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Show ' : v "BILLY," THE BLOCKADE RUNNER. L - J it was closo und sultry; no breath of air stirred tho pines, and tho mullein-stalks bcsldo tho roadway wero drooped flat to earth. Kven Lieutenant Thomas Morley Gray, as ho sat smoking very methodically methodi-cally as ho did afl things upon tho top rider of a rickety rail fenco bosldo tho roadway, appeared as utterly Ignorant Ig-norant that two great armies In hluo and gray wero doggedly facing each other In serried ranks not more than three miles uway, notwithstanding that ho himself woro n uniform whoso color belled bis namo. When nn hour had passed a long, dragging hour, during which he had alternately fanned himself with his hat and waged unequal combat with tho mosqultoos, which, despite tho smoke, had declared hostilities Gray put on his hat with a detormlned air and slid down from tho fenco. As ho did so lib saw a cloud of dust moving nlong tho roadway in his direction, Then out of tho dust-cloud emerged a yellow dog, trotting along heavily with his tongue lolling from his mouth. "Billy," said Gray, stooping to pat tho panting benst, "good old Hilly. What what tho" ho broke off suddenly sud-denly In surprise, for tied to tho dog's collar was a violet envelope of small dimensions and tho superscription on It was his own unmo. Grny snatched tho cnvolopo and tore It open. "Dear old Tommy," ho read. "Humph," ho Interpolated. "I know theso 'dear old Tommies' troublo." Ho ngnln turned to tho note. "I can't read Chaucer beneath tho big plno treo with you this afternoon becnuso I'm going out riding with Mr. Dennett. Hxctiso hnbto nnd brevity, but ho Is waiting for mo now. I shall show nilly your gauntlets here and toll him to find you, which I'm suro ho will do, Now don't bo angry and mako mo call you 'Tommy Green-Eyes' Green-Eyes' ngnln "Trusting Hilly may find you soon, "HELEN." Gray survoyed the cloudless Bky for sovcrnl tumultuous moments. "Now, wouldn't thnt" ho began. ! The sentence died in nn Innno gurgle, whllo Gray's fnco grow wrathfully red and groat beads of persplintlon stood on his forehead Then ho tore a leaf from his notebook, hnstlly scrawled n few words and tied It to nilly's collar, where tbo other noto bad reposed. IIo aroso, and. followed by tho dog, stalked down I ho road When they camo to tho fork Gray pointed down tho left-hand mud nnd said, sternly, "Home, Hilly. Homo r." After ho had watched the dog trot off dejectedly dejected-ly Into tho dust ho himself went slowly slow-ly up tho other road to sneak his way back to his company's blvounc. , Lato that evening Hilly scrambled Into tho liitmiiiorli where his mlBtress lny. Sho saw tho note omi In tho dim light fiom tho window beside her read those words: "My dear Helen: "I trust you'll havo a pleasant aftor-noon. aftor-noon. Undoubtedly li will bo much prcfornblo to Chaucer beneath tho plno. Hilly renrhud mo nfter I had waltod sovornl hours for you, Tho tlmo passed very pleasantly thanks to tho villainous heat and Bwarms of (amlnu-strinkon mosquitoes, Doing tho soul of dovotlon, I shall bo delighted delight-ed any afternoon In tho futuro to go through the Inquisition again for tho sake of tho reward of a similar note, telling me you aro riding with this latest arrival In town. "THOMAS M. GUAY." Tho next afternoon, as Gray was getting his men In order for n threatened threat-ened attack of tho "robs," Hilly again camo trotting up with the violet envelope en-velope attached to his collar. In the shado of some sumach bushes Gray snatched time to read the contents. "Your latest outburst duly received, per Hilly, Mr. Tommy Green-Eyes. Pray don't subject yourself to heat and mosquitoes on my account." Tho noto Hilly cairled back read as follows: "Thanks. I had no Intention of doing so. x. M, G." Then for a week thero was silence between them Gray In his anger cursed tho Confederates for lying on their arms Instead of making things bo lively that ho would have a chance to cool his rngo on them In battle. But Instead ho wns obliged to sit Inactlvo In camp and dally watch Helen Den-nlson Den-nlson nnd Hammctt, tho foppish civilian, civil-ian, go Hotting nlong tho Confederate front on horseback. No wonder ho fumed. Hut one evening when tho wholo town wns In n formont over tho well authenticated rumor of long impending impend-ing battle to come on tho morrow, Gray heard a nihility yelping nnd Id-yl-lng In the road us ho wns skirting tho camp on a final round of Inspection. Inspec-tion. IIo turned back to find Hilly and a brlndlo hull terrier hnrd at It. With Judicious kicks ho managed to get them apart, and then his heart camo Into his throat, for attached to Billy's collar was a bit of violet envelope. en-velope. Gray snatched It ongcrly. It had been sadly mutilated In tho fray. "I'm In terror over what might happen hap-pen to-morrow. I wns Just trying to mnko you Jealous," ho read, nnd In another place ho mndo out, "I'm lono-somo lono-somo for you, you foolish" Miss Helen Deiiiilson, Hitting on tho broad vornndn of tho cottago, saw a strange outfit trotting sodntely atross tho lawn. .It wiih Hilly it wreath of oak leaves about his neck, and tied to his tall u Biuall silk Hag which Out-torcd Out-torcd bravely In tho breeze. Prominent Promi-nent on tho oak wreath was an cnvolopo cn-volopo addressed to herself: "My dear Helen," sho read, and laughed softly; ''I received but the merest fragments of your noto, for Bl. ly tried conclusloiiH with a bull terrier with disastrous results. Nevertheless enough remained to glvo mo considerable consid-erable enlightenment. Hllly'B appear-anco appear-anco when ho leaches you If ho doesn't got Into other dllllcultios on tho way Is the result of my poor attempt at-tempt to express my stnto or mind. Wo'd hotter mnko It as early as possible pos-sible and spend our honeymoon boforo your 'robs' get mo." And Lieut. Thomas Morley Gray, who strode up tho i.ruvel walk at that moment, behold Hilly struggling from tho ombiaco of u young woman, who blushed furloiisW as she saw him ("landing there.- Harry Pnlno In Ban FranejHco Call. |