ONE SUMEMR'S DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 23, 27 January 1934, Page 8

ONE SUMEMR'S DAY

, (Original, jby "Double Dutch, (15), City.) TEE day dawned in a mellow flush of gold and rose. In the hush of the new-born hours the linnet' trilled its sweet treble in the still slumbering lilaubush, while the bees buzzed busily as they dipped from one ilower to another.

In » little cottage garden, nestled in the corner of the street that sloped down to the beach, Diana Vernon sat on a rustic seat, gazing at a weo^peep of blue-gcecn, glistening sea. "Why ,did she sigh on such a lovely summer's morning? Di was lonely. She had just ebme to live at Water's Ridge with Grandma, and, being of a shy, retiring disposition, she hadn't tho capacity foi- Waking friends .easily. "I do wish I knew someone here who ■wouldn't think mo stuck-up!" she sighed, and, as a party of light-hearted picnickers went by, a blur of tears welled in her hazel eyes. '' Now I'm being a baby," she thought, and shook"her dark head with its two long braids of hair. 0 . : \ ■~'..■■ "Dfi, I want you, dear," called Grandma at that moment. Thiere was someone else"who had lately come to Water's Ridge, and who TVXS in iwant of companionship. It was Patsy Mulgrave, but she was deterTOincd that the "lonely imp" wouldn't settle' on her shoulder for long, so, kissing her mother and calling a "Cheerio," she- set out in search of company, , "I'm sure to find a churn down on the beach," she thought. "Summer stihshine and sea waves make people friendly." Patsy was different from ■ ©isma, having a crop of rebellious red curls and merry blue eyes, but as tho ■tale 'goes on you will find out that their natures were cast in much tho same -mould. As she neared tho Vernon Js cottage she saw Diana leaning agaitust the fence, her chin sunk on her hand, and looking altogether despondent. "liOnely, I bet," was Patsy's first thought, then —"Hello!" sho cried in the friendliest tone. "Want a mate?" Diana looked up and encountEiOd a pair of smiling eyes. ' , . "Oh!" exclaimed the surprised Di. "Oh—cr —well, Tarn a bit!lonpsomo." ■.' "Me," too," said Patsy, completely at her case. '"Let's go down for a •'Clips that's if you're allowed." ";dh, yes; I'll, be allowed," and Di ran inside, coming out again with Aer swimming suit. s ,"\Wre going to have real summery fun, now," Patsy said, gleefully, after they had exchanged names and the usual "whys and wherefores." ■ , "I hope so," replied Diana, still little timidly. ./ "I know so," Patsy assured her, and her statement was proved true: 'Such fun they had roinping on the sands with other holiday-makers, and flashing in the cool waves. "Summer's the'time for fun!" laughed Patsy. "Rather!" agreed Di, forgetting her reserve in tho company of this jolly girl, and enjoying the golden moments to the full. All the afternoon they explored the caves or sat on rugged rocks making iplan3 for the morrows. As tho day advanced so did their new-found friendship. / :.:■■ "I think you're a brick, Patsy," Diana, said sincerely, looking into her xed-headea friends steady blue eyes. "You rescued me from ," hero she paused and,smiled, "from those lonely imps, and now ." "Go on," Patsy, "going" all pink," as she would have saidv for the first time nvher fourteen years. "Tou'ro not so dusty yourself, Di Vernon." Then they laughed, r •.','. , . ■" "All on a summer's day> too," remarked Diana. - They wended their way homeward by way of a rough little path in the cliff, just as the sun was setting. "I wonder," murmured Patsy, "where the sunsets of lost summer days go." They gazed back'at the gilories of crims6n and gold streaked with misty mauve. Diana's voice was soft as she spoke. "I like to imagine the Harbour of Lost Sunsets as a mystical place inhabited by fairy merchants, whd sell the faded sunsets.to fairy kings for cloaks." '.■ ' . ■■..:.■'.' '■■..,-'