Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1905-06-08
Miss Sinclair's
Sociology
BY keifb Gordon
Copyright, 1903, by Frances Wilson

GEOLOGY is beyond the writer's knowl
edge.
When the corners of woman.
mouth turn upward and the tips of he
fingers curl ever so slightly backwar,
| II is safe TO assume that she was in
| tended for the decorative rather thar
the useful purposes of life Dame Ma
ture arranges these little matters Il
suit herself
Fate. by way Of showing herself In
accord with natures Intentions in re
gard to Miss Sinclair provided that
young lady with a bank account OF
rather astounding size. This possibly
had something to do with the depres-
sion OF mind that drove her into the
serious field of sociology, the very
rich and the very poor being in prac-
tically the same predicament. To have
every wish gratified Is In effect as
crushing as to have no wish gratified.
This is as plain as pikestaff. and ii
doubtless had something to do with
Marcia Sinclair's unnatural thirst for
knowledge.
In consequence she might have been
seen almost any day that winter wend-
Ing her way up to Columbia, clad In
austere tailor made gowns and carry
Ing book or two, as the outward
visible sign" Of her inward intensity.
Sociology, she decided at the start,
should begin at home. and thereupon
she abandoned her carriage and took
to street cars, thereby seeing more Of
real life than she ever had seen before
In this wise the winter days marched
by, keeping step, II seemed to her, with
grim, Supplying monotony. Whether
she looked backward into the past or
forward into the future, the view was
the samoa blur Of gray days huddled
together by the perspective.
She was listlessly thinking some such
thoughts as these on her way to a lee
ture one day when a man In overalls
and blouse boarded the car. Something
In the way he carried himself attracted
her attention.
Might be the Emperor William trav-
cling incog.," she unused as her aroused
glance took in the square set shoulders,
clear cut face and crisp hair. A few
months earlier 1t would not have oc-
CURED to her to notice man in over
alls and blouse at all. Seen from her
carriage, they had been mere shadows,
by no means human beings. Now all
was different. Though she began to
suspect that the pursuit of knowledge
was only another of the endless make
shifts by which we strive to forget the
ennui of life, she had learned one cardi-
nal fact-namely, that the humblest
worker shares all the most important
things Of life with the greatest poten-
tate.
The young workman meantime had
dropped into corner seat, thrown one
leg over the other and, with an arm ex-
tended along the back Of the seat, turn
ed preoccupied glance out of the
window, thereby presenting to his Wis
avis a profile that, to say the least,
bespoke absolute physical integrity
His hands, she noticed with growing
wonder, though large and powerful.
were Of the sort most frequently seen
protruding from the sleeves of modish
tweeds or knowing tuxedos. Emerg-
ing from the sleeves Of blouse they
were nothing short of startling, and
Miss Sinclair was stirred by an inter
est that degenerated into curiosity.
What manner of workman could he be
who wore all the habiliments of toll
with the air of one descended from a
throne for an hours masquerading?
With an abrupt turn of the head, un-
cannily suggestive Of his having heard
her mute query, he turned and received
her puzzled glance full in the face.
For "a moment they stared at each 9TH
er with the undisturbed frankness Of a
pair OF children; then Miss Sinclair,
with an acute recollection of the new
ly acquired fact that the humblest Of
toiIers is person and not a thing,
withdrew her eyes, while the man In
overalls took his turn at inspecting.
1t was for this reason that she did
not see the slight witch Of the lips
that had followed the open amazement
of her glance.
When, later in the day, she recalled
the little scene that followed she could
find but one excuse. 1t was an up
dare of that madness which a certain
philosopher had long since discovered
as lurking in each and every human
brain.
A quick, resolute desire to know who
and what he was had seized her. and
for twenty-five years she had been ac-
customed to getting what she wanted.
Was he not by every token a mere
workman, man Of the sort that
might come toto fix the electric wires
or solve plumbing mysteries? Why,
then, should she hesitate to address
him2
Lifting her eyes, she leaned forward
with the serene blandness OF q queen
addressing subject
Pardon me" the voice was very
winning. but the dullest could not have
misunderstood; It was meant to put
m inferior perfectly at ease pardon
me, but wonder II you would think