The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-05-14
THE EVENING STORY
Betty's Blessed Lady.
(By A. Maria Crawford.)

j
all alone, little girl?'
Betty looked up at the tall stranger,
! in his big gray coat and soft gray
| hat pulled well over his eyes, and
shook her head negatively.
mo-" she said, I'm not afraid. 1t
| is so pretty here with the snow over
| everything"
| Perhaps you want to make a snow
man.
Il came to build a fire before the
shrine. 1t is so cold for our Blessed
Lady today"
| "A shrine-in these woods?" ques-
toned Theoren Todd curiously. Who
| put it here?"
| "I'u show it to you," volunteered
Betty. Mother and I found it one
| day when we were looking for galax
leaves about the spring.
| She went before him, her feet leav-
| ing tiny tracks in the light snow. When
| she reached a big granite boWlder oV-
| erhanging a clear spring, she pointed
to niche in the stone where a beau
| tiful little image had been placed.
| Theoren Todd exclaimed in WONDER
| at the beauty and the rare work
manship of the figure. 1t stood there
| as if to bless the passerby VINO paus-
ed to drink of the crystal water that
| flowed INCREASINGLY from some hidden
| source far up on the mountain sym
| bolic of divine mercy that Is oHereo
without price.
| A few stray snow flakes fell unheeoeo
| on his hair, already turning gray above
| his temples.
you love our lady like Jean does,
don't you?'' asked Betty, watching
| him. 'She looks at it for hours at
J time
"Jean?" He turned to the child sud-
denly What Jean?'
answered
| siyely. .She is never, never, never
going away from here any more. she
| said So"
.Who is your Jean?"
'She is my best grown-up fr1end. She
| lives across the road from US up on
the mountain. Mother says that Jean
is Iovelier than anybody else IN the
world 1 want to build fire now, To
surprise her when she comes.
II am afraid that the wood arouno
here is too wet to burn, SAID
Theoren. 81,
.I have some pieces of pine all
ready in a hollow log behind the rock.
Pine burns like everything announced
Betty knowingly.
He help her brush the sno" anu
leaves from two rocks and then they
carried the dry pine from the hollow
log and started fire.
IF you hadn't been here, I couldn't
have made a fire, cause 1 forgot the
matches. You must be like Jean. She
always has everything ready. Won't
you give me your name, SO tnat L Cali
tell Jean about you?"
.fWhy, bless your heart, I did for
get to Introduce myself. didn't II
Theoren Todd, lawyer, at your SER
vice.
Are you looking for anybody here,
Mr.. Theoren? I'm Betty O'Nen," said
the child quietly, looking at him out
of suddenly startled eyes
mo; I'm up here to hunt game,
Betty My guide was sick today. SO
was just knocking about to kill time
when 1 met you. Why did you think
that I was hunting somebody"
Your name" said Betty just above
a whisper, lis the same as jeans bad
husbands. He went away and left her.
I heard mother tell father so.'
A dull red that was not reflection
from the fire swept into the mans
throat and brow.
Did Jean say that he was a bad
husband?'
mot exactly" said Betty truthfully;
s.but he wasn't real good. He was al
ways going off on trips and leaving
her alone. Mother says she ought to
get a divorce and marry Uncle Bob.
He's dreadfully in love with her. Ev-
erybody on the mountain says So.
"Who is hep" The demand was SO
vehement that Betty looked up quick
ly.
.He's just my Uncle Bob and he's
splendid"
Suppose I find a dry log and bring
it here before the fire for us to sit on
while 1 tell you a story! Would you
like that?"
Betty meditated. The promise of a
story was dear to her childish heart,
but Jeans happiness was still dearer
II think that it would make Jean
sad to know you because you have
| 1a.- p fo nd
you make the story short so that you
could leave before she comes?"
"Yes,'' said the man gravely, I'll
make it short"
near the big gray clad figure beside
her He put his arm around her and
she snuggled close to his heart
I'D like you a lot if you had anoth-
er name" she confessed.
81 am going to tell you story
about a man who married a beauu-
full girl like Jean, we will say. They
were very, very happy for a while. but
the girl liked to make little figures of
clay and carve others out of stone and
the man didn't want her to do it He
wanted her all to himself. So they
How dreadful" interposed Betty,
watching the little flames curl around
the pine.
for whole days on a figure of little
child or a dog or some other object
she wanted to copy. But the girl
loved to do it, for the work kept her
busy and happy while the man was
away in the big office"
she ought to have told him that it
was none of his business what she did
when he was gone from home. That's
what Polly Reynolds mother told
Polly's father when he said she must
not try to sing"
Theoren smiled. That's right" he
said, "but this girl was so interested in
her little figures that she wanted to
work on them in the evenings after