Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1915-11-06


"Let his father come here" She
rose and. going to his door, declslvely
knocked. May come in?" she de-
manded rather than asked before her
mother could protest. 81 must see
you"
Wayland opened the door, and she
entered, leaving her parents facing
each other in mute helplessness.
Mrs. McFarlane turned toward her
husband with face of despair. shes
ours no longer, Joe. Our time of be-
! reayement has come"
He took her in his arms. There,
there, mother, don't cry. 1t can't be
helped. You cut loose from your par
ents and came to me in just the same
way. Our daughters a grown woman
and must have her own life. ALI we
can do is to defend her against the
coyotes who are busy with her name
"But what OF him, Joe; he don't care
for her as she does for him. Can't you
see that?"
He'll do the right thing, mother; he
told me he would He knows how
much depends on his staying here now.
and he intends to do it"
"But in the end, Joe. after this scan
dal is lived down. can he-will he
marry her? And IL he marries her can
they live together and be happy? His
way of life is so different He can't
content himself here, and she can't tit
in where he belongs. 1t all seems
hopeless to me- Wouldn't 1t be bet
ter for her to suffer for little while
now than to make a mistake that may
last a lifetime
."Mebbe It would, mother, but the
! decision Is not ours. She's too strong
| for us to control She's Of age, and II
she comes to full understanding Of
the situation she can decide the ques-
tion whole lot better than either Of
u.s."
"That's true" she sighed "In some
ways she's bigger and stronger than
both of us. Sometimes | wish she
were not so self reliant"
When Wayland caught the startled
look on Berries face he knew that she
had learned from her father the con
tents Of his telegram and that she
would require an explanation.
"Are You going away?"'' she asked.
"Yes. At least, must go down to
Denver to see my father. shall be
gone only overnight"
"And will you tell him about our
trip?" she pursued, with unainching di-
rectness. "And about-me?"
He gave her chair and took seat
himself before replying. "Yes, | shall
tell him all about it and about you and
your. father and mother. He shall
know how kind you've all been to me. !"
He said this bravely, and at the mo-
ment he meant it. but as his fathers
big, impassiye face and cold, keen eyes
came back to him his courage sank.
and in spite of his firm resolution some
part of his secret anxiety communicat-
ed itself to the girl, who asked many
questions with intent to find out more
particularly what kind of man the eld-
er NorcrOss was.
Wayland's replies did not entirely re
assure her. He admitted that his ia
ther was harsh and domineerlng In
character and that he was ambitious
to have his son take up and carry for.
ward his work. "He was willing
enough to have me go to college till
he found l was specializing on wrong
lines. Then had to fight In order to
keep my place. He's glad I'm out here,
for he thinks I'm regaining my
strength But Just as soon as I'm well
enough he expects me TO go to Chicago
and take charge Of the western Office
or course don't want to do that. I'd
rather work out some problem In chem
istry that interests me, but may have
to give In for Il time at least"
"Will your mother and sisters be
with your father~
mo, indeed! You couldn't get any
one of them west Of the Hudson river
with log chain. My sisters were
both born in Michigan, but they want
to forget 1t. They pretend they have
forgotten 1t. They both have New
Yorkitis. Nothing but the big hotels
will do them now" ''-r
81 suppose they think we're all In.
juns' out hereT
"0h, no, not so bad as that. But
they wouldn't comprehend anything
about you except your muscle That
would catch 'em. They'd worship your
splendid health, just as do. It's pitt
ful the way they both try to put on
weight. They're always testing some
new food, some new tonic They'll do
anything except exercise regularly ahd
go to bed at 10 o'clock