The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-07-18
The Euening Story
Diplomacy and Indifference.

(By Catherine Creamery
That Mrs. Della Pennington was
expecting her distinguished son for
long visit was the most momentous
piece of news that had reached Mays
burg for many a day. Particularly
did 1t interest the mothers of mar
riageable daughters, as well as the
daughters themselves. Merchants had
an unprecedented demand for dainty
materials and trimmings for summer
dresses, and dressmakers had to sit
up nights to come anywhere near sat
isfying the demands made upon them.
Practically everybody in town re-
read Lewis Farmington's magazine ar
ticles describing the customs and peo-
pies of the distant parts of the world
| to which his diplomatic service had
were dragged from high shelves in
dark closets and Burma and Bagdad
and Persia had the honor of being as
siduously studied and discussed.
|. In all the town perhaps the only
girl who kept the even tenor of her
way in the general fever of anticipa-
ton was Lydia Robb,, who continued
to enjoy tennis; allowing her smooth
arms to become sunburned and her
saucy nose to gather flock of tiny
brown freckles. The afternoon of
| Lewis Farmington's arrival, when the
| smartest afternoon togs or were
| swathed in cold cream and beauty
sleep as preparation for possible even
ing conquest, Lydia was playing tennis
with her BIZ other.
Mother, DEAR" said Lewis, as they
passed up the quiet street in the viii
lage bus, Tets have things all to our
selves this summer. I've time only for
you and for my book, and the fewer
functions we have to attend the better
it will suit us both, fancy
81 do want to make the most of our
first opportunity in years to be togeth-
er. and even be a little selfish, T. m
afraid; but the people in town are
quite astir with expectancy over your
visit" The mothers proud smile
made the big, dark-eyed man at her
side flush under his tanned skin.
4 suppose they do take an interest
in fellow who brings them seme-
thing from the big world outside their
small one" unused Lewis. and. a mo-
ment later, as he glanced from the
window of the old bus and saw Lydia
Robb lightly swinging her tennis
racket and sending ball to her part
ner with easy grace, he exclaimed:
by George! There's a couple of
youngsters who don't seem to need
anything from the outside. All, moth
er, youth is the prize of prizes, but we
never appreciate it till it begins to
So - a.la
= eThere, now, said his mother,
laughing. II won't have you talking
as If you were getting old. It's be-
cause you've done so much in your life
that you talk of youth beginning TO go
at thirty. But here we are at home,
and no thoughts of the years past or
to come shall spoil a single hour of
our summer together"
Invitations to teas, garden parties
and dinners made Lewis Pennington
fear that he would either have to an
tagonize the villagers of give up all
hope of making any Roadway with
his book He moved his workshop
into the sunmerhouse where he
couldn't hes T the telephone ring, but
it developed that most of the maidens
| of Maysburg found it convenient to go
on some errand which took them
| down the side street and within
| speaking distance of the newcomer.
Early on the morning of the Fourth
| of July, Lewis took his porta BILE type
writer and some blank paper and a
camp stool and made for the wooded
| banks of the small river half a mile
| from town. He found a delightful
spot under big oak tree that stood
on the river bank and there was a
boulder which made a capital type
writer table. He gave q sigh of con-
tentment as he thought of his secur-
ity from social attack and his free
| dom to think out satiSfa Glory COM
pletion for q chapter which had
proved more troublesome than any of
its predecessors.
No sound came from the stream
below where the clear water slipped
between the banks of brown clay,
though in the trees above the cat
birds and thrushes were softly sing
ing. Lewis began to dream of what
that land must have been like when
no one but the Red Men trod its hills
and sailed on its streams.
Gee he unused ct COIIId shut nv
eyes and expect to open them upon the
sight of a lovely Indian maiden gliding
down that stream in a canoe" He
closed his eyes and let the picture
stamp itself on his mind. When he
opened his eyes, a moment later. he
saw a vision lovelier than the one he
had been picturing to himself. for
Lydia Robb was drifting down the
stream in a canoe. The beauty of the
face and neck that showed above the
open neck of MILDLY blouse had not
been dimmed by it's coat of sunburn,
and the dark brown hair that crowned
the shapely head was FURNISHED almost
to bronze in the morning sunlight.
One rounded arm, bare to the elbow,
lay in her lap and the other reached
out over the edge of the canoe allow
ing the slim fingers to trail in the wat
err. Her blue eyes looked straight be-
fore her, but suddenly frightened as
she threw her hands wide at either
side, while her soprano voice rang
clearly out:
my native country, thee.
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I lovei"
Lewis Pennington felt a thrill even
more intense than any that had come
| to him at sight of his country's flag in
PARKWAY land, and, thanking his
stars that he had a fairly good voice.
he joined in the song as LYDIA reached
these lines:
st love thy rock and rills,
Thy woods and tempted hills,
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above"