Show r thea JOLLY j before clementine went down to mill town for the summer she made up her mind that she would bend all her energy to wheedle aunt phoebe out of the old bine ginger jar that uncle jalina had brought home from china little that the old slant eyed fat ried mandarin would take such a in her joys ind sorrows the old blue jar had perched cormany th e comer of tha high mantel piece in the old fashioned country par lor and aunt phoebe duew that if she gave it to clementine she would have a dreadfully lonesome feeling every time ahe stood on a chair to dust the old clock the shells the peddler vases the feather fans and other companions of ita lofty abode but clementina was an accomplished and the fond old aunt finally said she might have her wish when aint paebe gave over to clementine her right and title to the old blue jar randall was leaning in the window and idly sifting rose leaves from the old climbing vine through the meshes of his tennis racket he sympathized with her lively admiration for the antique and unique in china and wag glad that she had attained her hearts desire but a more absorbing interest possessed his manly breast clementina was going home in the morning and he had been trying in vaia for several days to get the feeble courage of his ardent convictions up to the declarative point she was such a lively funi oving girl and love you know ja such intensely serious business sev rondoni a ne found her in a sober and properly receptive frame of mind when with a trifling jest she would defeat his intention and put the little god to flight now however when the slant eyed mandarin on the blue jar winked at him through the vines randall said to him belt enthusiastically well old boy the very thank you for the bright ideal are they all es clever aa you are over in china that night in his room under the eaves he constructed an eloquent letter to clementine and in the early morning sneaked into the parlor and deposited it in the robust bosom of the old blue mandarin it she finds it befaro sho goes homo it Is all right said the timorous adoring fellow and if she find it until afterward it will be all right top but the mandarin felt a lettla funny that day BO when clementine packed her trunk ho inspired her to stuff the ginger jar full of her silken hose that the precious prec ions article might take no risks of breakage in its voyage so when randall parted from her at the station she made no sign of knowing anything in particular and his hopeful heart decided that she would surely find the letter when ehe reached home and he would then hear from her now was a girl who always had a great many things on her mind and when she had unpacked the treasured jar and placed it on a dainty table in her pretty parlor with a belf congratulatory thought that it was BO respectable to have things that ones relative had brought from china she wholly forgot the curious load that the mandarin had on his breast she missed her silken hose of course and pestered aunt phaebe with messages about them in milltown Mill town as yon may imagine randall waited for the answer to his letter awhile he waited patiently then impatiently awhile and then dived into hia law hooks with that composure of settled distress lovera have known in every age and dime ha did nofa dream that the elana eyed mandarin would b e guilty of the trick of intercepting a love letter but the ann loving mandarin knew what he was ha waa ont esper ienco in these matters and ha wanted to punish clementina a trifle and bring her to the proper condition of seriousness and clementine was feeling the situation with all the sobriety that was desirable she had suspected all that randall had a tender feeling for her which she felt qualified to reciprocate bat she was A girl and coald not by a feathers weight influence the balance of hig attentions therefore behind her smiles she bad been not a little wounded that he bad allowed her to come home without having given expression to his sentiments so she too now took on a countenance and banished thought and regret by joining beveral abw clubs and membership in two or three more charitable organizations just before christmas Rand allone flay experienced in his breast a sort of imperative pera tive intimation perhaps direct from the slant eyed mandarin who knows that he might bear of something to his advantage if he should go down to tha city and call apon clementine so after borne futile resistance resi stence to the message ha retook betook himself thither he was graciously received by clem entine that is graciously enough for a young man who had played tha trifler with her invisible affections and he seated himself in a cozy chair near the pretty table which held his old friend the bine jar As he talked with clementine a little constraint being apparent on both sides ho toyed with the lid of the jar and the eyed mandarin appeared to at urn knowingly under loiue occult lut imperative pressure removed the lid and touched with his finger the silken texture of some mysterious contents curiosity further constrained him and he pulled from the bosom of the now jubilant mandarin a pale blue article of singular description for a parlor ornament and following it he extricated a pale pink strip of similar ahapa and structure turning to clementine for explanation of these unforeseen apparition he found her speechless with wild eyed astonishment ment and without a word or gesture she seized the old blue jar and hurried from the room randall smiled the first real soul felt refreshing smile that he had indulged in for several months and vowed by the pigtail of the old slant eyed that ha would stay rooted to the spot until clementine returned what she said to the genins of the jar as she flew up shaira with it only the mandarin can reveal As randall paced the parlor pulling his mustache and wondering if caemen tines keen sense of humor would carry her safely through the trying hour she came shamefacedly into the room bearing in one hand tha blinking old mandarin and in the other the pleading letter he had borne BO long hid in hia clever old baboin randall met the dear girl more than half way and as she whimpered gently on his shoulder be promised never never never to tell and when they were married if you believe me that ginger jar accompanied them on their wedding trip nd randall packed the bosom of the grotesque mandarin full of clemen tines bridal roses there to fade and there forever to remain now as randall never told and clementine never told the entire responsibility of this revelation lies between yon and me and the ginger jar emma carleton in romance |