Hutchinson gazette., 1900-10-04
994444%4t111,T'1414444 44441'
JUST A TASTE OF YOUTH.

!
the gulls ,brooded, Time hung q llttle
heavily with the passengers, and they
fell TO N Ak,ng the most Of one nn-
other In sheer ennui, Though, upon
reflection, II may not have been ennul
that made Sally Appleton make the
moF Of her ne!ghbors, Ennul SEEM
I'd not the emotion to which she would
q girl Of 81, with brown hair and
eyes, ashes Cf obtrusively modest
Troop, u mouth Of tender curves,
which In smiling, betrayed cleaning,
perfect teeth, and ylgur, feel any
emotions save those which belong 20
youth and happiness? Something OF
the udyCnurer wns In her blood, TOO,
perhaps, and the voyage PIT her OF
her hest, II made no difference 10
her that The ship wus going along u
much-frcQuented pnth, that thousands
had been that way before her. She
md the sensation whenever noun
ain peak came IN view or unl Island
ited ils green hend upon The horizon
NJ having discovered ", Not u riyei
bus seemed TO beckI n her 10 follow IT,
not q canyon between the lonely hills
out seemed TO have q secret for her,
AS the ship went still further north,
and the bright stars Of the further sky
broke upon her gaze, u fine eNc~, mem
prcvaded her every hour, The groan-
ng glacial rivers thrilled her rs no
orchestra had ever done, This splcndor
,f the aurora borenlls, crimson, green
about the northern half Of the deep
sky, made her shout with pure joy;
'ne fumed nt the corStr0jnt of the ship
with rs too brief terminals, and long
'd for the time Of old and the Long
Scrrcat, q crew of sea roycrs and the
power to make a Saga OF brave deeds.
Being only girl with q watchful
aunt and uncle ut hand she admitted
herself TO civilization with what grace
she could and made the best OF her
time In other ways, The men were de-
ic''ted to he her companions, No one
c,se did a thrce-mlle walk on the deck
with suck nlacrity ard nerve No
jther womNn was so rendy for a ride
IN the swift Alaskan steamers, or
ramp over the mountains In search OF
iewelgreen lake, or curious settle
ment Of Indians, among their totems
md their dogs. She became an enthu-
sast ever the rudely beaten out silver
u The natives and connoisseur OF
hund-woven blankets,
She took II quite Ns matter OF
course that the men should vie with
snch other for IN opportunity to be
1er escort on the occasions when the
slip law at port rNr freight and the
passengers were civ en- the day for eX-
ploralions; she was not mt all surpris-
I'd that they stood about the tnffrail
waiting til she came from the break.
last table before they selected n COM
DnniOn for the morning constitutional;
md II was particularly irritating when
she chose to walk with the squat little
woman missionary or the English
:puf,cr in hobrnalled shncs and yell
low Chinese rain coat, who was max
ing her way around the world In
deed, everyone else took II. ms n matter
Il course, too, and had pleasure In
wr,ch'ng the girl and her innocent an.
lies Every one had n pleasant word
for her 1t wns generally conceded
that she was the life Of the ship,
That she was giving the least pain
to anyone never entered her head, and
she felt IN actual shock Of surprise
when one evening, ms she stod alone,
watching the water shaking into great
yomber pads like the leaves Of n mann
moth lily, Mrs, Ball, young widow
came to her and said:
"My dear, have come to ask fav-
or CT you,'
Miss Appleton, always delighted to
10 n favor, gave smiling attention.
"I'm lonely woman, Miss Apple
ton, Once knew just ns much
pleasure us you do, My life was so
full that It seemed as II II could never
he empty. but the people loved best
have died or they have gone far away
where cannot see them. haven't
quite shaken my sorrows off sufficient
y to readjust myself, SO | came away
and I'm enjoying this journey Now
I'm going to be absolutely frank with
your and confessto you that one Of the
chief reasons for my enjoyment has
been the attention which Mr.. Mcln-
tosh has been showing me. l know
ITS ridiculouS-but you will learn ad
YOU grow older that some Of the things |
which give the gr West pleasure are
those which othc, Iulks dcnomnate |
Mr. Mcintosh Is younger |
than I, Of course, and he means moth
ing whatever by his attentions to me
except to he courteous. Yet II gives
me great pleasure to have him for my |
escort. For the first time in months
| seem TO be able to Danish the dcprcS-
sion that clings about me- 1t seems as |
if ! was able TO throw of those invis- |
ible hands OF sorrow that have been
me and pulling me down. |
cun imagine that something of my |
youth and light henrtedneSs have
come back to me. | actually take
pleasure in dressing myself bccoming-
|" Until last nigh NE. Mcintosh had
devoted himself exclusively to me.
Then he chose to walk with you about
the deck in the moonlight. sat alone.
No one spoke to me. Now what I'm
going to say Is that there n dozen
or fifteen men wanting to talk to You,
But well, had only this one ami
able young fellow, whom I like
and who helps me to for
get. lie heals the wound which des-
tiny has given to my vanity lie saves
me from the chngrln Of being alone