXIS Byron
= centuries and sad brown eyes.
Hut one couldn't. she knew. mar
= two men-not ut The same lime.
Mary Ann SHOOK off her escorts
md ran into the onrushine surf.
Ums flung wide. \ breaker tossed
ler up, the mdortoW turned Ter
down md Tipped her ont on The
streaming sand.
She arose gasping and splutter
Ing. hut with a sudden idea stab
bling m her brain with the bnzzing
persiStency Of a bee. oh. such nm
idea. so simple. 50 definite. 50 very
definite genius itself
Tom Raseom. she saw. was stand
Ing waist deep in "a boiling froth Of
green water. beating his chest and
making besfial sounds. She looked
about for Professor Alex. lie sat
on the sand, hands wrapped around
his knees, erinning shyly.
Well, baby" said Tom Baseom,
slriding shoreward with seaweed
streaming rieturesquely from his
copper colored shoulders. 'Tl take
my sunbalh now with the prof.
Don't forget 10 remember how to
swim"
Mary Ann glanced at the beach
Whereabouts. Empty. Good She
turned and walked out into deeper
water, wondering what sort Of n
swimmer Alex was. That slender
type, she understood She
stretched Uut into a gliding crawl.
Mary Ann crawled steadily on In
The general direction Of Europe.
'Hc-c-elp." she walled. I'm
drowning. oh. save me-lilp-"
The blue water stirred r~estlessly
and where she had been, bubbles
danced.
The red cap hobhed mp again like
red mIoy.
CONSERVATION may have been said
to reign on the beach. The life
guard on his tower a hundred yards
away dropped his copy of Spencer's
First Principles and scrambled
unphllosophieally from his perch.
Umbrellas were overturned as am
bilious males rallied to the rescue.
A bell tolled dismally.
Mary Ann wallowed about for an
instant, observing with satisfaction
the commotion she had instlgated.
Holding her nose. she sank again in
The middle of an eerie wall.
Number two" she bubbled.
When she arose for the third and
last dramatic appearance, she was
daZzled by what appeared to be an
aquatic windmill churning in her
direction. She caught the flash OF
a brown face and a balled fist.
whereupon lights twinkled and chaos
followed
When Mary Ann returned to the
world of stern reality, she found
herself blinking at a wall of bare
legs and faces with fishy eyes. star
ing Her head ached intolerably.
Tom Rascom leaped about pushing
people back. Alex sat beside her
on the sand. with a face MS White
as paper. MARY Ann" he wills
pered.
Mary Ann stirred and tried to sit
erect.
Tom Bascom strobe up, "Ah ha."
he said, there we are, just ms good
as new" His teeth flashed conf.
IDENTIFY in his bronzed face. Sorry
l had to swat you, babe" he rum
bled.
Mary Ann looked at Tom Bascom
for n long. long time. lie seemed
to draw closer and then fade into
obscurlty. But one picture she saw
clearly: A big, tlabby. r%ed-jowled
man Of forty-odd, beating his chest
and roaring for his dinner, and
who knows-socking her in the Jaw.
She turned 10 Professor Talbot.
Help me up, honey she quay
cred II can walk"
Alexander Talbot leaped to his
task with alacrlty.
The crowd, satiated, drained
away. Tom Bascom, unaware Of the
trend Of events, went through a
pantomlme of his heroics for the
ediicsGon of the life guard.
Some distance apart. Mary Ann
paused ana looked mp ut Alex Tai
bot for q long. long time. What she
saw seemed to satisfy her I'M
mensely.
"You can't swim. can you. AlexT'