Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1898-08-12
PHYLLIS AND 1.
Phyllis suggested 1t.

Phyllis suggested 1t.
OF course acQuiesced. II had not
well, that's another story.
Phyllis has such an astonishing way
Of suggesting things, and, too, such
determined way Of carrying out her
suggestions, little matter what stand
in the way, that she is ever, 1t seems,
at work in her mind, planning. t-..
Her last idea, that is the last In
which I figure to any length, was this
ride.
"I'n tell you what let's do" she
said.
"What?" said.
Lets take all the nice country runs
out of town and see the fields and
farms and cows and sheep and things"
Good" said l. We'll do it."
And we did. Th:t Is to say, we
have taken tie first. The others will
como later.
To begin at the beginning, 1t were
we'll to say that Phyllis is death ON
lunch baskets. IF l were going from
here to California" she has often re-
marked, land had not a dime in my
pocket for food, would starve before l
would carry lunch in shoe box"
So my idea of taking lunch and
eating tive two-on some nice soft
bit Of grass, possibly beneath the
dancing leaves of great oak, with the
beauties Of nature all about us, and
the birds singing in the branches
above, was sat upon directly 1t had
been expressed.
1--WE shall do nothing Of the Sort"
said Phyllis. 1--WE shall take only the
wheels and the camera, and really I'd
rather we didn't carry that, only l sup
pose you must. But a lunch! Never!
We shall stop at some road house or
other and eat picked tongue and olives
like tourists in the garden Of YER
, sailles. And II am not hungry we
shall not eat at ALL"
And Of course that settled 1t. Argu-
ing with Phyllis over anything were a
| waste Of breath and time. but the more
particularly in the matter Of carrying
lunch. So I had only the hope that
Phyllis might be hungry before the
ride had ended.
"And when shall we go?" asked
meekly.
why, tomorrow, of course" she an
swered. "And early in the afternoon,
directly we have eaten lunch-and
bring a book, a nice book, one suited
to such an excursion"
I promised, and that evening I put
in three good hours fixing the camera,
and cleaning the wheel and filling Its
tires with nice fresh evening air.
And then there came trouble. 1t lay
in the selection of book. Short sto-
ries would not do, that l knew, for
Phyllis doesn't care for short stories.
Essays then-no, far too deep. And
then exclaimed, "By Jove, have it,"
and my fingers clutched little fiat
book in red and bearing its title in
gold on either cover-"Ecca Puella"-
Behold! The Girl!
"Just the one." said flor Phyllis"
So that was the book that went with
us, book Of nature, and beauty and
womanly loveliness and cupids and all
else that is pleasant In this sordid
world.
1t was very shortly after lunch that
I rolled up to Phyllis front porch.
She was waiting even then. Our start
was very inauspicious though she did
occupy twenty mortal minutes arrang-
ing her skirt to her satisfaction. We
had reached Woodward avenue, Phyllis
a trifle in advance, when suddenly she
ran up to the curb and balancing her
wheel at a standstill, exclaimed, Have
you any idea where We are going?
nearly fell from my mount. A des-
tination or route for our first ride
had not occurred to either Of us.
Then remembered that there was a
cycle path out Jefferson avenue way
easier riding, you know-so l said, as
though l had considered that to have
been our ride all the time, why, out
the Crosse Pointe road, of course.
Didn't we agree upon that last night?"
mo, we didn't" said Phyllis, land
you know 1t"
Then after another quarter OF an
hour spent in arranging useless skirts
we got under way again. The roll down
Woodward avenue was uneventful,
very. There was nothing but stores,
and busting crowds and street car
tracks and creaking trolleys and
bumpety bumps over rails with dodge
AAare to keep from running down I'M