The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02
THE EVENING STORY
The Case of Jacob Rhine.
(By NANCY Rrent.O

1
longer on the end next the kitchen
door. She Strengthened it conscien-
tiously, then gave her attention to the
spoons.
Since it was an impossibility to set
a table for twelve people and put a
silver spoon at each place, the NUM-
Der of real silver spoons possessed be-
ing seven, it behooved her to decide
upon which guests the honor was 10
be bestowed
Mrs. Judge Brown must have one
of the real silver ones because-no
one in Brownsville would have though
OF ofterlng her anything except tnei.
pest Hiss Josephine Dwight must pe
one of the honored ones-it mignr
keep her from telling the next Guy
that there were five pewter ones
She finally arranged it to her satls-
factlon. the pewter ones falling TO ne.
self to the school teacher, TO Cncle
Lem Whitley and little William Bos-
well.
When John Tweedy and his wife ar
rived Miss Mary eyed them interrosa-
lively
PA Tweedy had rheumatism come
couldn't come. I left the BABY nome
with him. that's one comfort- >,
I'm sorry your pa couldn't come,
Miss Mary looked at the vacant sea-
at the table, "for the TURKEY uone oo
a turn and it seems kinder lonesome
for him to have dinner alone on New
Years day.
knock at the door caused her to
excuse herseIf-and the maid OF an
work at the critical point of conee
ma king and Miss Mary herself went to
The old man standing there. a
stranger, looked at her in dazeo
manner.
grv." he said timidIy. 81 wonder If you
would give me little dinner?"
Miss Mary's tender-hearted hospi-
tally was his to command.
You lust come right on In, her
CHEEKY tone making him sure of well
come. 81 was right proper worried
about having that vacant place at the
ia ble.'
When. after dinner, the unexpected
guest fell i'll, the company bedroom
was at his disposal In the weeks Ill
ness that followed, Miss Mary lowered
over him with good natured anxiety,
and when he Unexpectedly died from
heart attack she declared that the poor
man should not be buried by the coun-
ty-she didn't think she would miss it
forever if she paid for a decent funeral
out of her savings.
Judge Brown came over the day the
old man died, and had a long talk
her.
1--WE know you don't charge for
taking care of him. Miss Mary" he
argued, but the pension certificate
found in his pocket shows he was an
old soldier. and the government is
able to bury its soldiers
She listened reluctantly. "But
hate to be uncharitable, she said
slowly. ''I wonder If the poor fellow
had any folks
That's just it," the judge ex-
claimed, ''if you send in a claim for
buria. expenses, the commissioner of
pensions will be able to notify his peo-
pie, if they're hunting for him."
The judge argued successfully. A
few days later he came with a dusty
volume of pension laws accompanied
by the ministers. Peters the notary,
and by Mrs. Judge Brown, herself.
I'VE want to fix this up in regula-
ton STYLE he said loosely, land
when me and Peters get through
drawing up this claim, and the minis
ought to be as legal a document as
they ever handled in Washington"
After the document was posted,
Miss Mary and Brownsville man
woman and child-found it topic for
conversation while they awaited the
outcome.
1t came sooner than Miss Mary ex-
pected. 1t knocked at Miss Mary's
door one night, and when she answer
ed, lamp in hand, she found man in
who took off his hat in a way that
filled her with admiration.
MY name is Rhine he said in ex-
PLANTATION. II believe it was in your
house my father died"
She led the way to the sitting room,
bits of information and
81 hope you won't think I wanted
to be paid for nursing him. her
comely face flushing with sensitive
ness, "but the judge said I ought to-"
I'm glad you did," he responded
heartily. 1T was the way we
located him. I'm a travelling man,
and my father lived at the soldiers
home. When ! came back from my
trip and found that he had wandered
from the home in a state of melan-
cholia, you can imagine how I felt"
You sit right down and take off
your overcoat. While you are warming
I'll heat the coffee and fix you a little
snack-I know you are hungry after
your drive through the cold. I always
did say Brownsville was the meanest
place on earth to get to-it's a ten
mile drive from any direction you try
to reach it"
Miss Mary, freed from anxiety that
they would not go round, was lavish
with silver spOons-there was one for
coffee, one for saucer of honey and
one in the Jelly glass. The other four
were carelessly arranged on the white
cloth in way that indicated spoons In
a bundance.
She went to the small mirror hanging
by the kitchen window and arranged
the front of her brown hair becomingly
At 40 the women of her acquaintance
we're supposed to give no thought to
such vanities, but she was evidently of
A worldly turn of mind, and she remern-
oered the set of the oyercoat worn by
ner guest.
Supper over. they sat by the open fire
she with her Battenberg piece, he
with cigar encircled by a gilt band
which she wished fervently Mrs. Judge
Brown could see.
And so 1 brought this printed form
'or you to fill in he continued. 81
lad to come through Washington on my
way down-and I knew they had a GER
ain form that had to be filled in before
you could get the money"
wasn't the one Judge Brown and |