Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1888-08-29
SANB0RN.
His Transformation, and Whit
Brought It About.
A Prize Story written by Harry II. SUIT
Of Lansing, Mich.


AWARDED First Prize in Detroit Essnia0 NsSpI
State Press Premium Competition.l
10 Is certain Sanborn was peculiar. The
rosorters spent a good deal OF time on and
ON, when the fishing was not good, or the
pavilion music developed rather mvre ais
tinct traces Of beer and rather less intima
tons Of the waltz than usual In critical
studies Of his character, and Il occurred &c
them that he was oven remarkable.
They had never seen a human being capa
bic OF surrounding himself with so dense Q
physical and mental calm as the man with
the expressiouless voice and straggly brown
beard who rented tho boats around at the
old wharf, and while one could not help but
sec that he might have been energetic
enough and clever enough IL he had cared &c
take tho trouble, every body agreed that II
would require nothing less than mighty
emphatic earthquake shock TO set throbbing
the mysterious and impalpable main.
spring which would have driven on day and
night all tho delicate little wheels and
springs and levers Of being that tho resort
ers were fond Of philosophizng about, but
which somehow, had never been reused &c
action In Sanborn. But they were all quite
wrong II required only the clinging touch
Of little ohild's hand TO do IL.
The pity Of IL was that Sanborn was near.
~ forty before Fannie came. The fact that
during the long summer he was compelled
20 breathe In several thousand times day
tho heat quivers that hung tremulous over
the sandy beach road in order 10 exist at all
was 80 crushing in itself that when 1t oc
CURED 10 him Sanborn could only master
his emotion by wandering down to the rick
city wharf which ran out INTO the clear
waters Of Pine Lake and doing regretfully
on in any one Of his boats that CHANGED 70
be rocking idly alongside. But when he
strobe out Of the sitting little chamber
whore no saw for the first time Zannie's
blue eyes staring contented up at him from
the place where his wifo's calloused hands
held her closely, his bent shoulders had
Strengthened by some miracle, and a cur.
rent Of strong, full life such as he had new.
or known before tingled through his veins
and impelled him 10 action.
The resort people watched the metamor.
phosis In Sanborn incredulously. Wagers
were freely laid that the handspring which
depended for It's going on so fleeing a thing
as the imbecile doubling Of a pair Of chubby
fists, the mysterious CLEANS Of light from
laughing eyes or the hold upon existence
OF lite as fragile as one of the reeds that
swayed lightly up and down before the
surge OF the lake would not last the season
out.
But the reed did not break, and when they
came back the next summer and the next, q
boy with q chronically repentant expression
held the key 10 the row-boat situation, and
Sanborn was hard at work on hired land
back on the hills BY and by a sunbeam fol-
lowed in tho wake OF his plow-share. The
sunbeam's face was not always irreproach-
ably clean, and the yellow hair would get
bit tangled at times, but that was a summer
nights breath against the granite wall of
Banborn's homage, and as for Zannio-well,
Fannie didn't mind any thing 80 long as she
could DO with Dan-it was one Of the pecu.
iarities OF Zannie's being that she couldn't
call Sanborn any thing but Dan to save her
the llvelong day, and bask In the atmo-
shore OF mutual worship which enveloped
the two. And then tho eveningsl Dan and
she always spent them on the bench in front
OF the little house, where, when they tired
OF the flashing lights and the laughter of
the resort grounds, near by, they watched
an a blessed silence the long slant Of the
silver sheen which tho moon sent across the
sparkling waters Of the Lake o the Pines,
and which Sanborn one night in q burst Of
inspiration christcncd Zannie's pathway
and then pledged tho child To inviOlate So
crecy over the discovery.
People had quite recovered from their
astoniahmeut at tho revelation I'm Sanborns
system Of existence when one day, four
years after Fannie had come into his life, he
went away 20 meet the man who contem-
plated buying the little place that he might
magnhcontly dishpire the shore with an.
other summer hotel Sanborn might posi-
bly, return that night; no hardly thought he
shoOld. Stil, whom Fannie heard the dis
tant clatter and rumble OF the evening train
as II rushed away from the little station on
the opposite side Of the lake, and raising
herself In bed caught glimpse Of the long
trail OF sparks left behind, 10 occurred 70
her that Dams possible return was a sub
jcct worthy Of investigation. Her mother
was asleep; there was no use in waking
her, but Il would be an altogether excellent
kiea 70 slip down to the landing place and
give the wandercr such an enrapturing sur
prise when his boat was driven into sight
by those long, sturdy strokes, II he had
CHANGED 10 como home
Through tho house, across the dusty road
and out on the old wharf swiftly sped the
whitc-garbed figure, her tawny hair stream
ing out behind No Dan In sight Oh, well,
ono couldn't row across that big lake In a
minute, and while she was waiting IL would
not be half bad fun TO look down into the
water and laugh derisively at the crinkly-
faced phantom Of n moon which was sailing
along In the depths in a state Of obvious in
toxication. And there, plainly within her
reach, n great fragrant water-lily was
holding ia head spontaneously.
"Idess I'll pick at for Dan, said Fannie,
critically
One Of the resorters who was lounging
under the naples with his gaze hxed on the
Zip OF his cigar, fancicd he heard the echo Of
q faint gasping cry. He did not hear IL
again, nor was zannie's CHEEKY babble
heard moro forever. AT her finger tips was
the coveted blossom when she tumbled