' Tis said that all things come to him who waits. And one Saturday afternoon I passed by a vacant lot in which a group of youngsters from my neighborhood were playing. Flora was amongst them. Somebody shouted my name, calling me to join them. Not having business elsewhere of sufficient importance to offset the pleasure of being near Flora, I immediately accepted the invitation. Little did I suspect it at the moment, but wonderful things were in store for me that sunny June afternoon. It is thus that Fortune favors us when we least expect her grace.

After a while the charming little mistress of my heart approached me, and with a friendly smile on her face, whispered:

" Let' s you and I run off somewhere and play by ourselves."

Had the sun suddenly turned green I could not have been more surprised. It was the first time she had ever addressed me except in the most impersonal manner. Furthermore, the secretive way in which she had communicated the little message, the furtive look she cast toward the others as she whispered it, were pregnant with romance. My heart leaped with pleasure as I nodded my conformity.

" All right! Come on!" she answered in a low voice, and together we slipped away unobserved by the rest. When we had rounded a corner, and were out of their range of vision, she again placed her lips close to my ear and shielding her mouth with her hand whispered:

" Let' s go to the park and play married."

The surprise I had received when she first addressed me was nothing compared to the electrical effect of this second communication, for the expression " playing married" had a very concise, and unmistakable meaning in our little world – a meaning which admitted of no misinterpretations.

The park she referred to was an extension of land which traversed the northern section of the city and which was destined some day to become a public part, having been purchased by the municipality for this purpose.