The progress., 1904-03-26
} The Postmistress
; of Circle City.
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BY Elizabeth Florence Gray.

n EFORE table, upon which lay ar
ID open letter, sat Eleanor Van Dyke
her chin resting in her hand and hel
eyes cleaning with amusement. Hel
: brow was slightly wrinkled, but the
light in her face indicated that the
problem to be solved was humorous
one. Again her eyes sought the note
my dear Mr.. Van DYKE" it ran
''the photograph of Chief Kadisham
sent in care of the postmaster Of Cir
Gle City has been received and delivered
to the Indian. The old fellow was
greatly pleased and grunted his satis-
faction when l told him it came from
gentleman living in San Francisco.
l have many snapshots of the chief,
but none of them represent him, as
does yours, patriotically draped in the
stars and stripes in celebration of the
Fourth of July. should therefore con-
slider it favor if you would send me
copy of the photograph to add to my
collection Yours truly,
CAROL H. MORGAN"
With the envelope was a card bear
ing the words, miss Morgan, Circle
City, Alaska" Evidently the postmas-
ter of this northern town was a wom-
an, and she had inclosed ten cents in
payment for the picture Eleanor
gazed at the coin whimsically, and
wondered whether it would be better
: te send it bec,. or have it framed. She
rather inclined toward the latter, for
money which she had herself earned
would be curiosity to show her
friends. AS she turned the coin over
it seemed to convey some thought, for
and exchanged the dainty monogram
paper for a plain sheet of larger di-
mens,ons, upon which she wrote in
bold, angular hand:
my Dear Miss Morgan:
Your letter at hand. Enclosed you
will find the coveted photograph of
the old chief and several pictures of
the Klondike which l hope may be of
interest to you. | trust you will par
don me, however, if return this coin,
for | could not think of accepting
money from lady, especially one
whose handwriting has taken SO great
a hold upon my fancy. Some claim
that the soul is revealed in the face,
others in the voice, but it seems to
me that yours has crept out through
your finger tips. May l not see more
of it,"
Hello, Sis, what are you doing?"
asked youthful voice from the door.
Il am playing the part of a man,
in a comedy" replied the girl, land
+" A merry laugh broke into her
sentence.
Nov, I'd advise you"
That's just like you, Harold, AL
ways ready to give advice. Perhaps
If you read these, your opinion will
have more weight" She handed her
brother the two letters.
well, this is amusing" he said, as
he read the first note. What do you
suppose made her think you were a
man? Your handwriting?"
mo, l don't believe it was my hand
writing. l suppose few women visit
Circle City, and besides. enclosed the
photograph in a business envelope of
fathers, because mine were all too
small"
"A few more letters such as this one
will open her eyes," replied the girls
brother, glancing over the reply she
had written. 'I'll bet a box of candy |
to a pair of gloves that the postmistress
either doesn't answer your letter at all |
or discovers you're girl before the
Yukon freezes"
Long before an answer could possi- |
bly, be received, Eleanor began to |
watch for the reply. She wondered if |
the postmistress would be offended by |
her bold declaration, or if any word |
or phrase had betrayed her sex. At
last the letter arrived, and her heart
gave a glad bound when she saw that
it was addressed to Mr.. E. B. Van
Dyke.
you see, am taking 1t for granted
that you are a man." 1t began, because
it did not contradict the assumption in
my last letter, but what joke it would
be If you should prove to be spinster
school ma'am visiting Alaska on your
summer vacation"
Eleanor had been brought up with
puritanical rigidity. and had she lived
in the time of martyrs would have
gone to the stake rather than tell a
falsehoed. But her desire to win the
wager had somewhat clouded her moral
vision, and a white lie and black lie
seemed hardly akin In her twentieth
year she certainly had not reached the
age of spinsterhood, and she had never
taught school; so she could see no
wrong in denying this charge.
For the next week she buried herself
In the library, where she delved into
dusty, dog-eared books and brought /
forth nuggets of wisdom which she
slowed away in her memory for fu-
ture use.
One morning she startled her father ,
by presenting hin, with five dollars and .
demanding a share In his Dawson mine. .
He mildly protested. but her persuasion I
Won. ssss s..ee sse received the deed. Nv