Hattiesburg daily news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1907-1908, 1907-07-14

The elevator Of the Washington
monument reached the ground after its
solemnly slow descent Of twenty min
utes, and Rhoda Jamison, feeling some
what overawed by the world as seen
from the top of the monument, sat
down on a bench near the elevator
door. She needed few minutes to re-
adjust her thoughts and to plan for
the rest Of the day
Rhoda had saved every possible PEN
ny from her salary during the school
term In order to take this Washington
trip and had determined to crowd as
much sightseeing into her ten days as
any other Washington tourist had
ever done.
She had spent hours with the visit
ing milliner In her town planning ev-
cry detail of the time and had finally
arrived In the city and taken cab di-
rectly to the quiet lodgings she had
recommended The milliner had, how
ever, forgotten to take into considera-
ton the fact that the girl had never
been accustomd to city and to city
ways and had therefore failed to pre-
pare her for the feeling Of desolation
and loneliness that grew more and more
! oppressive every minute.
| The Congressional library had sat
| isfied her love of elegance, the capitol
and the White House had seemd like
old friends from the pictures in the
geography and history from which she
had taught for months, but in her
classes she had been the personality.
Here she seemed to dwindle into moth
ingness, and the things that had been
mere ideas and pictures lowered over
her progressively, and she was over
come by her littleness and her loneli-
ness and longed for some one to speak
to her with a hint Of friendly interest.
The big. broad shouldered man sit
ting on the other end Of the bench she
had seen walking down the steps Of
the monument. He had evidently felt
| SO secure in his superb physical
strength that he walked down to ex-
anime more closely the Inscriptions on
the stones that could not be studied so
well from the elevator.
She saw him take fountain pen
from his pocket, adjust 1t and finally
sort a package of souvenir post cards
and begin writing industriously.
She remembered the package she had
bought to send her pupils, SO she took
her own pen from her hand bag and
commenced racking her brain for little
things to write that would amuse them
| The postal she liked best Of ALL a
daintily colored view of the monument
itself, she addressed to her mother
Across it she wrote, Its so very big
and feel so little and so lonely"
4 She leaned forward to fiirt bit Of
!. dust from the tip of her pen, and Q
Whit of air blew the postal from hel
lap and left it lying at the big mans
feet.
He saw it there and thinking he hat
dropped one of his own. stopped ant
picked it up. reading it leisurely.
II feel so little and lonely" he read
and, surprised, turned to meet thu
flushed face Of the girl.
Its mine" she said, holding out he
hand for it.
do you feel that way. too?" he ask
ed eagerly. That's me exactlyw
81 shouldn't have called you rsall,
, 1ittle.'" she answered, with the franl
friendliness of girl who had neye
met with a circumstance that woult
cause her to be suspicious of humanity
IT reckon you are referring to the frs
part of the sentence. 1T is so big
would really seem more suitable"
THAT'S right" he laughed, looking q
J the postal 'but that just proves that
: can hold more loneliness than you, 70
am feeling lonely from the soles o
: my feet to the top of my new felt ha
that bought in Carson City to see tn
sights of Washington in'
7 cat least you are farther from HON
than I. I'm from South Carolina" sh
chatted. three days abstinence. fron
conversation having left her with
! surplus on hand.
4 II was just sending some Of thes
: things to the boys he said "The
: are living in shack near mine, and
will tickle 'em immensely to get thes
pictures of civilization. You see, W
had been out there for two years dis
ging away for gold without any SUI
n cess, and just as we'd fallen into {
of gloom and shortage in grub, why
: we struck it rich
! "How lovely! Did you find 1t !
II chunks?. Her eyes sparkled like
II child's
II "That's about the size Of It," b
II laughed. with whole souled heart
Il ness he hadn't experienced for day
Il I'VE sure found 1t in large sized piece
II and just thought I'd take vacatio
II to see the world. I've never been eas
u before
II 'Do- you like it?" She failed to pl
Il as much doubt as to the charms {