The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-07-14
TIE EVENING STORY
Afa-ta's interference.
3By Constance DARCY Mackay


across to the next lawn, where a girl
IN an embroidered dress was tending a
mower garden, a lace parasoI il. one
haad ana ridiculc asly small green
watering can IN The other. At her
uetis parked tiny dog, and It would
nave oeen hard to tell which. Marta
regarded with th- more disapprovaI.
the toy spaniel or It's owner.
L ne next door house had been va
cant SO many years that Marta looked
on It's new purchasers, the Gainsboros,
IN the light Of intruders as the lit-
tie village of Hampstead was seldom
1requented by summer people. For this
reason Professor Travers made il his
retreat the moment college closed in
order TO escape the festivities of COM
memo ment-cheering students, pink
ice cream and q host of enthusiastic
girls had no charms for him. He was
bored by the former, and too deeply
ABSORBED In his books to notice the lat
ter For this Marta his middle aged
nousekeeper, was supremacy grateful.
she mad taken care of him too many
years to relinquish her supremacy
without a struggle
But it Will come some time" said
John, her husband. Love is like the
measles. And the older he is when he
takes 1t, the harder it win go with
him"
Hes thirty-ive and it hasn't come
yet, answered Marta hopefullv
she had nursed Travers through
many childish ailments, and felt her
self capable of warding off this most
dangerous ailment of all. SO she guard
ed his solitude with watchful zeal. She
! had horror of intruders, especially
young and feminine ones. and the
nearness of Betty Gainsboro was
positive menace to her peace of mind.
Running about in -heeled slip
pers and wearing big, fluffy hats, just
as If freclSle or two would hurt heri"
shifted Marta, though ii was undenia-
bic that the face beneath the wide
brims was winsomely attractive
The professor caught his first
glimpse Of it one afternoon as he came
home through his orchard after a
morning spent in the woods near by.
One coat pocket bulged with speci-
mems, the other contained his note
book. and he hurried along the grassy
path, wondering if Marta had kept
luncheon waiting. when from the
branches of a gnarled apple tree above
him came a great rustling.
oh won't you please stop?" be-
sought a sweet voice.
The professor halted, blinking up
ward into the leaves, where a pretty.
embarrassed face looked out like a
dryad in distress.
I'm up here. and I can't get down.
so I'm afraid III have to ask you for
help
u The pIOIGSSOI, unused 10 CHINO
ing any tree save that OF knowledge,
the feat was extremely difficult. 7 et he
managed it skilfully enough and swung
himself up to where Betty sat. Then
slowly. holding very tight to his hand.
she made her descent ending with q
jump and frightened little laugh.
II won't do that again., she de-
clared. Its been awfully good of you
to help a neighbor in distress, especial
ly when she's been trespassing on your
property"
Travers said that he hoped she
would trespass as often as she liked,
and side by side they moved home
ward through the long orchard grass.
He saw her to her own gate. and next
day when they went for a stroll by the
/ Hampstead river, Marta's worst fears
seemed realized. Her consternat ton in
creased when Travers began to look
to his canoe that he had not used in
years, humming a college glee as he
worked.
IF he is drowned it will be the fault
Of that Eighty piece next door." walled
Marta
He began. too. to take an alarming
! interest in his personal appearance, a
thing he had never done before. He
( gave up his somewhat seedy coats. and
/ queer, loose collars. and a box pres
emily arrived from New York, bearing
the hall mark of a fashionable tailor.
And Marta felt that crisis had been
/ reached when the loss of some of the
finest specimens of flora in Travers col
/ lection only moved him to a temporary
| regret. He no longer spent his days
porting over books. Instead he studied
4 the moods of Miss Betty Gainsboro,
and came to the conclusion that there
! was nothing on earth more incompre-
hensible than woman. Once, when
the canoe had nearly overturned, she
/ had shown herself valiant in the face
| of danger, yet the sight of a tiny gar
] ter snake made her seek refuge on the
nearest fence, where she perched in a
panic till Travers had killed it.
One evening when Travers was re-
turning from a lecture he had given
at the summer school of an adjoining
town, he noted a tall young fellow,
fair-headed, and broad of shoulder, get
off at the Hampstead station and
strike along the village road like one
accustomed to the place. The profess
! sor followed a little in the rear. At
the Gainsboro gate the young fellow
turned in. and Betty, who was linger-
/ ing on the lawn, few to meet him with
out-stretched hands.
"Oh Dick!" she cried, an unmistak-
able thrill of surprise and joy in her
voice OF the rest Travers saw and
/ heard nothing. He stepped back
! quickly into the shadows What right
had he to be a witness of a lovers
meeting2
You must have had a tiresome
/ day." said Marta, solicitously, FOR
you're as white as sheet
I'm an old fool" groaned Travers
to himself, ian old fool! How could
I ever have supposed that she could
care for me2 Why, I'm nothing but a
bookwornn=alI my life has been spent
/ In rnusty volumes, and class rooms
and now he looked toward the
4 Gainsboro house, where the glimmer of
cigarette shone like a freely
through the darkness, and the cheer
/ full tunk-a-tunk Of a banjo came on
I the night air. Love" said the pro-
4 lessor slowly, was not intended for
! me-
Thereafter to Marta-s satisfaction
y ~4aSyad in doors forsa king his canoe.