The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-02-18
THE EVENING STOR r
A Voice of Gladness.
(By Troy Allison.)

A Voice of Gladness.
/ (By Troy AIlison)
| Inc country road was strange to
.l u tnem They were almost
strange to each other. their acquaint-
ance Delng a week old, the result OF
boarding in the same farmhouse
mat looks like a nice wood to
ssron through" he pointed to the
tnlck grove of hickories and gum
Iees' tnelr leaves tinted by the first
rrost We will get over that stile .
we Will ?" there was amusement
IN ner voice. and an intense enjoy
ment OF living in her expression. She
dreamed the mountain air. the vivid
| autumn coloring reflected in the glow
OF her face. 1.-The dominant idea of
ones impression of you is that you
seem 70 Know what you want to do
manners do fairly well for a West
| erner, but our Southern men would
nave SAID, Miss 1edleigh. would you
iike to stroll through that grover
he flushed slightly, and knocked a
| stone from the path with a dogwood
! hill
| II told you 1 didn't know how to
nor courteous. 1 haven't bit of pol
| 1sh," ruefully, but you shouldn't
| expect much of a man who has spent
most OF his time on a ranch. I have
L
warned you at first
She looked at the six feet Of mas
culin1ty speculatively.
Don't apologize, for heavens
sake" she said quickly 'in this day
| and generation it's refreshing to meet
a man who knows his mind am
going to enjoy this grove just as
much as you are-the fact that
part about it.
I've been planning details for my
sel1 and others ever since I Joined the
crowd of bread winners. I've had to
plan. scheme and dovetail until it
makes me tired to have a waiter
hand me a bill of fare and ask me
what I'll have. L could enjoy any
thing that was set before me unex-
pectedly-I wouldn't even balk at
chop suey,' with a little laugh that
had the first touch of bitterness he
had noticed in her.
He help her over the stile in the
manner of a big man who knows
little of women. and who reverences
them to the extent of being afraid
of offending them by too great fami-
liarity. She knew in her heart that
she could have climed the stile more
easily By herself than with the un-
certain aid he gave her. but her
mind grasped the cause of his uncer-
tafnty, and his clean wholesomeness
was as pleasant as the breeze from
the mountain.
The yellow leaves from the hickory
trees rustled beneath their feet as
they went into the woods. They
dragged their feet clumsily, furrowing
the leaves into heaps.
Beats town all hollow. doesn't
it?" He stopped to thrust a bunch
OF crimson berries in the band of
her white felt hat. How long have
you been in Office as the govern
ment clerk puts it?'
"Ages-Centuries- world without
end. To put it in numbers seven
years. I'm afraid I'll not be able
to keep my position much longer"
There was a CLEAN of interest in
his eyes. What's the matter?" he
asked briefly.
81 don't know exactly" with a pre-
monotony of it will drive me crazy
or the continual copy-wilI get on my
nerves until I'll throw an Ink bottle
at the chief some day and be dis
charged for disorderIy conduct"
He laughed at her oetulance. 'T
would never dream that you were
afflicted with nerves. You make a
joke of nfe-and enjoy everything
the essence of youthfulness- you
must be thirty, aren't you?'' he gave
her a frankly critical look.
She selected a comfortable looking
log and sat down on it in lazy abandon.
20 man,-you are even more. don't
they teach you out in the wild and
woody west that to ask a woman's |
age is an objectionable sin?"
He was filling her lap with masses |
of purple flowers that grew waist
deep around them.
'No-the west is not artificial
Nature is the teacher-we learn to
admire-but perhaps express even
our admiration clumsily."
Her eyes soarkled with apprecia-
ton. THAT was well turned compli- |
ment. I'm convinced that you are
a diamond in the r ugh. If you were
not going away tomorrow, 1 might |
polish you up considerably"
I'm sure you could do a great /
deal in that line" he sat down be-
pocket. You have already done a
great deal. Honestly-you've done
mole for me than L thought could be
done-you've made me feel a touch |
an attack of fever when 1 came here.
1 had lost my grip Of things; school
might keep or be hanged; 1t was all
the same to me-"
81 understand-I've had the feeling
often. You had reached a point when
your query was What's the use?' and
your answer was Nothing matters "
you've hit it exactly-bull's-eye
He puffed his cigar and thought how
we'll she harmonized with the scene
the red of the gum trees. the carpet
of yellow hickory leaves. the purple
and white field flowers growing every
where. she leaned against Il grey
tree trunk and held with one arm the
flowers he had piled in her lap. High
above her head a black and yellow
hammered away.
This is Nature; and you are the
only woman I ever saw who would not
make a Earring note in the general
motif You seem to be living thing
"a bit of Nature itself. "
It's my holiday-my playtime; and
if I bubble over with nonsense. you
must lay it to exuberance of spirit.
/ really have a serious side-but 1
don't want to use it while I'm here.
g., l. 1