The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-11-18
The EVENING STORY
Choosing a Heroine.
lBy Littell McClung.)

lBy sLittell McClung.)
They were standing ankle deep in
the snow at the entrance of the Chap
man grounds.
And SO. you have chosen Miss Malt
hey as the model for the heroine of
your new book?" asked Esther Chap
man after pause.
yes, 1 have Crane Hartigan re-
piled slowly. 1--WE patterned my
ieading character after Miss Maltney,
not because there are any sentimental
relations between us. but because she
woman and fits so admirably into my
story. To me she is the personifica-
tlon or Womanly dash and courage"
don't suppose such quiet home
BODY like me would
dartlgan never heard the rest, for
down the glistening road, sleigh bells
tangled clear in the frosty air.
'Oh, here they come now!" Esther
exclaimed. stepping out into the road.
Wont it be dandy riding in that big,
toboggan like thing? 1 suppose Miss
Maltney will be in the party?"
There was no need for reply; the
sleigh, drawn by four horses, hove in
sight over the hill. The moonlight
revealed Miss Maltney perched up
fearlessly beside the driver, waving
by the roadside. The horses were lift
ing their boots INDEPENDENTLY they
enjoyed kicking up the snow clouds
that shoEe like crystal mist in the
starlight. With a flourish the driver
brought them to a standstill in front
Of the Chapman home.
.'All aboard for the ice palace on
the moonlight trail,' cried Miss Malt
ney, exultingly.
Hartigan assisted his companion up
into the sleigh. "All ready!" he sang
out, leaping in himself.
". oh f,ff he hi HI
horses were off again. AS they whirl-
ed along through the snow Miss Malt
ney was a perfect battery of wit and
hilarity, keeping everybodys spirits at
top notch.
mo wonder Crane took her for
heroine model thought Esther Chap
man. ''She is certainly splendid
But suddenly, as swiftly as an echo
dies, every volley of laughter ceased
In rounding sharp curve, one of the
horses slipped and fell to it's knees.
The driver, with a tug, brought the
had been too violent. and the man was
thrown keadlong from his seat into a
snowbank by the road.
The horses, frightened by the mis-
hap, and feeling no hand on the lines,
bolted and broke into a run. In a
bfeakneck pace, the sleigh swinging
from one side of the roa- to the 9TH
er and being almost overturned with
every lunge.
Miss Maltney. instead of trying to
gather up the reins, gave a scream
of terror as she clambered off the
high seat and clambered back into
the body of the sleigh.
Jump! Jump for your lives!" she
cried.
But the warning came too late. The
horses were going too fast for any
body to risk a leap from the vehicle
The moment Miss Maltney sprang
from her drivers seat, Esther Chap
man, who had been in two or three
runaways, and who knew horses as
she did people, leaped to her feet.
In flash she pulled herself up over
the back of the front seat and reached
for the lines that dangled across. the
dashboard.
Hartigan saw what she was at
tempting to do and he followed her.
gaming the point of vantage a sec
ond later. Already Esther had the
lines in her hand, and as. Hartigan
planted his feet against the front of
the sleigh, she thrust them between
his fingers.
Pull! Pull with all your might,
Crane" she urged.
Hart1gan threw himself back with
all his weight, but the speed of the
horses did not diminish one hoof
ciatter In another second Esther had
gr1pped her hands on his, but their
combined efforts didn't have any eff
rect except to keep the pIunging
horses in the middle of the road.
We've got them now, all right. if
Wen just keep a steady gripl" the
girl cried into Hartigan's ear.
She was right. The strain soon be-
gan TO tell on the runaways. One of
mouth and broke from a run into q
heavy gallop. This checked the speed
or the other three. Hartigan now
pulled on the reins with renewed
strength, and in 200 feet every horse
was going at a trot. In another hun
ore, they were brought to stand
sun just in front of a slippery curve
Hartigan. leaving the lines in Es-
theirs hands, leaped out of the sleigh.
ran forward and grasped the bits.
The animals were trembling violent
ly, as horses often do after they have
run off with a vehicle behind them
He let them stand for a few minutes
until some of the nervousness had
worn off. Then, with the help of the
other men in the sleigh he turned
them around.
At this moment the driver. pant-
ing for breath, and covered with
snow. came running up. He was
overjoyed at finding nobody killed or
injured. Esther and Hartigan were
almost overcome by expressions of adj
miration for their presence of mind
and quick action. But Hartiean
knew that their success in stopping
the horses was due to the girl. and
he felt a peculiar joy in giving all the
credit to her.
''She just told me what to do" he
explained, land if it hadn't been for
her some of US now might be en- route
to the hospital"
Miss Maltney. who had sprained her
ankle in the leap into the back of the
sleigh, was taken home first. Harti-
gan and Esther were then LETT at the
Chapman house, whose large windows
cleaned through the snow-Iaden
branches. On the steps of the big
veranda Hartigan stopped
Esther" he said. i've learned one
thing tonight
What is that?" she asked
THAT real courage seldom shows
~ 7..arth tt.,sS 49, anu tnen IL