Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-11-18
Evening Story
LUCK IN LEISURE.
BY Martha M'cuIIoch- Williams.

~ SIO W. SU1uVSsu~ vvssS0vIOs
Copyright, 1912, by the Mcclure News.
paper Syndicate.
my last word is-take 1t or leave
II" Montfeth snapped, rising as he
spoke.
Young Ellison felt himself dismissed
without hope and without redress.
He had asked for SO. little-only a
chance. He had faith in his dream,
faith that ought to move mountains.
or men. It had not moved Montieth
by hairs breadth. give thousand
dollars for the tract power site includ-
ed" had been his ultimatum.
The site was all he wanted-to har-
ness the bold, beautiful waters young
Ellison loved, and set them grinding
out electricity, which In turn would
grind out many other things far and
near. There would be fortune in
the doing of 1t, but It needed q lesser
fortune to set the waters at work. FL.
lison wanted them set at work, but In
other fashion. Impounded at tho up
per levels, and led in trickles along the
benches and down through the thirsty
lower valley, they would mean homes
and, happiness and sustenance for
many souls.
They stood in wait-eager, anxious
They were fellow workmen, his mates
in the shops where he had wrought
when the lawyer found him out and
told him of his landed inheritance.
That was three years back. Ever
since he had been planning, preaching
praying, preaching to the men through
letters, planning ways and means,
praying whatever gods there be to
give him chance.
He had thought the prayers IN the
way OF answer when Montletn upon
his tour Of inspection had been halted
near the power site by a wreck fur.
Their on. At first the capitalist had
seemed almost gracious. He had lis
tened intently, looked rather keenly
at Elison's drawings and estimates
then suddenly branched into anathe-
mas against the human careiessness
that made railway wrecks possible
After that he had walked about the
sita measuring 1t with his eye, not
mo the water flow and the massive
strength of natural abutments on both
'1.-,I7-a rs sr@
"Ta,k It over in the morning-after
I've silent on It," he had said at last.
allison had not slept at all. In
.sta,d no had lain wide-eyed, seeing
visions. 1,y,.,.
o,t capital he was hopeless. The
thirsty valley gave him barely lone
living such bits as he could water
slngle.handed rioted into harvest he
was half-tempted to appear 70 men
everywhere to come to his neip.
they were but willing to work ana
starve for year they could make q
heginning-when they had shown what
land and water could do, maybe
money would be drawn to them.
Then bitterly, he laughed at him him
self How were real men to hunger
and labor themselves. knowing wives
and children we're starving? Over
and over he repated '"The poor Is
DESTROYED by his poverty He had
asked of this rich man a risk map
nreciable compared to those he took
almost daily-and had been refused.
Worse still--in the offer Of purchase
there was a menace. II he refused
It he knew life could be made hard
and dangerous for him. He had to
depend on the railway for all that went
out and came init was easily In it's
mower to ruin him whatever he might
undertake.
The track ran half mile away
he had gone there to approach Mon
teith and had lured him thence to In
spect the site. Aimlessly after his
dismissal he wandered toward 1t not
along the footway, but over shaly
,apur of stone scantily beset with brush
wood. Midway 1t, he was amazed to
come upon girl In dusty khaki. with
a Tapping sun hat, cooked over one
ear.
She sat fiat on the ground, with q
HASTORIA Falnfanis and Children