The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1914-02-17
Two on
A Tour
In Which the ConventionaIities
Were RudeIy Ignored.
BY TROY ALLISON.


ument reached the ground after its sol
EMMY slow descent. and Rhoda Jami
son. feeling somewhat Overawed by the
world as seen from the top of the mon
ument, sat down on bench near the
elevator door. She needed few min
utes to readiust her thoughts and to
plan for the rest Of the day.
Rhoda had saved every possible pen
ny from her salary during the school
term in order to take this Washington
trip and had determined to crowd as
much sightseeing into her ten days as
any other Washington tourist had ever
done.
She had spent hours with the visit
ing milliner in her town planning ev-
cry detail Of the time and had finally
arrived in the city and taken a cab di-
rectly TO the quiet lodgings she had
recommended. The milliner had, how
ever, forgotten to take into cOnsiderB
ton the fact that the girl had never
been accustomed to city and to city
ways and had therefore failed to pre-
pare her for the feeling of desOlatiOD
and loneliness that grew more and
more oppressive every minute.
The Congressional library had salts
fed her love of beauty. the capitol
and the White House had seemed like
old friends from the pictures in the
geography and history from which she
had taught for months, but in her
classes she had been the personality.
Here she seemed to dWiDdle into moth
fngness. and the things that had been
mere ideas and pictures lowered over
her Oppressively, and she was over
come by her littleness and her lOneli-
ness and longed for some one to speak
to her with a hint OF friendly interest
The bg, broad shOuldeTed man sit
ting on the other end Of the bench she
had seen walking down the steps Of
so secure in his superb physical
strength that he walked down to ex-
anime more closely the inscriptions on
the stones that cannot be studied so
well from the elevator.
She saw him take fountain pen
from his pocket, adjust 1t and finally
sort package of souvenir post cards
and begin writing industriously.
She remembered the package she had
bought to send her pupils, SO she took
her own pen from her hand bag and
commenced racking her brain for little
things to write that would amuse them
The postal she liked best of all. a
daintlly colOred view of the monument
itself, she addressed to her mother
Across il she wrote, TITS 50 very big
and ] feel so little and so lonely"
She leaned forward to flirt bit of
dust from the tip of her pen, and a
Whit Of air blew the postal from her
lap and left it lying at the big mans
feet
He saw it there and, thinking he had
dropped one of his own, stopped and
picked it up, reading it leisurely.
81 feel so little and 80 lonely" he
read, and. surprised, turned to meet
the flushed face of the girl
"lts mine" she said, holding out her
hand for it.
"DO you feel that way, tOo?" he ask
ed eagerly "That's me exactlyw
81 shouldn't have called you really
little she answered, with the frank
friendliness of a girl who had never
met with circumstance that would
cause her to be suspicious OF human
ity. - reckon you are referring to the
first part Of the sentence. 1T Is so big
would really seem more suitable"
'rhat's right" he laughed, looking at
the postal, "but that just proves that
can hold more loneliness than you,
for | am feeling lonely from the soles
of my feet to the top OF my new felt
hat that | bought In Carson City TO
see the sights Of Washington in"
AT least you are farther from home
than |. I'm from South Carolina" she
chatted, three days abstinence from
conversation having left her with
surplus on hand.
81 was Just sending some OF these
things to the boys" he said. ",rhey
are living in a shack near mine. and 1t
VIII tickle 'em immensely to get these
pictures OF civilization. You see, we
had been out there for two years dig
ging away for gold without any sue
cess, and just as we'd fallen into a fit
OF gloom and shortage OF grub why.
we struck 1t rich"
"How lovelyl Did you find it in
chunks?" Her eyes sparkled like
child's.
That's about the size of IT," he
laughed, with whole souled hearth
ness he hadR't experienced for days.
ave sure found 1t in large sized pieces,
and just thought I'd take vacation
to see the world. I've never been east
before"
'Do you like itT' She failed to put
as much donbt as to the charms of
Washington in her tone as she might
have put half AN hour earlier.
1--WE been about the lOneliest person
the dome ever shadowed, I could get
on very well In the daytime but I've
wanted to sit around the fire at night
and talk il over with the boys. How
long are you going TO stay?" he asked
eagerly.
"lpn daVs I've been here thra,. -