Show ey ml nd by BOOTH copyright by doubleday page 6 Com compa panzi HIS FIRST LOVE with ills hl grandfather small email bamsey amsey malholland to g watch ing vill th decoration da day pa parade ado I 1 in n tho the home town the old old gr gentle antle dmn a veteran of 0 tho the war endeavors to impress the young stat witt with the significance of the conflict and many years tears afterward the boy was wag to remember his words worda willi startling vividness in the schoolroom a a few years urt afterward erward to Is not distin agh isdoll for remarkable ability though a 11 ah hla his pronounced are arithmetic Ite citations and oer ger nil jiin n in shar sharp contra contrast at to n nambe m backward iness Is the p precocity tiec ori ty dt df little I 1 tit e dora yocum a young lady who whom in in ills hla bitterness lie he denoma nates dates teachers pet in high school eliere lie he and dora are classmates ramsey continues to fc feel el that the girl delight s to manifest fe at her sup superiority e priority rio rity and the vin un adli tj tl veness h he e generates becomes alf timing cul culminating in dating in the reso hilti n that some day he will viii show tier her at a class picnic ramsey to ills his embarrassment appears to attract tile the favorable attention of IN miss ilas atilla aillia blust a young lady of about his hl own age a and nd the ac knowl eded b elle belle odthe a class CHAPTER IV continued 4 1 I dont wv it lie murmured d husk illy afraid that site might remove remote tier lier land 1 I cant see bee liny ally fish a 11 site called farther out over the dank bank why there go goestel ostel site alie whispered right there 1 I cant eee it slie she leaned still further bending down to point why right th ill at tills this she bhe removed her hand from ills sll though ugly she dutched at him in fact but without avail site she had been too om clin lable table A loud shriek was uti uttered ered by throats ab abler er to vocal he just then til alian ian millas fot for in tier her great sit sin said noth cagne IDY whatever the shriek came from froin the ot other tier girls girl s insull as mil la Is left the crest of the overhanging batik baick and almost hor 1 zon tally disappeared into tile the brown v water liter there Ther ewas was a tumultuous splash slid lud then of millu Milla rust and her well known there wits was nothing in the superficial world nor upon lie surface stir faLe of that creek the banishment was total save herl her several girls afterward admitted having used this expression expresion and little bliss floy williams the youngest and smallest imal lest member of the class was unable to deny that she had said paid oil godl god 1 nothing could have been more natural and the matter need not have been brought before tier her with such insistence si el and frequency during the two to v reni years of tier her undergraduate co ro iwinsky was one of those who heard alil exclamation later so famous and perhaps it was what roused loused hini him to he heroism lie ile dived from froin the bank headlong and the strange thought in ills mind was avs 1 I guess gues gue ss s show dora Yo cunil cural lie ile should hare been thinking of ellla of course it at such a time particularly titer after tire the little enchantment just laid upon tim by mulas as touch slid and cilwa curls 5 and lie he know knew welt well enough that miss yocum was not among the spectators she was half a mile away as it t happened gathering botanical specimens with orie one of the teachers which was her ber idea of what to do 10 at d a picnic I 1 ramsey struck the waler hartl hard and in the voine mine instant struck something else harder wesley benders bundle bandle of boas lind hail given him no such shoel as lie he recel received a BOW ow and if the creek bottom had riot not been of 0 mud just juat there the wp toi of his young head fiend might have declined the st ralli iteld stunned stun neil choking spluttering lie somehow floundered to hit his feet and when he could get his eyes a little cleared of water the found himself wavering face to face with a blurred of ellla rust site she had risen up out of tile pool and jacod knee deep like a lovely drenched figure ina in a fountain upon the bank above them willis parker vas juni jumping ping up and down gesticulating anti anil shouting shooting fiercely now I 1 guess youre satisfied our if ishin Is spoilt 1 you vou listen title I 1 told you it moren three adot deep I 1 I 1 and heinle waded nil all over aver this creek dettla our butt bait youre doare pretty sight 1 t of malla lie he spoke poke unwittingly the futeral truth hven with her hair thus mild nud nod sodden ellla rose from im blushing and prettier than eyer ever and site she wits was prettiest of all cvijeta liea she stretched out her hand help leggle to Ita ramsey and he led her up out of the lie waters they had plenty of to scra scramble tuble to the top of the be bunk and there ellla was surrounded alid borne away