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Show 8 CHECKERBERR1ES 8 $ Dy nUBV DOUQLA9. ((& . ty McClurt Nwtpptr BrUcU.) Olive MacFarland bad succeeded In eluding the other members of tho parly with whom the hud matured up the Mohawk trail nnd Into Hie old Vermont town In which they had decided de-cided to spend a few tloF. She had stolen out of her room early In the morning, begged the old cook In tho kitchen of the tea-houe In which they were stajlng. -'Ui of coffee ami a sandwich, an extra bile tu tke In her pocket, nnd had escaped ncrosi (ho river alone, on foot, hit" Now llnii)i-lilie. She was so tired of the sliiull talk of tho oilier. Shu minted to be atone to enjoy Hie wonders nnd hc beiiuly of the Vermont and New Hampshire lillK Unjoylng ever? moiiieut of the morula..-, she hud cliinhed up, up the narrow trull and not encountered a hmiinii soul. She had sung aloud, she hnd gathered bluoborrloH, she hnd wit down "it the ioft, tufted soil of pine needle. Her oury nerve mis alle; kIio viis happy almo-t. At Inot sho sat down hcncnili three friendly while birch tioos nnd unwrapped un-wrapped her meager limih. How of-leu. of-leu. Imck In her school clnyn, she hnd sal beiicnlh blich trees and eaten her uilddnv nifnl together with the glil In her botany claw nnd the teacher. I George Dm line hnd tnusltt biilnny. hiiuing iilher bninehes, In ihu prepara-lory prepara-lory siliool In Uio Sllddle West to which Olive had heeii fcent before entering en-tering college, livery girl In the elms lind fancied hem-lf In love with the hi;:, linudioiuc, kindly prnfeor. but lie treated them nil alike. ti little glrN, nntl wiis Interested In leaching them of nil Hie rovvhiK IIiIuki. Olive hnd olirnjs been n student of nature, ami perhaps in her George Darling found a pnrtleiihirly loin-pauliiiiiilile loin-pauliiiiiilile mind. At lensl, titlve felt lluil lie HUeil lier. IIiiiukIi she dnivd nut liellee (lint hit thought of her In niiy wuy iui us a itipll amniig the otheiN. Todn, n vhe vnl drriiinlnc f him . for In perpeetlve he had grown I nuire truly In lie her Ideal man her I I e,e riiusht u leaf growing near by , I lliat veemed to rerall memories of ' hjm. Slie ro.tehed out to pick the Utile Ut-ile cluster 'of Mihiy green leaves nnd round tho while berries', once an familiar fa-miliar In her, crowing on the stem. "Cheekei berries!" hhe cried aloud. "I have not gntheicd liny for years." "1 wonder If lie would remember me If If I should semi him a peel-men peel-men nnd axk lilm for a descrlptiou of. It?" she soliloquized. She stopped at the postofllri: on her way back to Join the others that nlsht and when her fi lends scolded her roundly for having taken the lone ly trail alone, she did not seem to mind. "It wns wonderful!" s-he told them. "Von are mnd,'' I hey said.-- "And ierhiiis 1 am," alio admitted, ambiguously. It mok only time for a return post to reach her before Olive hnd a letter let-ter In a hand once familiar to her. "Dear Olive," It ran, "1 tusl not only tho wlutcrgrocns as I bile Into the little cluster of leaves jou have j :ent me from your mountnlns. 1 sense jiur romance, dear, In their fnicr.incc. I hnvc been wondering, day after day, If you would ever recall inc. When you were In school, I dared not let you know I loxed you; It would not have been fnlr to you. I wanted you to Bo the world, know other men, before be-fore asking you lo Join your beautiful young life to my old, moth-eaten, cobwebby cob-webby existence. Hut this little cluster clus-ter of leaves brines you Imck ho poignantly poig-nantly to my lift) that I must tell yOn of my love. Ilnve you remembered 1 Do you care? May I comu and tell you?" There wns more, hut Olive could read It with dllllculty. Her heart wa full to overflowing. When she. wrote to him ngn'ln,' II was to tell htm where he might And her on her return" to town. . ' She wbie-aIUIe cluster of checker berries on bf-r coat and he pulled, a pressed leaf from Ids pocket when they met. " "Such n little thing on which to bang our romance, dear," Im wild. "Mttle-yes, 'George, but tho fragrance fra-grance of It will permeate thu wlmlo sweet distance Into which you nu'(L.l are to walk together. Will It. not?-" |