The Topeka state journal., 1901-08-31
As It Sometimes Happens.


fBy Esther Griffin White.1
The Old Man had been on the ram
page all day. The campaign for the
sena atorship hadn't been going his way,
and the evening before his most dan
gerous rivals cohorts had been often
sively confident, several minor aspir-
ants having retired from the field,
whose following had gone over bod
lily to the enemy. So the fight had mar
rowed down to these two-the Old Man
and Burford and the OLD Man hated
Burford as only age can hate magnetic
youth The night before there had been
an imDromptu ovation to Burford in
the lobbies of certain hotel. and when
/ saw the account of it in next morn
ing's papers / knew there'd be the deuce
to pay at the office that day. To the
world in general the Old Man sustained
his reputation as a genial big hearted.
generous and upright gentleman, a cap
iIal story teller, a famous maker of ar
ter-dinner speeches. a large contrib
utor to charities. a pillar of one of
the city's largest churches-in a word,
a good, solid man" as he was usually
referred to- But his employees knew
better. They knew him for what he
-irascible contentious intolerant
dictatorial, tyrannical. broWbeating.
He buHied US ALL especially the stenOg-
rapher- The rest of us didn't count
being men, but it went rather hard with
us to see her biting her lips and clench-
ing her hands under the desk TO keep
the tears back. For she was person
age of unbending exterior, and deter
mined TO keep stOlcal front Indeed
she was rather proud of this. But al
though our blood boiled within US, and
we all longed to jump on the Old Man
and throw him out of the eighth-stOry
window or kick him down the elevator
shaft, We didn't dare rise UP in her de-
fense. For if we had. we would have
been ignominously kicked out of our
+7r,1,
rapher knew this, and despised us for
it. We knew she did. That is, did.
She had ideals and romantic notions
about chiValry and Difference to the sex
attitude OF cynical Indifference as a ne w
woman. The others didn't know this,
but she used to talk to me good deal
when they had all gone and she was
sending off the mail. She would drop
her disdainful air then and tell me
what she'd do if she were a man and
another man bullied woman IN her
hearing 1 was old and safe and neu-
tral-tinted - a mere receptacle into
which she could pour her woes
If she had only known-but then, she
didn't What a poor groveling fool a
man can be a times! For the pleasure
of her contemptuOus condolences, of our
in the waning afternoon, 1
would sit tamely by while she raved
against my sex and said the sort of
things no man should endure from any
woman. But she was the kind of wo-
man a man will endure a good deal
from for the mere sake OF being able
10 look at her. For she was worth look
ing att And after all, a woman who
isn't worth looking at is an anomaly
m nature. She isn't performing her
part in the orchestra of life. And to
carry out the figure, our stenographer
was certainly playing the first violin for
she had bewildering hair vivid color
ng, an adorable mouth and a perfect |
" maddening trick of dropping her eye |
hal va a e2Ne
when she looked at you sometimes
a way tina made the blood begin 10 |
pound in your throat. OF course, she /
couldn't help it. 1t was merely be- |
cause she was a woman and the rest of |
rs We're men. But she knew the effect, |
and would practice it with the most 1
iiabolically deliberate and divinely in /
locent coquetry. She knew perfectly |
Well that, but for what is called con- /
vention, not a man jack of us but would |
walk across the room and kiss her till I
she cried.
We had all taken our turn looking /
,ver the tops of our books TO intercept |
3ne OF those tOrmenting glances, only to /
De withered by her disdain, TO shrivel I
With her contempt, and Johnnie fared I
1t first no better than the rest.
Johnnie was the new boy He had |
)een lifted from his own mOrtgaged |
ields and dropped into the midst Of
,ur skyscraper civilization from mo-
ives of policy on the part of the Old
Nan. Shortly after his name was
brought before the public as a candi-
late for Senate an opposition journal
lad limited darkly of possible disclcs-
lres discreditable to one Of the honor
lble aspirants for senatorial honors,
veil known as philanthroplst, put
Who was said to exact the last farthlng
# tribute from certain unfortunate
insmen who had. in an evil hour, mort
ragged their homes to him. Two days
Lfter this Johnnie was established in
he Office as a copyist- Johnnie was an
lnsOphisticated youth who wore his
lair in a plastered scalloped on his
Orehead and a brand new suit of
hand me downs" his big, red hands
langling from the short sleeves and
lis feet brilliantly conspicuous in bright
-elloW shoes. He was naively delight
q with everything, but was peIpet-
IaI eyesore and offense to the Old Man,
qhom he addressed by his hated name of
Ebenezer," prefixed by Cousin"
Ohnnie. however. never seemed to no
ice this He was fresh, healthy young
emocrat and the words classes and
masses" existed not in his vocabulary
His complete capitulation of the ste
lograp pher was observed by us with
afnful interest He would fix hyp-
Otic stare upon her for SO long some
f US would begin to shuttle with our
eet of knock things over accidentally,
rhich would bring him out from under
he influence for the time, but he would
OOn suffer a violent relapse, and sit
hewing his penholder ten minutes at
ime while he stared at her with the
lOSt audaclouS admiration But Hei
isdain like the old mans contempt :
idn't appear to affect him If he no
iced it he ignored it. He was per-
istent little devil. and at the end OF the
hird day was sharpening her pencils
nd helping her on with her overshoes.
Iuch to my annoyance, he took to
raiting until after the others had gone,
0 walk home with her. I had never
ven dared to ask her if I might He
aid he did it for exercise. and I used
o watch them walking down the street
rom our entrance with a sickening
ense of the futility of everything. Why
5as I not young2 Why had everything
erned to ashes under my touch? Why
7as / a stray and a solitary why-I.ord |
.ordt How a pretty woman will set a
arcel of men by the ears Here was
a sick old fool-there was Johnnis a
lbilant young fool