Evening star., 1941-06-22

well. you certainly had me fooled,
Freddy" She fiuttered her lashes at
him. Would that you we're a few
years Older, me lad"
lie wanted desperately to let it go
at that, but he couldn't He'd never
be able to face his mother afterwards,
or Eloise either. Red, not shame envel-
oped him. A bunch of girls going to
bat for him like that. Everyone was
talking now, praising him, laying it on
while they picked up the pop bottles.
Suddenly his voice came out, tortured,
raucous, shrill above them all:
What d'you think you're doing,
kidding me? thought she was al
thought the Stuyvesants we're here"
He didn't need to yell, they weren't
out in the yard somewhere, but he
couldn't help himself. And beneath
the thing he was trying to say, there
was something else. Something that
eluded him. 1t was like a swell on
water that smoothed without break
ing. He felt his forehead growing,
clammy. 'Looka here" he shouted,
you can laugh your heads off at her,
but | don't blame Nell-Catherine, or
- er - K-katy, or whatever her
name is. She had to make out like
she was better than all of you on
account of the way you 60 s-sailing
past her place, and on account of it's
all right for you to wear those dirty
old slacks and things because you
got tennis racket in your hands,
Like Nom said -" He broke off,
red in the face.
He saw his mother coming toward
him with kind of wonder in her eyes.
why. Freddy, dear" she said, and
all at once she blurred before his eyes
and his throat gave out queer, thick
squawk. A hideous, awful sound.
Turning, he bolted from the room and
up the stairs and when he closed his
door the tears we're rolling down his
hot, flushed face.
f1UNCHED in the window seat, sick
and sore inside, he stared out into
the maple tree Catherine! He
couldn't think of her by any other
name. All his life, he'd remember her,
and he didn't care who she was. Ii
only she hadn't put it over on him
that way. Boy! With those big blue
eyes and all that golden hair and the
kind of things she said to him, you'd
never think - you'd never dream -
The lump in his thr st grew cold and
his heart ached un-earably.
And bad as it was right now. to-
morrow it would be worse. Every kid
in town would have it. He rose from
the window seat and paced the floor
and a thought came that stopped him
in his tracks. His father Wait till
he got wind of it. Freddy's very soul
WINGED. He could see his father grin
ming around his pipe when he heard
the story, making lot of clever cracks,
calling him young Lochinvar, or some
thing.
Desperation seized him. He had to
do something. And he had to try to
forget Nell-Catherine too if he
could. He had to get away, that was
it, and maybe make a big shot of him
self so nobody could laugh at him or
kid him, ever. Plenty of men had done
it, younger than he was too.
Where would he go, though? How
could he get his stuff out without
them knowing? Wildly he gazed about
the room, and his eyes fell on poster
on the wall above his bed.
Uncle Sam Needs You.
1'HE Navy. There it was. The Navy!
Staring him smack in the face. His
breath came out in a hard, painful
gasp. He could lie about his age. What
was it, anyway? Seventeen? He could
get away with that.
A fury of haste seized him. See the
world. Fight for his country, maybe.