SHORT STORY

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 51, 23 May 1927, Page 3

SHORT STORY

AN EVEN CHANCE Gy T. FRANCIS CHAPTER I. brown a eyes bya pair oI dark lips! Not It oil f, pair , of very red things are candidT^thS ASKS. s; sjsk. •as r &g T h oh S tha , t V° un S manhood ought to /e Lob overlooked the fact might have been more regularly hand some, but knew and rejficed that he orTecent been generoi^ or decent or strong and healthy. He knew that Boy might have beena little more brilliant as a scholar but reco" tefrnant m be th could hardly be more brilliant m both wordy and fisty comthatntji"fri°th,er r sid6 ’ E °V considered oia 1 b ? frle ? a s features, which everyS n .® a 5- kn ° w leclged as being wonderassetshandSOlne ’ W6re the ieast of his

t J here , V; -ere no secrets between these at ! f ast n °t until those brown eyes mentioned before, came within the line of vision of each of them. This happened at a dance given bv Lpbs cousin, Miss Alice Major ? a i? ce was most enjoyable, but each of the young gentlemen would + en Joy e d it more had they been -•it t^. obta i n more than one dance with Miss Ethel Goodman (some of whose features have already been described).

Unfortunately they had arrived together a little late, and by the time they were introduced to Miss Goodman, and before they caught their breath, she could only allot to them one dance each.

Her \_ dancing was ravishing, Lob thought, and was in keeping with her appearance. As they glided round the beautifully decorated and brightly lighted hall her face was near to his (for she was tall). He had never before seen such delicate beautv of skin and features—such hair, dark brown and radiant beneath the changing lights.

By the end of the dance he had fallen completely (as Boy had done a little earlier), and in the quiet of a cool conservatory he asked (as Boy had also done) if she would permit him to take her to a theatre some night soon. He was overwhelmed with joy (as Boy had been) when she promised to go.

Undoubtedly it was spring, with its proverbial effect upon young men which led him on in forwardness (which, perhaps because he had not been born with such a fortunate appearance, Boy had not been brave enough to essay) engendered by the proximity of such a vision of loveliness, which caused him to lose control of himself when, with her entrancing eyes, she smiled up at him and accepted his invitation. In an instant she was caught up in a passionate embrace by a pair of strong arms. Blushing, but, to his joy, not angry, she quickly arose and went back to the hall, where the strains of music could again be heard. CHAPTER 11. This was the beginning of it all. Theatre parties, dances, and card parties, at which Miss Ethel Goodman was present, confirmed first impressions, and fanned the attraction into a stronger desire. Each boy, though neither suspected the other, was madly in love with her. But at last the bomb burst. It was at another dance—here also was another conservatory, and again dancing was hot work. Lob had been dancing with a newly-met and not very attractive partner, and was glad when the music stopped and he had excused himself, to take the opportunity of a cigarette in the cool air. Quietly he made his way to a seat in the garden which he was in the habit of frequenting at such times as this. As he rounded a piece of ver-dure-covered trellis work he stopped short, for the seat was already occupied by two people. He was unobserved, and as he turned to go the girl broke into a rippling laugh of sweet amusement. In an instant Lob was motionless —that laugh was unmistakable, inimitable. With a start he realised what a cad he was to stay there, but before he could move the man’s voice, in pleasant conversation, came to his ears. Lob received the most painful shock of his life—-again there was no mistaking that voice. All the pleasure went out of the evening for him, and in its place was a spirit of bitter jealousy.

Hastily Lob made his way from the place. Without so much as a word of excuse to his hostess he walked rapidly down the drive and out into the road.

Sick at heart, and with a feeling of deep disappointment and injustice—which he was not in the mind to probe —he wandered about aimlessly for some time. In vain he tried to convince himself that the relations, between Boy and Ethel Goodman were nothing more than those between all the other people who must have been sitting out after that dance; but somehow the merry ring of her laugh and the intimate tone of his conversation kept recurring to him. If she was fond of Boy why had she accepted his own advances? Why had not Boy, if he called him friend — he must have noticed his (Lob), love of the girl—kept away from her —or spoken up to him like a man? Immediately it dawned on him that Boy had not noticed his obsession, as he had not noticed Boy’s. There was only one thing to be done; they must thrash the matter out between them.

