The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1907-01-17
Devon
Rose
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lesser magazines. He wrote short
stories and essays and sent them to
the editors in the hope they would
be accepted. His stamp bill was
very large.
Still, perseverance, a mild inten-
tion, and knowledge dug from the
encyclopedias will tell in time. His
accepted manuscripts increased in
number. This perked him up. He
started bank account of moderate
dimensions. Nothing makes a man
so brave as bank account.
And he joined two or three "lit-
erary clubs" wherein he was
lion"
Pale, bespectacled ladies with
yearnings assured him that they had
read his articles in the Ladies' Fire
side Instructor on Every Woman
Her Own Sandow," and it was Glove
ly." This pleased Mr. Magnus al
most as much as did the editors
check
He was a slender man, with droop-
ing shoulders, mild blue eyes and a
sandy Vandyke beard. When
''lionized" he used to twist this
beard into sharp point and stab
himself upon his shirt front. Though
his legs were wobbly and his feet
large, his heart was in the right
place" This he knew from the fact
that when startled by a sudden
noise it beat thick and quick, like
q madman on a drum"
hot fofn H.
hind him, slapped him on the shoul-
der and howled:
"Maggy, old man. how're the bru-
tai editor men?"
The heart, which was in the right
place, began humping. Magnus
wheeled and faced him, wrath in his
pale eyes.
II do so hate to be called 'Maggy,'
The snapped. 1T really is not my
name"
Then his thin delicate hand went
to his left side.
tits all right, Magnus," the doc
tor said. Beg pardon. You look
Dverworked. Take a bit of free ad-
vice-go away somewhere and rest. I"
1t was early summer and the men,
bers of the literary clubs, the fash
Ionables and the preachers were fiitF
ting.
The bank account was healthy.
Magnus looked over the papers
Among a thousand advertisements
of places with all the comforts of
home" his eye was caught by the
mention of Matfield
He asked about it and was told 1t
was in a good country, with pure
air, farm foods, trout fishing and
cheapness. That seemed to suit.
Next afternoon he alighted from a
dilapidated cart in front of Grass
dene" farmhouse.
A river rolled grandly to the
south. The hills were blue, save
upon their SUBMITS, which were
crimsoned by the dying sun. From
afar came the drowsy tinkle of a
cowbell. A slow wind brought the
scent of fresh fields and flowers.
Looking from his window over the
sweeping river Magnus said:
Here Is rest. l do not want hu-
man companionship--a cultivated
mind needs only itself. Surrounded
by these eternal hills, amid which
dwell a simple people, solitude
should bring happiness. Their ways
are not my ways. their souls are
half-developed, but we need not
clash"
He fell readily into the habits OF
the household 1t consisted of Mrs.
Loudoun, a silver-haired widow, her
granddaughter, Elfreda Loundoun,
a brown-eyed girl of eighteen, with
a delicious figure, a mass of brown
haii, and a frank smile, and man
of-all-work, who ate enormously and
never said q word.
The two women gave him no con-
fidences, for which he was grateful
He was forced to admit that their
manners were perfect, but set this
down to innate female refinement
They made no effort at all to enter
tain him. He paid his moderate bills
and kept to himself.
He discovered a boat in q small
house which stood by. the river. and
used to pull laboriously half-mile
up the stream of evenings, then float
lazily down. The heart which was
in the right place began to show
some disposition to stay steady wheI
sudden noises came.
In two weeks, however, he real
ized that cultivated mind needs
something more than Itself. He was
bored. Furthermore, his conscience
oppressed him. He told himself tha
he was ungenerous in Withholding
himself from these two lonely won
en-. who knew nothing of books, SO
ciety, cities. or the great world with
out.
He was not conscious of a desir,
to alleviate the loneliness of Mrs
Loundoun, but he thought the gir
would improve nightly by convers
with man of his cultivated abill
ties and experience She was plump
and her weight in the boat made tn
rowing more difficult. but he endure,
the extra labor for the pleasure O
watching her intellect expand lik
flower.
He noticed that in the half-ligh
OF the evenings she was singularl
pretty girl, nor could he see that sh
lost any OF her attractiyeness In tn
full light Of day.
She listened to his talk Of book