The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1904-01-29
Ths sweetest joy, the widest woe Is
IDyei' -HAIIEY FJ;STJTS
ssy Kathleen Blake Coleman.

HE was leaning back in her chair
very fired. The day was a hot
one, and the room, the highest in a tall
building, was Stnfty and close. Far
below the sun shone on a heap of
lumber that lay along the wall. and a
cray cat picked her way among the
RIanks- Dirty papers swirled and ed
died in the hot wind. A oma with
Il mop and pail crossed the yard and
entered an opposite building. Present
Iy she reappeared standing on the sill
OF a window and sending the mop up
and down the dusty panes. The other
o4na watched her at her work. and
"a faint envy was expressed in her eyes.
L wish / were She she said tiredly.
How she must sleep at night, Oh!
to be really tired, really worn out, the
way women are who wash and scrub
and work with their hands, and have
no time for hoping and fearing. Oh!
TO be dog-tired. What a sleep | would
have" Then she laughed. And she,
if she looks up. will be envying me here
fdling al the window" she said. She
locked back at her desk, at the dis
~ vi iOtoS chCSto loFcltu VIII nal
FuW writing which lay about the floor,
AK Che little stack OF white. blank
pages Il must get back to it, she
murmured, stepping to her swing chair
n resting q moment against its I'M
easy back. A bell rang. Five
O'Clock" she cried out aloud, "and that
article on Platonic Love to be finished
by seven. What On earth made Plato
ssast a theory of his own when love is
the same to-day as it was in the garden
of Eden" She sat down n dipped
her e into the inli-pot. She thought
Quietly for a moment, then began to
write
~Piatonic love is not possible be-
tween men and women who have
brains and sex"
A short, hard step coming sturdily
along the passage stopped her. Her
office door was half of muffed glass,
and she heard distinctly. She threw
the pen from her and listened. It was
Il Yong passage, and her room was the
last in the row. Her face flushed
slowly, and into her eyes there came a
deeper clearer light; but she never
stirred. The football halted, and there
was q seconds wait.
Then came a rap, quick, sharp, de-
xsiSive.
The woman rose slowly, walked to
9iie door and unlocked it.
Come in" she said, gently, and the
xsan entered.
He looked %perturbed. He was a
tall. sanburnt man of about SIS, with
massive shoulders and a great, gaunt
frame, indicating immense strength.
His head was peculiar; narrow at its
base, ii widened out above the ears,
attaining generous proportions. At
heart there seemed to be much that
n tender and graceful. This he had
dome his best to hide under an affec-
tation that could only be called dis
. He rather4liked the title
of disagreeabie a He had a knack
OF saying disagreeable things ii a nice
way This piqued women. And when
you excite women to the degree of
piQuancy they become dangerous.
Women ran after David Strang. They
protested to abhor hin-they secretly
aliorad him. and played their prettiest
tricks FOR his benefit. He remained
EMsfnOved. He found 1t amusing,
The woman to whose office he came
this hot July day had long age
f~athOmed, or thought she fathomed.
his complex nature. She had certain
Iy carefully hidden the clay feet of her
god, enveloping them in draperies OF
purple and gold and denying their ex-
istsnce to her own soul. But this was
after she had found the tender places
IN his deep nature. At first she had
seem the clay feet, gradually her i'm
cred them, and a film had grown over
the yes of her soul, a silver film
through which he doomed gracious and
tfnder. Fora long time she had beer
growing in upon herself. A great rest.
~aessness consumed her, Then came {
faaling abroad for sympathy. This
gathered around her work. For a time
she wrote brilliantly, pouring her sou
N IN quaint imagery. All the HUI,
man nature in her, and the spiritual
cried aloud. Her work satisfied for {
time, but hers was a stormy soul, giver
so recklessness and feeling the need o
q personal, a human love. Their,
should be the intellectual, the spiritua
and also the carnal. or rather the hui
hi love. (Should the craving tina
demands protection, caringness, close
ness. tenderness, be married by a nam,
50 suggestive Of grossness as earnai?
Az the ma stepped inside the door
sxich closed quietly upon him, h
lxsnt and raised the woman's hand t
MS lips reverently. A reyerenc
k,rO0ded in bis eyes as he looked int
her Face. When, without a word, b
Nightly stroked the thick tangle {
ksE1Wn hair that gathered abort he
fs,rehead, she stood quiet. only smilin
him.
must 60 In q minute sh
and h~erlyoice was exquisite
deep and very tender has
Wretched paper to set out befoi
otrloclr-on loyeplatonics-an
I sEtupiid as mi owI-in fact quiz
{FQ@&N#5&1&s4E Z<S4GSE. III, -sH = $50