The Washington herald., 1913-08-24

a sense of his place and work some
how things appear brilliantly easy
You see, before, ! never stopped to in
quire anything. Life appears simple
enough to a man who has but two
shirts-he takes off one and puts on
the otherl And that's all I've been
doing here in Rome, Janet-till now"
And now" Her serene glance was
on him as they reached the crest OF
the fence. He suddenly caught her
hand and lifted it to point away over
the town, the twilight country, the
veiled immensity of night. Here, there,
a lamp shone in a house; distantly
a light twinkled, and far off on the
still land one caught yet another.
Their homes" Wiley whispered
"theirsI The people whom you wish
me to go to-the rough-coated and
silent farmers driving into town, toll
ing away, but thinking, too. You
wanted me to go among them, tell
them that I-Curran of the News, was
of them, and would fight for them
if they would let himi That what
they believed in and honored, he be-
lieved in and honored. Janet, stop
here every night on my way up from
the shop and draw in the air-ihis
fine air OF the country, and watch the
lights come out in those far-off farms
on the hilsides, and vision comes
to me of them all-their homes and
lives and destinies. | see it all and
understand, and it's as if they were
calling meas if there were work and
place for mel"
Janet nodded slowly. Her fond smile
came So well she knew him 1t had
to be that way with him-an appeal
TO his imagination, his heart, his un-
defeatable and simple romance. Well.
so good. She would be practical for
him; she would find the way He
stopped now with a sudden rueful
curiosity.
What's this I hear about you be-
ing asked to go out and speak in the
national campaign for women's suffrage
the big fight in some of the States -
Il was asked" Janet looked away.
1t had been an anticipation come true.
She had had her eyes on wider hori-
IONS; she had felt the supreme pleas
ure of efficiency, OF power recognized.
She went on calmly: But / declined
it, Wiley, this year
He was watching her face in the
dusk. Il know why" he retorted
abruptly. 1t was to stay here and
help me-"
Yes"
He was silent. Some consciousness
of her bigness, of the richness of her
life. was finding way into his vision.
1t was portion of his new delight in
all this bouyant modernity, just as he
had awakened to kinship with the
Midlanders. stern with the sense of pa
tient and long-endured wrongs, and
needing leadership. His esthete's in
drawing, his dabbling with art and af-
fairs, had got him nothing; life had
rebuffed him, but now he had come
upon realness. Janet suddenly typiied
all this; he saw her and with her all
women as the new enfranchised COM
panions of men, the efficient helpers
and counselors.
BY George" he broke out. You're
coming on so grandly, Janet! always
guessed at it, but you've grown so!
'Wsy-'way beyend me!'
Most men are in a state of ar
rested development in their view of
women" she answered, "playthings to
be possessed, or parasites to be en-
dured. But companion, reliant, help
full, demanding freedom, extending it
l thought, Wiley. you would grow to
see that, too"
|"Yes, yes he cried, q canr He
was fired with her largeness, her
faiths. But she left him to go home
with trace of playful cynicism.
If you will only keep the oncom-
ing way, Wiley!' She shook her head.
But, tomorrow, I'll find you back
again, the old indolent chap-Curran
of the News"
He waved an ardent protest. When
Aunt Abby came home from the Con-
Sewing Circle, where she
was loved for her helpfulness, and re-
proved for her tolerance of Mr.. Cur
rams beer drinking, she found him
staring out at the starlit country.
"Aunty,' he nurTnured, why do YOU
suppose 1 never make any money!"
Some men jest have it in 'em,
Wiley; and some jest run country pa
pers." She took of her black and
lavender cap, but powdered her nose
again, for she had only waddled home
to get his supper and then she would
be off once more to assist at a church
social As she cooked, her nose grew
redder, and when she was done with
Wiley's supper, she powdered it again.
1t was mortifying indeed to a good ro-
tund lady, who knew that when she
tame to The Circle to join in the re-
iuvenating of small Congregational
pants" for the home missionary box,
there would be a sniff or two, for
some way or other the fragrance of
Mr.. Curran's shameless beer drinkings
would cling to her still. He had a
bad way of hiding the bottle in her
clothes closet or among her bonnet
boxes, and then roaring abominably
when her nose, on Sewing Circle
nights, took the sympathetic hue Of
MS own.
That limb, Wiley T." she would
plead to the church people. But, sis
.ers, the Lord has been putting up with
1lm for forty years. and guess until
He forbids, l shall, toor'
That limb, Wiley T." knew vague
y that he owed much to this loyal
in circles he did not en-
er, Just as he did to Janet Vance and
Ter faith in him. Women were always
long for him, one way and another.
And he had carelessly allowed them !;
hey were part of the old Dionysian
ielight of life, the youth he had given
10 fully, and which even now called
10 him above this eternal dawdling
over the damp paper on press day, the
,lank of the machine, the grind of
work Getting out the News was like
lavinp hahv 90 he tnId Am. A.