The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-10-22
THE EVENING STORY
Duncan,s Guide.
(By Sidney Hedges cole.)

When Duncan accepted Mrs. Har-
Fey's invitation to join her house party
in the mountains, that worthy lady was
| overjoyed.
| Here indeed was the very man she
had been seeking man whose hame
was on everybody's lips. a veritable
| lion, who would make her the envy of
all her set.
| He was the man who had spent q
month in Lhassa. and who had talked
| with the grand lama himself, draw
ing card of the highest magnitude.
| Mrs. Harvey spent q good half day
in congratulating herself, and won
dering just how she had been able to
| manage 1t.
| She pictured him as she had last
| seen him, a happy, exuberant, boyish
young man, who would entertain her
other guests by the hour with most
| absorbing anecdotes of his work, his
| travel and the dangers he had under
gone.
| Duncan arrived duly. The guests,
who were assembled on the wide YER
anda, saw Tim bring the big road car
up to the steps, saw a bronzed, grave
| faced young man climb out and pune
tiliously greet Mrs. Harvey as Cousin
| Mary"
/ If they had expected any signs of his
! far-heralded exploits about him, any
| gray hairs on his head, or any marks
Of suffering upon his face, they were
| doomed to disappointment. He was
| fair-haired, sleek, we'll groomed.z
| Indeed he looked much more like
prosperous business man on a week
| end vacation than celebrity, with
whose name two continents were ring
ing.
| At dinner that night Mrs. Harvey
made her first attempt to draw him
| out.
Now, Ted" she suggested as the
| coffee was served, ts'we're all impatient
| to hear about it."
| Duncan looked surprised. About
what, Cousin MarX?' he asked.
| What indeed? she returned. Your
recent triumph in Lhassa, of course"
| Duncan actually blushed under his
! coat of tan, and squirmed uneasily in
his chair, as he realized all the eyes
at the table were upon him.
| "Oh. that!" he said. Its nothing
really nothing. It's not worth the
| telling"
"But the papers said
1.-The papers," he interrupted, 1.-THE
yellow sheets, you mean, Cousin Mary
They must have news. They'll make
| something out of the most hopeless
/ material"
| "You talked with the grand lama.
| Tell US about him. What did he say ?"
| Duncan laughed with some embar-
| rassment. Mice little chap, the lama.
Youngish, he is, with a lean face and
keen eyes. We had quite a gossiping
| bee, through an interpreter. Seemed
most interested in the color of my hair,
| IH6 lama Q1O. w anteQ TO Know what
made it yellow. I tried to tell him it
was nature and not peroxide that did
| it, but the interpreter got all tangled
| up trying to put 1t right, and the la
mas face was like a craven image.
guess the thing didn't 60"
| In self-defcnse he turned to the girl
at his left.
What was your score on the links
/ this afternoon 2" he asked. "Forty-one :?
Fine! Wish 1 could do as good as
Fthat."
| AS an attraction, an entertainer of
Mrs. Harvey's guests, Duncan proved
a signal failure. He was taciturn. shy,
i'll at ease. The guests on their part
| stood rather in awe of the big, grave
young man. with the slow smile. and
/ the thoughtful eyes.
| They imagined he found them triv-
ial, not worth his efforts. When they
es to the hurdles behind the stables,
| he took long solitary rambles across
| the mountain.
| When they played bridge, or danced
in the evening. he sat alone on the YER
| anda, smoking innumerable cigarettes.
| Mrs. Harvey, in frank disappointment,
| told herself he was impossible.
The usual game of bridge was in full
swing one evening, and Duncan was
sitting quite alone on one end of the
i veranda, looking at the great bulk of
the mountains, looming dimly in the
moonlight.
He heard the door open softly, and
| turning, he saw Eleanor Graydon COM
ing toward him. Duncan's pulses
quickened. There was something about
this tall, beautiful girl with her cool
voice and her steady brown eyes, that
he found most attractive-most dis
quietingly attractive, indeed.
She laughed softly as she saw him
| there
! "DeserterI" she tauted. .'You and
your pose of solitude are getting on
4 1nr- -rwrS1
Really, I'm beginning to believe you
| conceited."
Duncan drew up a chair. won't
you sit here for a minute and watch
'Tm-Im-" He paused
you're what?" she prompted.
| Lonely" he finished. with such EVIL
dent sincerity in his voice that the girl
| 81 presume you find us stupid" said
she, sitting down beside him. "After
| such a crowded life as yours has been,
all this must be very tame"
'Tame?'' he said with sudden far
nestress. Tame? Oh. heavens, no."
You give US that impression. any
way"
ward in his chair; DO you know how
L feel here? VIII you respect my
| secret if 1 tell your
She nodded.
"Well, them like a fish out of water
I'm afraid-honestly and actually
4 afraid. You see. all my life 1 have
| travelled. I've been into the out-of-
] the-way places of the earth. I haven't
had time to cultivate any of the graces
of civilization. All in all, I'm a bar
| barian, more or less
| 1--WE looked forward to this-to this
coming here to Cousin Mary's and
meeting all these people of your world
more than I can tell you. But it has
taught me something about myself
Much as / wish fitted in this niche
I'm impossible. AS a participator in
social functions in the accepted sense
| of the term I'm hopeless
| The girl looked at him with a quiet
| smile.
"I'll take back that remark about
your conceit, and ask your forgiveness
/ Cor. said she oOh