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Show 4000000 000 000000000000000J? x At the River j g Bridge j X By LII.LIACE M. MITCHELL oooooooooooooooooooooooooo (l.'upyilulit.) pi.F.ANOItA bud picked up her overnight bag innl Hiiilcasi' the Instant In-stant the li'uln bail left MoitIhIowii. It would be ten minutes uefori; Un! train reached Wlndemeie. .She bad carefully looked lit all of the oilier passengers when I bey hud left the I'll.V. Pil'liaps, Hlil! hoped, Georgn Taylor would go out on the same train. Surely he would not miss this fifth aiiniial reunion of their class at the Wliidciuero high wdiool ! Hut no George was In sight. s In their Hi'hool days, Delia and Kleaiiora had been Inseparable companions. com-panions. Delia had Inilled her to slay at her home for Hie reunion and Kleaiiora looked forward eagerly to half Ihe-nlght talks In t lie old parsonage. par-sonage. "Did you see George?" was almost Del ln'ri first word. Kleaiiora tried to keep her voice steady and her cheeks fi'om coloring: "Why no. I ilil he coineV' "Did he come!" echoed Delia, dimples dim-ples danc ng In and out of her cheeks, (lb, (lid he come! And bow! In n car that would Just make your moiilli water. He's been making his pile." Kleaiiora 'H mind ran swiftly to her suitcase that was empty save for the rose chllTon dress that had cost her tiixty-iilne and a half the day In-fore. No matter how well to do George might be, that ro.- rhif..n would match blm. "If the baiOUi-l's going to be at half past six lis usual," Kloauoi a said, Hushing, "we'd better start dressing." "I'll help you get ready," Delia Kllid. "I'm not going." "Not going?" demanded Kleaiiora. "And you the secretary of the class? Why not?" "Because I haven't a rag to wear," simply answered Delia. "I sent my one and only pretty dress to the cleaner and It shrank so much that I can't get Into It." "You'll wear the rose chiffon I brought," said Klcnnoru. Back and forth they argued the matter. "Whether you wear It or don't," said said Kleanoru llrmiy. "I am going right In this blue ensemble. Kntirely suitable since I Just came In on the train whereas you right In town would have to wear a Huffy affair. Malt's going to be here tonight';'' Delia In turn Hushed and nodded. When nothing more was said, Kleanoru Klea-noru understood well enough that Matt had not said the words that Delia had longed to hear. Kleanoru cowled. She hadn't seen George for five years and had heard from him In only occasional letters. Delia bad seen Matt almost every day. Old Professor Myers was still to give his long talk of Ihe evening when Delia slipped up to Kloanora with shining eyes. "Malt Mat: said he never knew I was to pretty " she whispered, "and he he oh, Kleanoru Klea-noru ! He " "Kleaiiora," came George's voice interrupting, in-terrupting, "I've got to leave again tonight to-night and I II have no other chance to talk to you. Will you drive down to the river bridge with me?" In the luxurious little four-passenger car, George talked swiftly. Kleanoru Klea-noru looked at the car. Expensive, beautiful, comfortable. "I'm not going to mince matters with you, Klile," be said, when be had pulled the car up In a moonlighted moon-lighted patch of grass at the side of the river bridge. "They all think back there," he went on with a nod toward the town, "that I'm a rich man. I'm not," he continued with a short laugh. "I've some good clothes and this car and a few hundred in the bank. In real estate, a fellow has to be well-dressed and lie has to have a good car to take out his prospects. And and Ellie are you going to marry me anyhow, even If I haven't anything to offer you?'' Kleaiiora stared at him. "I've enough to start the furniture and I have a dandy little house in view for us. I I took an option on it earlier In the week so that if you liked it I would have made a down payment, only I thought if you were dressed wonderfully and had made a wad of money in the city, it would be useless to ask you " "And if I had worn a beautiful gown " said Kleanora. He laughed. "Well, figure It out for yourself! If you'd been frilled out like Delia, for instance. I couldn't afford af-ford gowns like that yet. In a few-years, few-years, yes. But why waste all of your youth, Ellie what say, Ellie?" "And If I'd worn that rose chiffon that Delia is wearing!" Eleanora kept saying over and over again when his arms were around her so tightly Hint she could hardly catch her breath. "Why, Matt asked her to marry him because she wore that dress!" "Well, Matt's in the hank," laughed George. "And If you want to get married tonight Chessweil will fix up a license for us nnd Delia's father's a preacher we could drive right through tonight nnd be home in the morning, Ellie. The house oil, you'll like it, Ellie" "I'd like any house with you," said Ellie, her mind's eye still dwelling dwell-ing on that rose chiffon frock. "And if Cliessweli " "I told him I'd probably be around." said George, stepping on the starter aud snapping on the lights, "lie's I waiting up for us." |