wath a great and sat upon the gross grass in the sun an rubbed mr hr head and with ills his neck to see if it would im nork ork the sun thine shine was strong and hot in halt half an hour he unil and his clothes were dry or st et least dry enot enough gh as lie he said and except for some soreness sorene its of head and neck and the lie general crumpled of if lite ills apparel lie seen led ti 0 o ie be in oil all ways rullell RS usual when shouts and whist lings aji 01 the party to luncheon tit nt tile hie rendezvous cue ilie change that trade nade him different was invisibly I 1 let pt roust must have hava been seen fi foy everyone evelyon eve L to take it for i granted gran teil that lie was to sit next nest to ellla at me pastoral slie site herself understood it evidently for she drew in tier her puckered pucker ild skirts and without anny words anade a place for ailin beside tier her ns as lie drifting ay approached tier lier affecting to whistle and keeping ills his eyes on the foliage fol lageN overhead lie ile still looked upward even la in the act of sitting silting down squirrel or something ho he said feebly ns its it if in exploitation explanation where millu naked up there on oil a branch lie ile nc ile centea a plate from froin her she had provided herself with vitti tin nn extra one but lie he did not it or nt at tier lier lie continued to keep ills eyes aloft because lie ining imagined ined that nil all of the clogs class were lo looking oldrig tit nt litin and millo and ile he felt lit unable to meet such publicity it will to him is as it if the whole united states state 13 hot had been scandalized to attention tin n by this net act of ills in going to sif beside molln lie gazed upward so long that lint ills eyeballs eye balls become beci inie sensitive under the strain lie ile began to blink 1 1 I olit am iwer us its a squirrel squirm 0 or r just ast some lenses that kind 0 rot got lied filed like one lie he sold 1 I 1 cant make out yet ct which it Is but I 1 guess when lien theresa n breeze if its it squirrel liell grobly hop around some then it if lies 1109 olive or it hod begun to seem scein that ills eyes must remain rei fixed in that upward stare forever forcer lie he wanted to bring thein clown hut but could not face the glare of the world but finally dually the brightness of the lie sky between the leahl settled matters for him lie ho sneezed pt anti and PI I 1 J 1 ti it a she had risen up out gut of the pool and stood knee deep like a lovely toren drenched ched in a fountain for a little moment again fawl faced his fell fellow ownien men no one was looking at him everybody eer body except lillta ahad had oilier gg to do dd involuntarily lie ile added A a spell of coughing fur for which there wits vas no necessity 1 I guess I 1 must been wrong rong lie he in muttered uttered thickly what mat about Il anisey 11 abut its bela a with e o timidity lie ills his licad head and encountered a anze so soft so hallowed hint it disconcerted him and he dropped a of tried fried chicken well veil dotted clotted with ants from his plate scarlet lie he picked it up tip but bat did not eat at it for tile lie first time date in hla his lite life ile h felt that eating fried chicken beld in the clie fingers was ais not to be thought of oc lie replaced placed le the drumstick upon ills his plate and add allowed it to remain ui untouched touched touch cd lu in spite spile of a great hunger for it liming looked down lie now found difficulty in looking up tip but gazed steadily ly at ills plate and into tills this limited circle ot of vision cunie las delicate mid and roaf fingers hearing a gift there fale rte said in a mot tuot lierly herly little voice itt a tomato mayonnaise sandwich ch and I 1 duade it it ni self I 1 want you iou to 0 o eat ito it ramsey ills his own fingerr teemu ng as he accepted the thick sa sandwich nd from tier her and conveyed it to ills mouth eolith A moment later his soul tilled filled with horror for a spurt of dressing lind caused a catastrophe the scene of which occupied no inconsiderable orca of ills hla right check which was the lie check toward milla lie ile gr groped ped wretchedly for lit ills handkerchief but could not find it he had bad lost it sudden death would have been relief Ile fhe he sure that after such gro ciula could never bear to hove hate anything more to lo do him blin lie he hiis ruined in his lie felt a paper pressed gently into ills his hand n soft alce said lit in ills ahli ear wipe it off with this ahli It anisey Nob odys noticing so go tills this incredibly charitable creature was still 1111 able to jie he ills hla friend even eun after seeing litra dl hum illy 11 lie he did no as slie site told him hut but avo ao aoa an 4 all further risks ile he ate nothing nor mine lie ile ills his first sigh of ss lise a chill or so BO along the spine wid ond lit intervals ills his brojir was be bedeared devred within his averted eyes there dwelt not the milla rust