The Test
Six minutes
to six, said the clock over the information booth in
Lt. Blandford remembered one day in particular, the worst of
the fighting, when his plane had been caught in the midst of a pack of enemy
planes.
In one of
those letters, he had confessed to her that often he felt fear, and only a few
days before this battle, he had received her answer: “Of course you
fear...all brave men do." Next time you doubt yourself, I want you to hear
my voice reciting to you: 'Yea, though I walk through the
He was
going to hear her voice now. Four minutes to six.
A girl
passed closer to him, and Lt. Blandford started. She
was wearing a flower, but it was not the little red rose they had agreed upon.
Besides, this girl was only about eighteen, and Hollis Maynel
had told him she was 30. "What of it?" he had answered, "I'm
32." He was 29.
His mind
went back to that book he had read in the training camp. "Of Human
Bondage" it was; and throughout the book were notes in a woman's
handwriting. He had never believed that a woman could see into a man's heart so
tenderly, so understandingly. Her name was on the bookplate: Hollis Maynell. He got a hold of a
But she had
refused all his pleas to send him her photograph. She had explained: "If
your feeling for me had no reality, what I look like won't matter. Suppose I am
beautiful. I'd always be haunted that you had been taking a chance on just
that, and that kind of love would disgust me. Suppose that I'm plain, (and you
must admit that this is more likely), then I'd always fear that you were only
going on writing because you were lonely and had no one else. No, don't ask for
my picture. When you come to
One minute
to six...he flipped the pages of the book he held. Then Lt. Blandford's
heart leapt.
A young
woman was coming toward him. Her figure was long and slim; her blond hair lay
back in curls from delicate ears. Her eyes were blue as flowers, her lips and
chin had a gentle firmness. In her pale-green suit, she was like springtime
come alive.
He started
toward her, forgetting to notice that she was wearing no rose, and as he moved,
a small, provocative smile curved her lips.
"Going
my way, soldier?" she murmured. He made one step closer to her. Then he
saw Hollis Maynell.
She was
standing almost directly behind the girl, a woman well past 40, her graying
hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump. Her thick-ankled feet were thrust into low-heeled shoes. But she wore
a red rose on her rumpled coat. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly
away.
Blandford felt as though he were being split in two, so keen was his
desire to follow the girl, yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose
spirit had truly companioned and upheld his own, and there she stood. He could
see her pale face was gentle and sensible; her gray eyes had a warm twinkle.
Lt. Blandford did not hesitate. His fingers gripped the worn
copy of "Of Human Bondage" which was to identify him to her. This
would not be love, but it would be something special, a friendship for which he
had been and must be ever grateful...
He squared
his shoulders, saluted, and held the book out toward the woman, although even
while he spoke he felt the bitterness of his disappointment.
"I'm
Lt. Blandford, and you're Miss Maynell.
I'm so glad you could meet me. May--may I take you to dinner?"
The woman's
face broadened in a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is all about,
son," she answered. "That young lady in the green suit, she begged me
to wear this rose on my coat. And she said that if you asked me to go out with
you, I should tell you she's waiting for you in that restaurant across the
street. She said it was some kind of test."
By S.I.Kishor