The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-02-05
THE EVENING STOR Y
wainwright's Experiment.
By Constance DARCY Mack

0OWn over the nayneIQS ana HlChei GU
across the group of men who lolled pc
meath the trees enjoying their first resi-
after morning of toll. WainWrlgnt
sat little apart from the others anu
mopped his forehead. The muscles %
his arms and shoulders ached from I'M
accustomed labor, yet as he looked at
the close-cut field his feeling was one
of pleasure.
fessor of political economy in an east
ern college, he had longed to put GER
tain problems to the test; to learn from
actual experience those things Whlch
the text books. So while his brother
professors spent their vacations in Eur
ope or at the seashore, Wainwright
tramped the highways of New England,
hand. Routine and conventionalfty
were forgotten. And so much is man
a part of his mode of living that after
his first two weeks on the road, not
one of Wainwright's old confreres
would have recognized him. His clothes
had lost their hallmarks of good tailor
Ing and become frayed and dusty. HIS
shoes were out at heel, his hat almost
rimless and his face tanned to deep
bronze.
But Wainwright was young and Wig
orous and had keen relish for az
venture. He liked the freedom of the
highway; the quest of picking up odd
jobs at the scattered farmhouses along
the route, the deep sleep of the travel
WEARY III QlIl, SW60I-SCSAlGQ nay lOLLS
or oftener still. in the open, with the
star shimmering through the branches
of the trees.
1t was the harvest season. There
was work In plenty and in time Vain
wright quilted his hand-to-mouth vag-
abondage for the SOLDERING occupation
OF harvester on the Rolfe farm, where
he was to receive a dollar a day and
labor had proved more exhausting than
he had anticipated. But Wainwright
kept on doggedly, though each hour adj
ded fresh blisters to his hands and
made the scythe seem heavier to WELD.
The midday rest brought an ecstacy of
relief.
This thought Wainwright, as he
stretched himself in the shade. "this
is worth a dozen hotel verandas!" The
rustic of leaves, the talk of the men
near by and the drone of insects
through the warm air. all blended into
a confused murmur. An unconquer-
able drowsiness stole over him.
Wont you have some dinner" said
a voice beside him, and Wainwright,
opening his eyes, looked up at a girl
who might have been Priscilla, so de-
mure was her blue dress and white
kerchief. She wore a frilled sunbon-
net and Wainwright wished that he
might see the face it hid. But his de-
sire remained ungratified, for after
serving him the girl turned her atten-
ton to the next man and from that
WSHl lldIIy 0OWH Tic A1hSs L AAS
men fell to at once. Wainwright alone
stared after the sunbonneted figure
that tripped across the field and took
the orchard path leading to the teo.f e
farm.
That night as he took his seat
among the harvesters that clattered
around the RoIfes supper table he
saw with quickening interest that the
girl of tho noon hour was fitting
about the kitchen, passing large plat
-, I, 3 Goo
ing milk. Wainwright had leisure
to observe that she had brown eyes
and wavy brown hair coiIed low upon
her neck.
farm hands strolled off towards the
barn. Wainwright fingered.
"Your daughter must be a great
help to you he ventured.
My daughter" laughed farmer
Rolfe. why, she amt my daughter
She's the hired girl. Though / will
say" he added. that if ever I'd had a
daughter I'd ha' liked one like Mary
Carter. She's as quick and handy as
she can he and my wife thinks a heap
when the girl come from over by
Coopersville way lookin' for work
She's SO slim and slight you wouldn't
think she could do much. But land!
was Mary in her work that Vain
wright only saw her at meal times.
Even then she merely stopped for a
pleasant word or nod
But on Sunday night when Vain
wright sat alone on the back porch
stunning at a guitar a white dress
glimmered in the doorway and pres
entity Mary came out and sat down.
please don't stop" she cried. as
Wainwright snothered the last chord
of a college glee. I'm very fond of
musict"
ssvVbaf~eIse are Won fond Of won
der?' thought Wainwright, and he
deity led her on to speak of herself.
She was fond If reading, she con-
fessed, and knew many of the poets
by heart Her taste in literature was
as simple as it was fine, and the more
she spoke the more Wainwright Won
dered, for she seemed utterly content
with her present occupation.
ANY work that is done we'll is beau
tifuI" she declared earnestly, ana
though her illusions to herself were
delicately reticent, Wainwright found
it easy to picture her primitive life.
Primitive and yet not humdrum. Her
love of nature and beauty forbade
that
what wonderful country it is"
wainwright. where even the
rustics have ideas of their own, and
q vivid way of expressing them"
Mary's personality was the most chal-
longing and Illuminating one that he
had discovered so far, and descrip-
tions of her covered several pages of
his note books.
In the days that followed. he found
that if he helped Mary with the sup
per dishes the longer they would have
to sit on the porch in the cool of the
evening So while she splashed the
suds he polished plates and cups anc
quoted his favorite authors After
wards they would stroll together down
the orchard path, watching the first
1fctanfnr he
of the whip-poor-will-a pleasant
state of affairs destined to end abrupt
ly. for Wainwright returned from the
fields one evening to find Mrs. RoIfe