hust who sat beside him 1 but nil an iridescent frogue fragile creature W who h a had become angelic ll 11 lie spent the lie rest of the day dawdling helplessly about tier her wherever she went lie wits was near is as near its as possible sible but of no deliberate volition of his own something seemed to tie hirn him to tier her and was nothing loth lie ile seldom looked tit it tier directly or for longer than an instant and wore more rarely still did lie speak to tier her except its as it a reply what few remarks lie ventured upon ills his own initiative nearly nil all concerned tile landscape which lie commended repeatedly lit in a weak voice as kinq kind of pretty though once lie he sold said lie guessed there might inight be bugs in tile the bal bark balk k of a log on which they ent ant and lie become became so immoderately personal soul I 1 as to declare that it if the bugs had dad to get act on oil anybody lied rather they got on oil liliu lhnn on oil she blie said that was just perfectly lovely of him blin asked where lie got ills his sweet nature and in other ways encouraged him to continue the revolution revelation but lt aniSey was unable to get forward f I 1 I 1 with it lie ho opened jin wl 11 dosed ills his n great many times ILI G tha effort to do so at five everybody wa was surn again tit 0 the fur 11 cerenio ceremony ny to departure the class found itself in a large circle standing all ond sang tile star banner ordinarily on such nn nil open air and out of school occasion lt leaney aney would have joined the chorus bously alth the lie utmost qt blatancy ol of which ills vocal apparatus was capa ble and most of the other oilier boys pt ec pressed their humor by drowning out tile alio serious efforts of the girls but lie sang feebly tiet not much more alian gli ills teeth Stand hig beside slilla lye iw was incapable 0 of nil hta former and ills ewas in III a semi paralyzed condition like the rest of bilm opposite blui across the circle dora cora yocum stood a little lit in advance of those arr ter for or of slie she led the lie Fd f nging iler her clear nd earnest voice was fw from froin all oilier and though site md not glance blance toward It anisey lie had a queer feeling that she was vas ass assuming more superiority chaa ever and thiet that slie site wits uis lelly icily full of him and molln tile alie old resentment rose hed fc how that irl yat t luyt dayl when the lie song was over cheera were given for the lie class tile lie good ole class cl n of fourteen tile the tile the teli teachers chem and ana for tile the picnic aithus officially concluded d haild then the plen ickers their baskets mul alid tolled faded wild flowers and other souvenirs and burdens toward the lie big express wagons wagon ts which were to take them back into the town itata sey ROti got lils ilits guitar case and turned to willa well aby 1 why no sald said atilla anyway not yet you can call go buck back in tile the same saine wagon with tile nip its going to stop stol at the school and let us all out there end and then you could walk leoine LI avith tile me if you felt like it well well veil rd id be perfectly willing Ita insey said sat only I 1 heard we all had to go back in whatever dugon we came out in andi and J come ID the haine one with you so I 1 I 1 and leaned toward hill lilium a little 1 I already tended to that slie said confidentially 1 I asked johnnie fiske that come came out in my iny wagon to go back in yours so that makes room for you well then I 1 guess I 1 could do it lie file moved toward tile the wagon with tier her 1 I expect it dont make inake much difference ence one way or tile the other band and you can carry my iny basket if 1 you jou want mant to site she said adding solicit ottay unless its too heavy when you already got bt your guitar case to carry ll amsey this thoughtfulness thoughtful nesa of liers bers almost overcame thlin she seemed divine 1 I ill W 1 glad to carry th the e basket fool 00 oo tie he faltered altered it it dont weigh anything much well lefe jece hurry sos BOS ive we can set get places auces together then as a she maneuvered bilm through the little crowd about the wagon with it soft push pugh this way a gentle pull that and hurried him up the improvised steps and found a place where there was room for them both to sit ramsey had another breathless sensation heretofore unknown to ulin blin lie found hIni himself gelf taken under a time like a wonderful inexpressible line bl being seemed to have become ills his proprietor tills this just perfectly lovely she said cozily close to his ear ile he swallowed but found no words for lie he had no thoughts lie he was only nil an incoherent tumult tills this was lite lilt first love it she urged the cozy voice and just the not hint of a reproach pro fich dont yol think its just perfectly lovely Ilan Ram seyl desm the acquaintance pr 0 grosses ramsey and baill a openly keeping company 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