The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-10-23
The EVENING STORY
A Mans Mind.

/ silence.
with a certain detached interest say
| ing to his aunt, her step-mothe
wonder if she has ever heard the Saylng
about the game and the h!ame?
IT shouldn't wonder--nuthing ABOUT
her could surprise me, except for her
to act sensibly." Mrs. May said, her
brows knitting "She knows she has
to earn her Iiving-besides, I'm sure
teaching is no work at all, and very
| genteel. Any other girl would jump at
the chance, to live at home ana get s4g
! a month But she pipes up, she had
rather stay at home and do the nt.l1
she does here, for SO a monitor else
go away to the city. AS IF her piddllng 3
| about was worth 10 cents, let alone $lO.
Il see! Let her go, then 1t VIII pc
Mrs. May bridled. 'Yo,: forget my
duty to my dead husband" she said.
fretfully. It promised him Mag should
have a home with me, as long as sn1
needed it-but nobody can expect me
to ramper her in idleness
Least of all-herself," Wayland
unused, recalling Marjolaine's ceaseless
activities He was not particularly
-wise-still he had seen enough to
assure him that Marjolaine was the
real handspring of the easy orderly
comfort about him.
The May house was big. and its mis-
tress reasonably hospltable, withai
more than a trifie fussy-she wanted
everything. as she phras ed it, Sin
print" There were two serI ants, rather
elderly, and more than a bit tyrannical.
Their mistress humored the tyrannles
whatever they did or left undone.
there was always Marjolaine.
A queer girl-almost as French us
her name when she to1'1 the trouble
t. make herself a picture 18th her few
best things. That was Only once in Il
blue moon or so. Wayland recalled with
something like pang, a figure In pale
pink, touched family with paler blue,
a small high-bred If irregular face,
dark-eyed camilla white, save for scar
lei lips, misted about with dusks of
silken hair-Marjolaine ready for the
Sims garden party, but left at home
because Betsy the cook rad developed
a sudden sinking" right in the middle
of making pear preserves.
The preserves had not suffered-Jars
filled with clear amber syrup and melt
ing sugary fruit, in rank on the cool
ing shelf, attested the fact. The girl
had murmured to her nephew aside.
But the supper he'd been as good rs
usual though Betsy had refused to
recover as suddenly as she had fallen
i'll. After supper Marjolaine had van
ished, saying no word, bur Stephen be-
tween grumbles as he washed up, had
muttered. through the kitchen win
dow to Mrs May upon the back porch,
not to be uneasy-nothing allied Betsy
bur spite-she'd be up tetimes in the
morning. He had heard her chuckling
over the thought of that uppish Mar
jolaine sweltering in the kitchen all a
hot afternoon.
Mrs May had scolded hin-after let
ting him say his say. Wayland had
smiled cynicaIly-he was allowed to !
smoke nowhere but on the hack porch
Clearly, Aunt Ellen was under tho
thumb of her hirelings-and revenged
herself for it by hardness toward her
stepdaughter. But she was in a sort !
college, given him a year abroad after |
it, and had let him understand with a |
definite promise, that he would get |
her money instead of the missionaries. |
Hence it stood him in hand not to !
ruf1e her Open defense of Marjolaine !
sediment of the jealousy awakened by |
her husbands devotion to his child. /
Most likely he had but married her for /
her fortune-thinking thus to keep the |
child in cotton wool. He had lost his |
own fortune a little before he lost his |
wife. Five years of fruItIess endeavt =
EaG eliminated in his second marriage /
After it he had prospered mildly. us |
ing capital supplied by his wife. An
exaggerated sense of honor had made |
i,'snrance-thus when death came sid /
denly there was almost nothing for his
girl.
His wife as a special partner took
The business in hand ard sold it for
W hat she had put irto it. As widow
She reid the Insurance nc Eey. but felt
herself exceed. Ugly generous in giving
five hundred dollars of it.
"A present. sha vas careful to ex-
I lain. THE policies were about tc lapse
when your rather married me. I mad. il
p"ssi. fer hirc 10 kec: paving =
but it is only right that you should
have something. have put the money
in :-.-' Tor you-tiu you are thirty or
marry You can feel your{s-f indelland-
ent. no matter what ha poems to me
Unwisely, Marjolaine lad not even
given lip thanks. Truth forbade-she
knew the truth; knew also the grasp
ing jealous soul she had to contend
had been spent on her ucation-but
Daddy had planned, so hopefully to |
amass a competence for his girl.
mattered. except that he was
gone. So she had done whatever came
to hand, unmurmuring if unsmiling |
holding to self-respect by feeling that
she earned more than she received.
Life had dragged sort of gray
desert, until WayIand came. Then
the desert had grown hot and dusty.
at first drunk in his stor-
les of the big outside world as a
thirsty flower drinks in rain. She
was an inspired Extraordinarily COM
pretending. He fell in a way of look
ing at her when he spoke, smiling at
her, laughing with her-suddenly there
came a frost. His aunt gloomed like
a thunder cloud-she began to find
pretexts for keeping Marjolaine out
Of the way. The school plan was the
of them When Mario