Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1902-10-24
His Soul and
His Body~~
By s. RHErr ROWAN.

worked all day from six a. m. to six
p. m. in a big beet factory, until the
days watch alternating, he would
work from six p. m. to six a. M, and
IS hours out of the "a, which was
every two weeks.
James Kenneth boiled all the sug-
ars of the refinery, and boiled them
well, and looked after the working
of the house at night with consci-
entious care, when the superintend-
ent slept.
It was skillful, arduous toll, &C
complisfed with mathematical pre-
cision, just like the throb of the en-
CINE, tho beat of the piston-rod and
the slow grind of the mill, which
never stopped, never relaxed and
never fastened it's motion.
Kenneth's body slept its scant al
lowance of hours, and watched and
labored the remainder of the time,
and went the rounds of the vast re-
fnery among the complicated and
whirring machinery, keenly regard
full of the interests of the owners Of
the big plant and surrounding beet
fields. He gave orders to those I'M
der him, and saw that the thin sliced
beet-roots were boiled to pulp, the
juice extracted and converte& into
different grades and kinds of sugars,
never Tarying in the excellence of his
work, or his vigilance, and conse-
quently holding high place in the
superintendent esteem as being the
most valuable and valued man in the
Pacific coast refinery, which is the
best in the state of Oregon.
But James Kenneth's labors were
all mechanical. His sugarmaking,
like the rest of his life, was done by
force of habit, and the routine of
his days followed in grooves, and on
lines, traced by long training, by ne
cessity, and the exigencies of condi
tions accepted as inevitable.
From buoyant, light-hearted and
reck!essly gay, in early youth, Ken
meth had grown to be grave and mel
ancholy, in his thirtieth year, al
though no complaint crossed his lips,
nor was his silence morose, nor his
words indicative of the inward strug-
gle always going on, between deep
rooted and profound depression and
life habit of proper reserve, which
inculcated that our griefs and loves,
and joys, and sorrows are our own,
not to- be desecrated by display or
paraded for careless scrutiny and
comment.
Kenneth's body lived in the hust-
ling Pacific coast town, where trade
was brisk, cowboys and stalwart min
ers were frequent visitors, and the
free, primitive life of the great west
ern plains was being rapidly merged
into the feverish struggles of over
wrought civilization, whose ambition
shining dollar.
But Kenneth's soul and memory
dwelt persistentfy in city near the
seq, where the winds blow gently
from Inc south in summer, and keen,
cold and invigorating from the north
when winter and it's bright days
come.
They dwelt among palms and flow
ers, surrounding an ancient brick
house, facing an avenue where ran
long line of trees; around an old
home ia whose rooms fingered the
scent # verbena and musk roses,
and in whose halls the echo of a
rich, gay voice reverberated, and
careless laughter was frequent.
If it was thoughtless and egotisti-
cEl laughter, Kenneth was not aware
of it. If the ease and comfort which
reigned in the shaded and finely old
fashioned rooms, where a fretful,
handsome, eldedly woman went back
and forth and Mignon's gay voice re-
sounded. Kenneth neither realized
nor saw it, but bent to his task with
still more asSiduous ardor. for did
not Mignon's needs grow as each
year added grace to her light form
and aeauty to face lit with violet
blue eyes?--a face whose red lips
could be compressed into lines of
scruelty when the within and desire
of the moment was not gratified.
s'Kenneth? Oh, he's such a plod
der!" Mignon complained, carelessly,
to silent listener. He takes no
interest in anything outside of his
work. He loves machinery, and is
never happy unless he is pottering
about in big sugar mill. Ask mann
ma. He would not come home at
all last year, you remember. He just
went from one place to the other.
Came Lack from Cuba, and went out
west, and never stopped here to see
US. But he sent me a lovely pin for
Christmas, and let me order furs in
New York. Ken's dear. And l have
my French maid, too. Nobody can
be properly dressed without a French
maid. Felicie does hair divinely. I
got her because she left New York
~, account of her health Overx0rL
she SAYS. / wrote to Ken that I
positively must have her. She does
over my ball gowns and makes them
look positively new. She made me
the loveliest little wrap of mechlin