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THE HESPERIAN
afraid of the boarders who came to eat at her
mother's table. Two years ago when she
had commenced her work as cashier, and her
mother had let the boarders go,. she thought
that at last she could be quietly happy. But
she had not been. One of the boys that
boarded there had been sympathetic. He
had been impudent and saucy and earnest at
times, till she liked him. And she was
young.
If this had been all she might have been
happy. But there was another girl, a Grace
somebody or other. Joe did not make any
secret of that. He gave Bert bulletins at
regular intervals to let her know how he was
getting along in his love affair, weather
bulletins he called thorn. Bert would laugh
when his bulletins were hopeful, and sympa
thize when they were doleful. But secretly
she knew she liked the doleful reports best.
Joe never suspected that her laugh and
sympathy were not spontaneous.
Then after she began work and the board
ers were gone, Bert was as lonesome as she
had been when she was little. She did not
see Joe very often, on the street sometimes
or at church. Once he had come to the
store to have his watch cleaned and when
she had demanded a weather report he had
turned his face away suddenly and said
huskily, "That's all over now."
Then he had turned back to her and smiled
as he explained that the weather was dark
just now, no sign of a change.
Bert had dropped the subject and had
talked about (he new minister and the little
girl next door. And after that Joe had got
into the habit of coming up to see her of
evenings, for sympathy, he said; they had
dropped back into their old pleasant way of
talking and joking. Joe never gave any
more bulletins and Bert never asked for
them.
It was all very pleasant. She did not
think that Joe would fall in love with her.
She accepted the fact that he was in love
with Grace, without stooping to any of the
little things she might have done to make
him forget his old love affair. She even
tried to make her own feeling for him take
on the same friendly tone that colored his
thought of her. But she could not change
love back to friendship.
She sat on the steps that spring evening
and waited. She knew Joe was coming. He
ha ' ueen up Monday night a little while and
had told her he would come again tonight.
But her mind was so occupied with the
things around her, the spring sounds and the
tramp of small boys riding up and down the
sidewalk on thoir broomstick horses that she
almost forgot Joe. She kept wondering
how the little three-year-old next door was
getting along she had been sick yesterday.
When one of the boys came prancing
down past her, and she saw it was the little
girl's brother, she called him to her and
asked him: was his little sister very sick ?
He answered with a touch of family prido.
He should say she was. The doctor was
there before supper and his father was out on
the road, and his mother was crying. You
bet she was sick.
He wagged his head and scampered away
up the street again. Bert told herself that
she would go in the morning and ask about
the little girl.
Then Joe came and for an hour Bert for
got the sick child and talked and laughed.
Joe seemed happier than usual. She
wondered why. Twice ho had started to say
that he had something to tell her but both
times ho had grown confused and nervous
and had not told her. Bert herself grew a
little confused but she tried to be indifferent
to what Joe had to say. It couldn't be that
he liked her. It grew quite dark and they
talked spasmodically. Finally there was a
long pause and Joe broke off a piece of the
rosebush that grew by the porch and stripped
off the leaves. Bert sat very still and very
happy.
After awhile Joe began hesitatingly, "You
know all about my love affair "
Bert interrupted nervously, "I couldn't
help it very woll, you posted bulletins." -
"I know," Joe answered lightly. Then
ho went on more carnesty, "Yon know Vv$