The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-12-11
HER HEARTS COMMAND
Ey EnoeIh Moroap

- ~ ii' dStIdi ttiISiIl Is II l q tbi4lt Ia
contact with the world. as YOU call It, If
the experience doesn't really make one a
happier and better be!ng?"
1T depends upon what you mean by
happier and better" There was a tinge
Of defiance in Miss Harlow's voice, which
she tried to conceal beneath a frankly
cheerful smile.
The unexpected appearance of Wesley
Graha while she stood on the corner
waiting for a homeward-bound car had
rather disconnected her. She had reso-
lutely discouraged his attentions for the
past six months and had not seen him
for several weeks.
1t was the Wilted, weary time of day
when wage earning women are not apt to
look their best. Despite the fact that
Mss Harlow had long put vanity under
her feet as out of place in a woman striv-
ing to make her mark in the world, she
felt a distinct veXation that Graham
should meet her just now.
His argument, too. annoyed her. He
seemed to take delight in showing up-the
modern woman in pathetic instead of
glowing colors.
Miss Harlow pulled vaguely at her
disheVeled vel and wondered If any SCOT
apotS SpT-nkleI her cnln.
Her ignorance regarding this was not
q ynonym for bliss. and when Graham
swung upon the packed platform of the
crowded cable car beside her she was
guilty of taking n surreptitious glance in
TO her mirror.
Reassured. she bravcly pursued the ar
gument.
Happiness she persisted, ignoring
possible listeners in her earnestness, sis
NOT fnnI11ni,n ftyn,-- 4. = $50. ~. a.
Velopment. l mean happiness as the
world understands It,"
she chung to the doorway for ]suDport
as the car swung round a corner, rigldly
ignoring the encircling protection of Ora
hams arm.
What do you mean when you say
that?' he demanded. Are you sure that
YOU know what you mean?'
"Of course l know" she replied QUIETLY.
though with spirit. II mean that even a
strenuous life of unceasing toll and eff
fort, u~nbrightened by romance or pleas
Nre. is, because of the larger l,fe that
goes with it, far preferable to an exist
ence of purely selfish happiness. Women
are seeing that today as never before,
absolute independence is the prerogative
or the modern woman. She refuses to
lean. She does not have to lean"
AS the words left her lips the car again
rounded a corner sharply, sending the
helpless passengers lurching against each
other.
Her rigid attitude was of no avail this
tine. Before she knew it she swayed
into the curve of Graham's
steadying arm.
on the instant her eyes met his fully.
A startled moment of silence followed.
Ihen Miss HARLOW seized the broken
thread of their talk with a desperate and
visible determination. 1t was as though
she had in that m mentally faced,
fought and ~vanquished an unseen enemy.
Graham watched her features merciless-
" as she hurried on with her positive as
sertions and declarations, but she would
not allow her eyes to meet his.
Her manner grew yet more distant when
ne left the car with her and started to ac-
company her homeward.
AT the door of her boarding house he
startled ner with an abrupt question::
Are you always going to discourage me
thls way! Aren't you ever going to give
inc any hope?"
Taken aback by his traightforward-
ness, Miss Harlow uttered a half gasp,
while her swift upward glance caught
the look in his eyes. "Goodby," she said
hurriedly.
Il expect an answer. Won't you send
me some word?" he persisted.
Perhaps" answered Miss Harlow. The
yielding in her own voice alarmed her.
she mated herself for being sorry when
ne turned to go. A strange distress strug-
gled at her heart, so she FASTENED up
stairs to her room.
A new and powerful realization was
forcing itself upon her with a marvellous
ins.stence. The poignant sweetness of it
enWrapped and thrilled her. 1t was the
memory of that startled moment in the
crowded car.
Alone in her room she seemed no long
er able to ignore that memory. But she
was strong, as the new woman invariably
Is, ana her well trained will, accustomed
to combat, leapcd now to assert Itself.
This is folly" she muttered, land not
to be encouraged by even a thought. With
a large life of usefulness stretched be-
fore me, such a consideration is out OF
the question:"
But the argument between heart and
head waXer more earnest yet, despite her
efforts to silence it.
After dinner she sat out on the steps
IN the damp, sweet spring dusk and alb
sently joined in the conversation Of other
boarders. Her thoughts followed an I'M
~dercurrent of their own 81
1T is folly. You must Danish 1t from
your mind sad reason.
but 1 cannot forget 1t. The memory
clings to me so. How do I know that I
ought to Danish it?" protested her heart.
Sdu II IL "edhneSS-lle primal in
stinct of the feminine to lean on some
thing stronger for support. The new
woman does not lean. She does not have
o lean"
Her very words! Spoken at the thresh-
hold of that golden moment when the
touch Of Graham's arms had thrilled her.
The memory surged over her now, nor
could reason beat 1t back. She knew at
last that the shelter of those arms meant
more to her than all her glittering dreams
of independence and achievement.
SIDE by side with her vision of happi-
ness the specter faced her of a lifelong
ambition trembling to its ruin. But the
specter did not dismay her. j.
his wife," came the final plea of her
heart, would you not fulfill even a high
err destiny ?"
After a time she went upstairs to her
ROOM, singing softly under her brea IN
At her desk she sat writing a letter. It
found it's way to mail box on the corner
that night. In it was the message for
which Graham waited.
The Street Wrongly Named.
Yonkers Statesman:
man who named the New yorly ,..~