New-York tribune., 1910-12-18

Thurley Ruxton
Confined from DcSe


haps merely overwhelmed and utterly bel1t-
tied by the size, the indifference, the cease
less heave and tu1nult, OF gigantic New Y ork,
the city that having been made by man,
now made and unmade him in an hour. The
huge device of stone and iron had received
her as the sea receives raindrop. She was
one OF a swarm of human beings, all bllndlv
working, working, working. as bees seem to
work,-no one individual for himself alone,
but each for all, despite himself, to crafty
the law OF existence.
II was not to be escaped, COmprehcnded,
or measured this unrelentlng ongine1y of
life. There seemed to be nothing, absolutely
nothing. she could DO to lift herself apart.
She was simply submerged in the human
tide which must rise or fall with the mighty
laws that govern the cOSrnic scheme.
CHE was sitting alone in Central Park, far
~ out on its western border, ponder1ng all
her former dream of rising to some brilliant
errinence. on which TO receive the tribute OF
the world. The day had been cocl. A few
drops OF rain had driven scores OF park VISIT
orS back 10 their homes.
Thurlev was weary enough. after four
miles Of walk ng, to be glad of rest on
bench. During the first exciting weeks of her
metre oolitan adventure she had sought, with
conso1cuous success, to achieve an under
sta 2ding Of the was to genuine usefulness IN
directing th5 work that Major Phipps was
nightly toiling to produce. She had like
wise been confident of bounding soon to
splendid things She had won the Major s
approval. his gratitude and trust, from the
first Of her employment. But she had found
herself 11ncomfortably popular with all his
force of clerks. and then her dlsllluslonment
had presently begun
The Major was her loyal friend, sincere
and earnest in his praise, and that was all:
She had neither expected nor desired social
equality or opening of the magical door
from the source of this association. She had
readily discovered a fairly agreeable dOm1-
Gle: he wages were saving Themselves. Al
together it appeared as = after all, the COM
rnonDlace Fates had ass I'M ] a foster parent
hood to guard her on a 1lnpIe, modest way r,
regardless Of her dreams. A certain sort OF
unitarian career seemed, IN its sphere, even
fair and promising; but then-there was
something that constantly gnawed at her
inmost heart. :.
The one brief effort she had made to dis
cover a cousin. Edith Steck by name, Wflo!ll
she had vaguely known to be somewhere n
New York city. failed. and had never since
I,aen renewed. She had thought at the time
that loneliness explained the sum total OF
her cares She knew at last 1t was not
that only. but things that went deep as HE
She had purposely avoided profterted
friendships OF the useless, unedilylng de-
scription, choosing to remain aloof from any
thing save mere acknowledgmentS OF l'5, aci
UIaintance with all her fellow workers ana
the Deople of the house where she hved- O.
dav she wondered if it had paid. She almost most
wished for any sort of friends, provided they
were honest and sincere: .:,l4
For fifteen minutes she scarcely Sl11iel,
sitting there lost in meditation 10 "ila'
would ii lead, this toll and hope; this eS3
c,,rsion into the maelstrom OF the Town:
What might anyone, situated thus acfieEe
~ last, now that she was launched upon tlic
fideo A faint. mirthless smile crept SloMlE
to her lips, freshenng the radiance a ice u no- wv,
beauty. She shook her head as II her Know if ~
ing self thus gently rebuked the sell Oh
How beautiful was all the scene ms m.
was almost enough to require inc ?i,s.r' ,Far
green grass with scattered leaves 81 u an a,,d
miIion and amber upon it, the gold airi l'i