The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-05-20
The Eue,liI1e Story
The Man From the west
(By Frank Hurburt o'Hara-)


Ane An rIom tpo Weh
esy Frank Hurburt o'tdara-l
They called her Tom. II W1s .
name she had earned v,arfv In ufe. and
= .t,,,,,- x, -. az ~, nm =
wonannood. Tom wasn't sAke OensE
gtr1s. Dolls never interested her. ana
such things a. fancy work she
.,,.,,~. .--s-.s n......s.. ,,.A =,
...o.e. =. .1-lp -. - ... $3.50
ove soutnAus Aou
capades throushout the countrysfde
She had given surprises all through
hee young Me. hut tn hfweAet sur
prise IN vhen IA vent al weat to
teach. II wasn't At an Ike Tom
knew her.
There was nothing peculiar about
her selecting the WIT. however.
There could not have been another
New HAMPSHIRE GIRL better suited to
western environment. Yet this was
her first trip westward. Her father
had taken her to other parts Of the
country, but he had had an eccentric
notion that Tom. Wild OF nature,
shouldn't 20 to the "untamed weet.
ar he called it. until her Character
was firmly nodded" When she start-
ed on there to teach he was satisfied.
Apparently he felt tho molding had
occurred. IAN the Rockies them
selves couldn't block her from the
long, straight road" vas the vny he
put it.
So Tom Campbell went out to the
west Her first letters home Rlowed
with talk of massive mountains and
canyons and vast, wide deserts. and
all the etiquette Of the open. Tom
was delighted. She wrote such things
as this:
THE west has taken hold Of me.
body and soul II rata ma IN : sort
of trance. When I think Of returnine
east to live-well. l. don't think about
It! From now on, people. the ereat.
throbbing west shall be my home.'
AS time went on. her letter. .rew
shorter, ana they were given over to
family small talk more and more.
until she quite forgot anything about
the ''throbbing west" Then there fol-
lowed letters stranger than the AIT
ones-letters that echoed desolate-
ness and bitter longing for home ana
all the old New Hampshire aaeocia-
lions. Poor 1Grs. Campbell could not
keep back the warm tears whom she
read such passages a. these:
: 80 Tine We6t?- why, you
Can't sfmaxirle. yous hack iv,s S;eI,. mn
New Hampshire, what that word Sig
nifiee. You can't conceive all the
misery it conveys. What Sherman
said Of war II tr,,e over. and over :. n
Of this barren waste that people caii
the west
And the peonhe. Oh ~ vo,, <orAa
but see the real frue vesterr.r, Ia
e colder ana dectdstS,,, ~ = ..v. ~
than any snob We have in the east ;:
falls IiIra hn,,,h sat. eS.s
hc,,.>hoia IT,, 1u.o peAce1uf
horns 81. rensiss " ~, neI 20 come
-. ~ Aepl.eu sns Woulo NOT sur
we:+ h,,+ -. SspI ~ was ror song
6sre va, S.es 80 DaSA. you
Ousa@ S~urNS C...
S.o. -o~u' Euiet punctuated
~ H1. oI-1ac1 etters. Afterward
e0me enAs'
Know youH oe awfully shocked
Wnen you read this. mumsy, but 1
cant help 1t. Don't worry. It's really
al perfectly nne. What I'm trying to
say 1s-Oh, wonder II girl II al
ways this way when she starts out
to tell her mother she's going to be
married? You see, that's what have
decided to do. Mr.. Densmore has
pressed me for an answer and I'm go
ing to give 1t to him tonfkht. send
mo on your blessing. and don't tell
dad yet"
kind. And shs. Enew ro,,,,. ss s,, ,s.rs
Wa a,v; anu sue Ane" loms surprising
Afterward the ~;rr. latter. v,.,. var,
cheerfni' Ru+ xh.t '1 ~. w C vesy
looked for most "nS fo,,nd l.. - ~ p ~
news concernsrc NJ n.n., ,rss - r 49,
had written LUZ nrca t,,st ~ ..,as LON
nearly bald abort ana ,,rnr.,,o....esry
That Wa. hevo,,,s hs1,sr e S.sH x,e
ncth.r - ~ V ~. IT,. =. u1rt me
faceftous about - R.,+ - .,a.,.. ~.
he~r ~. S~w-s..S - ..os1. uea
anv ons "AS ~ 'olil'oe "a
~