The Topeka state journal., 1906-04-07
THE EVENING STOR r
Natures Course.
TBy Nora Brvant.


silence waiting for the outburst. She
was meek little woman accustomed
to listening TO her beautiful, tall
daughter and obeying her behests un-
| questioningly. Alice possessed all the
independence Of spirit which her moth
er lacked.
mo. mother" said Alice. seizing
viciously on pea pod and breaking it
open, no. you can't Tt Just isn't born
in you. I've got to do it alone
Why, Alice exclaimed her mother.
with hurt injection.
/ Oh know it. mother. I'm q hor-
rid cross girl. But can't help 1t. Faith
er's gone off again and left US with no
wood This has been going on for
three years now. Sometimes he re-
members to buy load, but when he
/ does, we have to split it. And ia the
meanwhile, we have to scratch and
scramble for wood just as II we were
as poor as poverty. Just look, we've
/ burned most of the fences till the place
looks more ghastly than ever. If possi-
"Alice, Alice sighed Mrs. Humph-
rey. you shouldn't talk SO of your
father.
Alice's face flushed deeper and she
| plying. Then she looked out the door
! at the iinlson weeds.
Everything is all wrong and it's all
fathers fault. Why shouldn't I marry
cause he is a college man and his
people live in town father has set him
self against him. Now, why does
father send me to college If he expects
me to settle down to chopping wood
and cooking for the rest of my life?
/ No, mother, I'm a sophomore now and
know more than I did once. AM
going to marry Bob and father is go
/ ing to agree to it, too"
Alice looked at her mother sternly.
/ .sSee your hands, blistered and hard
/ You creep out and chop wood every
| time I turn my back. Look at my
hands" She held up slender fingers
| Nice things to carry back to the col
/ lege this fall. Now I'm going out to
/ chop enough to get dinner with And
pulling a shade hat over her eyes Alice
walked out into the hot harvest sun
and picked up the axe.
| Straight up to the new brooder house
/ she went and with a neat swing of the
axe. began battering up the brooder
house door. In q few moments the
door had disappeared and in its stead
on the ground near by lay q neat pile
/ of stove wood. Still not quite satisfied
Alice looked about her. A hay rack lay
on the ground waiting for the after
noon trip to the oat field. A few firm
blows from the broad of the axe and
the side boards showed signs of weak
ening. Half a dozen clever cuts with
! the blade and the boards dropped to
| the ground. In five minutes the pile
1 of wood by the brooder house was aug
mented by a pile of heavy sticks and
before Mrs Humphrey could catch
breath to inquire the source. q brisk
blaze lighted up the front of the old
/ cooking stove.
A little after twelve, Mr.. Humphrey
| appeared at the door.
Mother Mrs. Humphrey paused
| with a bit of bacon poised ON her fork.
| Mother. can you tell me what has
| happened to the old hay rack and %
the brooder house door %
Mrs. Humphrey looked at Alice.
| ssWhy-Why, father. I don't know.
Alice do you know"
Alice poured the stearning peas into
a china dish and then glanced at her
father. We'll she said calmly, you
/ will find part of the door still in the
wood box but the last of the hay rack
Is just going up the chimney" Then
she carried the dish of peas into the
dining room and set It carefully down
on the table.
Then Mr.. Humphrey began: Alice,
If you were not grown up, I'd send you
to bed for two days"
Alice squared her shoulders, looking
into her fathers eyes with an express
sion strangely like his own. Father" "
she said, you are not fair. You give
your men the best sort of implements
with which to do their work. You keen
the horses and cattle in buildings thai
are for their greatest comfort But you
expect mother and me to find our owr
means for doing work that neither OF
US is strong enough to do. and to live
in building that scorches US in sum-
rner and freezes US IN winter. To say
the least, YOU are not fair. -
The great veins swelled In Mr..
Hum phrey'S forehead and he took a
single step toward Alice and then
stopped as if controlling himself by a
physical effort.
sAlce,'' he said, sI forbid you to de-
stroy any more of my property. Just
how to punish you for what you have
already done. don't know. I shall
wait until tonight"
That afternoon, Alice was left alone
| as her mother was called away to see
q sick neighbor. For a while she sat
! quietly then, suddenly she flushed a
little. Far down the road she could see
the figures of a man and a horse NOV
ing leisurely through the heat. Alice
/ smoothed her hair and glanced down
| at the dainty whiteness of her gown.
/ Then she waited. Soon the rider turned
] the sight of Alice A fine looking young
/ fellow was Bob Phillips in his natty
| riding togs, sitting his saddle with the
ease of a Westerner. And q charming
figure was Alice in the doorway with
| the color deepening IN her cheeks, her
] great dark eyes Frightening and the
dimples coming TO the corners Of her
mouth
"oh. Bob she cried, as he dis, dismount- s,'9,+,t
/ ing for you. Everything is so topsy-
! turvy in this horrid place
Bob looked anxious. rs it your faith
er again?" he asked as he drew her
down on the step beside him. Alice
told him of her mornings experience.
Bob's face darkened.
Look here, Alice he exclaimed,
I'm not going to stand this. I knew
things were pretty bad, but I never
knew you had to do this sort of work
He took her hand looked at the pretty
pink palm with the row OF blisters
across It. I'm not going to say any
of the things to you that I think about
your father But this is going to stop!
This architect business is slow in start
ing but I've got enough to keep the
! pot boiling. I'm on my way out to the
Scott's summer home, now. They want