CHAPTER 111. That night when Boy returned Lob was waiting up for him. It did not take him long to tell his story and to ask his question. Boy was obviously hit as badly as his friend by the discovery that they both loved the same girl, and for a long while neither knew what to do. Time and again they had had diffei - ences and paltry altercations, and, in the oldest of methods of settlement had found great satisfaction; but this it seemed to both boys was not a case where fighting would help much. Both knew although former occasions had never warranted it, that Boy was capable of giving the other terrible pun<Phe obvious solution for some time did not occur to either of them. Each would thev thought, rather die than relinquish this girl, whose beauty was sheer delight and whose presence their verv valhalla. Presently Lob arose, and withoiu lookins at his friend reached down from a shelf above the bed two pairs of boxing-gloves. ■ _ .. “There’s only one thing for it, old son,” he said; ' ‘we’ll decide who asks her first.” , _ . . In an instant the other was on his f6 “That’s no good. Lob, you know I could eat you; let’s spin a coin, then it’s an even chance.” .... . Lob had a glove on his right hand, and his answer was a smart smack on th It°did r not a take long for the com-,.-,nts to get ready now that the matter was to be settled, and the settlin'- didn't take long eiher, but while ft "fated it was painfully willing. There was no time to arrange rounds and no inclination to stop until someone could not come up to it. There was for a moment, on the part of the better fighter, a little reluctance to mix It properly, but a few unmistakably sincere blows of his opP™nt's fist's soon dispelled that feelinThe thud of hard, raining blows, the

