Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1906-10-04
While They
Waited -
BY Virginia Leila Wentz
Copyright, 1906, by c. H. sutcliae

He jumped out of the little country
rig, leaving II in the hands OF a freckle
faced boy. and rushed up to the ticket
office just as his train was pulling out
from the station.
"Pshaw!' he exclaimed irascibly. and
then to the sleepy looking. contented
ticket agent. When does the next
train leave for New York;"
1.-TWO hours" replied that individual
laconically.
Maverick oliver wasn't a man 10 cry
over spilled milk. He sat himself
p~hilosophicaliy down In a shady recess
of the waiting room and extracted a
notebook. He would look over some
memoranda he had jotted down for his
solicited article for the Review and
then take n stroll along the country
hedges. There seemed TO be a rather
attractive bit OF woodland just beyond.
"How long must | wait for connec-
tons for RoseclifT"
Something in the woman's voice. half
contralto. half alto, made the man with
the notebook suddenly start. He'd
been so engrossedly coming his mem
oranda that he had scarcely noticed
the incoming train. with all Its attend
ant hustle. Now. however. a single
woman's voice made him start and
caused the Review article TO be as far
from his thoughts as the Military af-
fairs of nations b. G..
The woman's back was turned to-
ward Oliver, but he knew IL was Flea
nor. Who else In all the world had
that q~ueenly carriage, that soft slope
Of shoulder. that bewitching mass Of
colled chestnut hair?
"For RosecliffT" came the ticket
ed his wrinkled forehead with the
back Of his hand. "a half hour,
ma'am. Trains sixteen minutes late"
The woman turned lmpatiently away
from the window.
1t was Their they came face to face.
"You!" cried Oliver. sp~ringing up.
She stood there in the barren waiting
room, filling Its emptiness with the
richness Of her charm. To the mans
hungry eyes she was food Of the most
satisfying as well as of the most deli
cate sort.
She did not hold out her hand. Never
theless she encountered him not in her
old imperious fashion, but with a smile
including him In some mood too large
to be wholly personal.
How you have changed, Eleanorr'
he cried involuntarily.
Are you, too, waiting for a train? p
she answered softly In return. SIN
which direction do you goY"
"South-to New York." said Oliver.
"And your
ITO Rosecliffe. fourteen miles east"
Oliver took her umbrella and tiny
suit case from her, and then they
walked slowly up and down the plat
form together. man and woman, in
stead OF husband and wife, held apart
by some strange fat they had both ac-
cepted.
In the fields, all around, the butter
cups were golden and the wild carrot
was In white, lacelike flower. Over
in the woods beyond some sons birds,
waking from their summer siesta, were
beginning to MARBLE. A group of trav-
cling men vas ~lounging on the railing
at the far end of the platform, ex
pectorating ~copiously to prnctuate the
points In their stories.
Oliver busted the platform steps at
the other end of the walk with his
handkerchief, and the woman sat Sc
renely down, her delicate profile out
lined against the clear blue Of the sky
like some exquisite cameo. She had
always been beautiful, though. II
wasn't that which made the man ex-
claim again lrrepressibly:
you've changed so, Eleanor 1t was
true. 1t was no mere fancy of his
imaginative writer's eye that discov-
cred new meanings In the face before
him. 1t had undergone a vague but
very gracious transformation.
"ChangedT" repeated she, with a
curious tenderness. "Tve tried to
c~hange-tried. do you understand?
Since last winter. when we agreed to
separate. I've been trying-so hard,
Maverick-to take control of my W
stunted nature, turn 1t where 1t
twists
Dear" broke In Oliver, with a bit
ter humility. I'VE were both to blame
both. do you hear? And I'm afraid
you've been c~leverer than / II you've
unsnarled things where they failed to
ft the pattern. I've not changed much,
I'm afraid"
Under her black lashes the woman
smiled at him with a reverence he
might have translated chad he been
high plume6 as some loyal acQuies-
cence In his former state. What OIL
yer felt now. however. was curiosity In
bis young wife, not In himself. So
Tell me-" he burst forth, 'what has
changed you sor'
She rolled up her absurd little hand
kerchief into q string and. throwing II
over her knee. pulled It unconsciously
By both ends. gazing s~teadfastly into
the blue distance above divers head.
II don't know whether I ought Il
tell you." she began.
Oliver recalled that delicious little
habit she used to have Of tempting thu
fatss shyly. OF hesitating when shs
meant to be right down outrageous.