The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-11-19
The EVENING STORY
Ben and Mary.
(By Lawrence Alfred cl,

nleie country schoolhouse, whittier
was also bound They were son
an "a, daughter OF farmers.
ot1,y old not say much to each
sriel oe . snat mile walk. He had a
oIVloed with her, and she said that IL
sLe ever broke her new slate penciI
sne would give him half of It. There
rad nave been no love but for the
ha1f-eateo boy who snatched her
-, apple away at the noon
nour. She burst into tears over It
$3.50 Den Holmes sailed into the Of
.enoeI and forced his head into a
s SIT From that moment on, she
was the vine and he the oak
During four winter terms Ben
Hoimes and Mary Lester walked to
scnool together and when the snow
was oeep he carried her over the
t Morst places on his back. They felt
t,a e I;s, engaged" from the day
used to discuss MARRIAGE in fhe MOST
eoper manner. 1t was wears. ahead
~ shem, OF course, but If any one had
l LOU tnem that their minds might un-
aStonished "'S DooH
When Mary was thirteen she was
sent away to stay with an aunt and
a..ena higher school. Ben had to
lake MS place at farm work They
wrote each other every week and the
boy soon discovered that the civil v,as
getting ataad of him. He spent his
evenings catching up. He became his
own teacher and added much to his
store of knowledge
he AT s. nrIeen. en-, when Mary came home.
could see very little in him. Higher
education hadn't changed her so
much, but minglfng witt the world
nau- Sne mad certain assurance and
poi1sh that Ben regarded with dismay.
She chided him; she corrected him
sne crltlclsed him. Her three months
at nome brought little pleasure to
MN, and when she went away again
Tor another long stay he felt that he
mao mao los. her: few letters passed.
ana then they dropped out of each
orher's lives. It has been SO thou
sands of times.
If blowing, sowing, planting and
reaplng makes a c1odhopper then Ben
Holmes became one He had frecI<les
and sunburns and frostbites and cal
loused hands. If Mary Lester came
nome for few weeks and he called
ar the house, he was overpowered.
Night after night he had studied to
improve while others slept. and yet
she had scared above him. She held
him at distance; she wouldn't talk
of school days; she smiled at his awk-
wardness.
1t came to Ben at last that he must
give II up They called him smart
was something that must go with edu-
cation.
He could not quench his love for
the girl he had fought for and carried
on ms back and built p1ay-houses for.
lie carried it with him every day but
at the same time he recognized the
hopelessneSs Of it.
Mary's home for good, L guess"
announced his mother one evening as
Ben sat bent over a book
He had heard SO three days before
but had said nothing
shes brought one of here girl
chlns with her. ~ 20 3 -
He had heard that too. ss
And they say, Bentley say that
a young Teller arrived TODAY who's go
ing to marry her. He's come to see
her father about it. Polly Davis saw
MIN as he drove up to the house, and
she says he is slick as a button Wears
an overcoat trimmed with fur. and is
match
Ben had been preparing himself for
the blow, but it came with stunning
force after all. The letters in the book
turned upside down, and he found his
teeth shut hard.
Polly says they are all going slid
ing down-hill this evening"" ontinued
the mother. 1.-The hill road is as sim
perry as Ice. and Jabez Turner has lent
them his bid sled and his oxen to
for 'em to be at it now. Why don't
you go and see the fun 90
The mother didn't know the son.
She thought the past was the past
with him. Nothing told her that at
that very moment his love was burn
ing more fiercely than ever. Go I'd
join the party? Go even to SEE. them
from a distance? Not for all the
money in the world. He looked at
ms mother in establishment as she
SI0OQSfad Nd
later, he laid aside his book. put on
his overcoat and left the house.
The hill was down the road: he
meant to walk in the opposite direc-
ton, but he didn't. He turned down
the road. He did not mean to descend
the hill by the footpath to the rail-
road tracks running along the valley,
but he did that same thing He did
not mean to walk west to where the
vehicles coming down the long and
winding hill crossed the tracks. but he
reached it just as the sled was being
drawn UP again after its first flight.
There were half a dozen young peo-
pie. and he could hear their talk and
laughter. Mary Lester seemed hap
piest of all.
Ben said to himself that he would
go home now. but he didn't go. It
was blow upon blow to know that
Mary and her lover were there. and
yet he would wait and get a nearer
realizes that his case is hopeless is
relieved when the judge pronounces
sentence. Ben walked a hundred feet
up the hill and sat down behind a
stump. When the sled came along
he could see and not be SEEN Ten
minutes later the distant shouts
warned him that the descent had be-
gun. Then another sound struck his
ears. 1t was the heavy rumble Of an
approaching freight train. The sled
might cross the tracks ahead of it, or
it might fail by few seconds At
best it was running fearful risk.
Two hundred feet above the watch
ing man the sled suddenly shot into
view, and its half dozen occupants
were shouting and laughing. Then
came the hoarse Shrek of a locomo-
tive They were higher up and could
better see their danger. They began
jumping off. and Ben noticed that the
first one to go was man. The last