pad of dancing feet, and the fierce hiss of intake?! breath lent atmosphere to the arena. The end came suddenly, but not unexpectedly. With a swinging blow to Lob’s chin, Boy sent his pal reeling to the wall, against which he lolled helplessly for a moment, then sank almost unconscious to the floor. In an instant Boy had his gloves off, and carefully lifted the other on to the bed. Lob came-to to find the other anxiously leaning over him asking if he was feeling better. For a moment their eyes met. Simultaneously Lob grinned, and the victor burst out, "'What a pair of dammed fools!” Then 1 from a cupboard in the corner of the room he produced a bottle and two glasses of foam-topped amber liquid, and handed one to his companion. Silently they raised their glasses to each other, and silently drained them —(how many a pair of jousting knights must have done the same in the good old days!) for their bout had been strenuous, and in the best of all causes. ‘‘Look here, squire,” said Boy, “we’re both off to-morrow night to interview Ethel together. It’s no use our going on like this—she’s the one who’ll have to decide eventually—one of us will get the bird, and he’ll have to grin and bear it.” At last they both agreed to this plan. CHAPTER IV. Next evening the young men visited Ethel Goodman’s home. They found the girl in the garden—reclining on a lawn in front of a long and beautiful wistaria-covered terrace. She was reading and did not notice their approach, for the lawn was thick and the air full of the busy chatter of birds preparing for the night’s rest. As they came near her the two stood, with one accord, and silently worshipped her beauty—in both their minds was the thought that in a few minutes they must know the best—or the worst. Beautiful, indeed, she was at this moment, with the fast setting sun turning her thick head of hair into a mass of gold, and revealing the shining white skin of her graceful neck against the shade which, cast by some cluster of blooms, obscured the lower part of the face, only to give added charm to a delightful profile of forehead, nose, and soft and sweetly feminine mouth. Looking up she saw her visitors and, stretching out a hand to-them, motioned them to sit down also. But the occasion was one which did not permit of the spokesman—Boy—accepting the offer, much though he felt like it. With a quick glance at the other young man he rushed on with the job in hand. “Ethel,” he said in a voice which, to Lob, sounded as if it proceeded from his boots, “we have both discovered that we love you—or, rather, we have each known that since first we met you. This is not a proposal en masse,” he hastened to add as the young lady sat up quickly; “but what I mean is that each has jiist discovered that the other loves you, and so we decided that we should come and ask you which one you really love—and put one of us out of his agony.” Having got this much off satisfactorily, Boy paused to take breath, but as he perceived that Miss Goodman was about to say something he rushed on so that she might harbour no false impressions. “We realise that it will be very awkward for you to jump up and come to the arms of one of us in the presence of the other, for (and I assure you it has been wonderful and almost unbelievable to both of us), you have, we feel, been not displeased by our attentions.” Here again he paused for breath. “We have decided that the least painful method for all concerned is that the two gentlemen walk, for instance, to different ends of this terrace and wait, and that you come, or go, to the lucky man; the other, after five minutes (that will give j y ou a little time, if necessary, to make the decision), will go straight away—with his sorrow.” This long speech ended, he sank to the ground with a sigh, and looked for approval from Lob, who nodded appreciatively, and for the effect of his oration on the girl. For a long while she said nothing; then slowly stood up. They stood up, too—Lob awkwardly tugging his collar into position, and Boy flicking from his coat sleeve an imaginary speck of dust which must have been invisible in the now almost complete darkness. They were standing side by side. Suddenly Ethel put her arms round Boy’s neck and kissed him squarely on the mouth. With a groan the other turned to go, but in an instant a pair of soft arms were about him and two warm lips were pressed to his. For a moment, which was pure ecstasy to him, her lips lingered on his —then she darted into the thick shadow of a mass of wistaria. The two boys regarded each other for a moment uncomprehendingly; then with one accord stretched out a hand to each other, turned and marched off slowly to either end of the terrace. * * * For about a minute Rov waited hopefully, expecting every moment to hear the soft whisper of his name. The seconds moved on; it was taking Ethel some time to decide; this was disappointing. He looked at his watch. The dimly perceptible second-hand was racing on. Another minute or so he waited, almost on tiptoe with expectation, knowing that she must come the next instant. But soon the little hand had passed through the third minute, dragging his spirits down deeper every second. The terrible thought that she might have gone to Lob occurred to him, and he could not put it by now with such confidence. Fiercely his conscience struggled against something within him which demanded that he should take a glimpse of anything that was to be seen at the other end of the garden. Prudence would not let him turn, for Ethel might come at any moment and

think him despicable for it. Time slipped on, and still the girl did not come. Fear gripped his heart —four minutes and no sound of approaching footsteps. Was she now in his rival’s arms receiving his passionate kisses? What was that? Nothing but a bird moving somewhere overhead. Shaking, he watched the secondhand of his watch galloping away with the last chances. It raced past the final division, and with a heart as heavy as lead he staggered helplessly off towards the gate. When Lob came home he looked in at his friend’s room. Boy was in bed, breathing thickly, and to his intense surprise there was an unmistakable odour of whisky about the room. The events of the evening had been heavy for Lob, too, and, closing the door gently, he went off to his own apartment. CHAPTER V. At precisely the same time next morning both young men came downstairs from opposite sides of the large hall. As they reached the bottom each looked up. and starting, recognised the other. For a moment only their eyes met, then through force of habit both moved off to the end of the ball where the letter-rack was. Neither ventured to speak. There was a letter for Boy addressed in a girlish hand which he recognised immediately. Slowly he tore open the envelope, and, after glancing hopelessly at the few lines it contained, dropped both hands limply to his sides and stood, not caring to look at his friend. To Boy, life seemed dreary now. Presently the letter was taken from his unresisting fingers. Still he took no notice —until suddenly he heard Lob swear softly. Looking up he saw the other with a letter in each hand glancing from one to the other—his face a sickly white. Again their eyes met. and Boy heard Lob groan: "Say, old chap, have you left any of that stuff you had iast night?”