Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 January 1919 — THE VOICE [ARTICLE]

THE VOICE

By HELENA M. KENNEY.

The train rolled slowly out of the station. leaving a giristanffingonthe ~jplatform. Nellie Windsor wasfifteen years old. Her mother and father were dead amj she had no'one, but Uncle Jo and Aunt Betty. Uncle Jo had writteta her to come and live with him —and here she was. It was fully ten minutes before Uncle Jo came, and when he •did he gave her a hearty kiss and lifted her into the buggy and off- they went. Arriving at the farm, she found Aunt Betty waiting on the porch for her, and, such a dear old lady she was. It was then 3:30 o’clock, and the rest of the afternoon was spent in unpacking Ser clothes and learning the rounds of the house. After strnner.. she .. wen t directly to bed. because she was tired from her Tong journey. The next afternoon she wandered around, picking flowers, chasing butterflies, and, gathering an apron full of apples, she weht down to the little brook. It was nice and cool and she was enjoying herself when —“Hello,” said a voice. She looked up, but saw no one. . : , /'' “I say, hullo,” again came the voice; this time it seemed to come from the tree that was across the brook. “Hullo, yourself,” replied Nellie. “Whore are you?” , . /■ “Up here jn the tree,” said the voice. “Come down,” she said. “Nop'e,” answered the voice. No amount of teasing would make the voice come down. It was getting late, so Nellie said: “If I come here tomorrow will you let me see who you are?” “Maybe,” replied the voice. So Nellie scampered up the hill and home. But she was not to see the owner df , the voice tomorrow, for when she got up the next morning. It was raining/ Uncle Jo came in at dinner time with .B'tt-ißvl tation for Nellie to spend the afternoon with the Browns, Who lived across the field. Slowly she went upstairs to dress, sorry because she could not go down to the brook, but maybe it would be there some other time; so with thia happy thought in mind she was so An ready, and Uncle Jo took her over to the Browns. She was rather shy, being among strangers, but Mrs. Brown soon put her at ease. Molly . Brown was Nellie’s age, and they took to each other right away. While they w'ere sftting, talking about nothing in particular, the doorbell rang and Molly’s mother went and admitted -five young people who had come to spend the afternoon. Soon a boy about a year older than herself came in and was introduced as Billy Brown. What a good time she had, and what nice girls and boys they were! But BiHy—where had she heard that voice? The afternoon passed all too quickly, and when the guests rose to go, Mrs. Brown shook hands with them all, and so did Molly and Billy. When Nellie arrived home she could not’ help thinking what a nice boy Billy was, and she blushed when she thought how he had given her hand a tiny, unnecessary squeeze. The days that followed were the happiest ones she had ever had. Long rambles with Molly and the Tucker twins, pi entcs, and often she -would jgo for long walks with Billy, She bilked Billy very much and Billy liked . Nellie. But she did not forget the voice. Every day she wojild go down to the brook and'talk and talk with it. She would tell it of the nice times she was having, and went so far as to tell it Of Billy. Thus tyro weeks passed bn and NelHe fliought .she was never going to see the voice, when one day the voice told her that she would see it tomorrow, sure. To be sure, Nellie was there at the appointed time, and the voice said: “If I come down, will you promise to give me one thing?” , Wondering what it could be, but curious to see the voice, as she had called it, she readily said, “Yes.” It slid down.the tree and there stood —Billy! “You —you —?” she gasped. Billy smiled and said, “Your promise.” She was so surprised' she did not know wh» to say. At length she said, “What do you want?” “A kiss,” he replied. “Oh —h!” and she turned to flee up the hill, but Billy like a flash caught her. It was useless for her to try to get away, even if she wanted to. (Copyright, 1918. by McClure Newspaper Syndicate.)