The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-12-19
EVENING STORY
aGreater Love Hath No Man"
(By Susan E. Clagett.)


Josiah Shapman thoughtfully turn
ed the envelope in his hand over and
over before opening it. 1t was like
others received at intervals during the
past months from the woman he ex-
pected to marry, and he could recall
every word she had written him
meagre words, for her handwriting
was large, the correspondence CARDS
she effected were small. and six only
had he received during the weeks OF
her absence AT first he attributed
this to WEAKNESS. Then he felt an
gered.
There was also hurt that she could
give him so little time as merely to
send an address as she moved from
place to place. But at last he &C
I cepted the situation, altho once he
thought of joining her and coming to
some understanding of this unusual
state of affairs, almost on the eve of
marriage. He rejected this, however,
feeling sure he would receive an ex-
/ PLANTATION later.
! He was in this state of mind when
he opene the envelope, yet he paused
before reading the card No one
would have suspected him of senti-
ment yet this Self-contained man
/ longed for line telling him he was
necessary to the woman who would
/ soon bear his name, and there was
contraction of the heart as he read
| the words he believed would give
new address.
In this he was mistaken. What he
read caused him quickly to leave the
| room Two hours later he was jour
neying westward in the grip of fear
like nothing he had ever known.
The letter had been three weeks
upon the way. 1t would be three
weeks before he could reach her. Over
and over he reread the few written
lines and concentrated his mind in
an effort to discover what was be-
tween them.
40. dear" she had written, "can
YOU come to me at once? l know you
will, but six weeks is long to wait.
You cannot reach me in less time, and
1 need you so. HARR1ETT
What he heard when he reached
(, Fairbanks increased his anxiety. A
fire had burned the hotel three months
before, and taken toll of one poor fell
lows life. The other inmates, save
Harriet Wheeler, were not in the
that day, and. weary with the trip up
the Yukon, had fallen into heavy
sleep. She reused later, but not suff1-
GENTLY to note that anything was
wrong, and for space quietly
drift thru the partition, sleepily Won
dering what they could be- Suddenly
nostrils and throat stung. She coughed.
The white wisps changed to acrid
smoke and brought a realization OF
her danger.
She sprang to the door and tried to
make her way out, but the smoke
blinded her. Cropping against the
wall she at last stumbled into an
where should have been safety, she
was struck by falling timber.
She knew little for weeks When
/ consciousness returned she found her
self dependent upon the generosity OF
the kind-hearted people who had
taken her in, her letters of credit
gone and all else she had with her.
A word at time, as strength per-
mitted, she had written to Josiah
Cha pman, and as he now looked down
upon her she wondered at the in
scruta bility of fate and prayed a
breathless prayer for strength to say
what she knew must be said
/ why didn't you Telegraph he
asked 81 could have been here ear
lier and you would have been that
much nearer health"
There is a fine physician here, and
j.. he has been most kind. 1 talked with
: him before writing. He tells me
will never walk again
THAT is not true. When I get you
home
she interrupted. I'VE must face
the facts. 10. All I can hope for is
to sit in a wheel chair. l try to real
| ize what that will mean. l cannot.
will in time. and it will be hard; but
harder than that is the knowledge that
|
tried your patience these past months,
but l have been@obsessed by the fear
J that / did not care enough to give up
my independence and be happy in so
doing. 1t has taken this to make me
! knew "
: That you do not love rne?''
How much 1 cared Her voice
faltered. do not make it hard for
me, 10. II cannot bear that just
now"
He covered her restless hand with
his. You have always seemed to me
a woman of unusual intelligence, Har-
| riet. I find that am mistaken. Your
talk is 3diotic- I have known you
: were restless in our engagement. GU
were afraid marriage would curtail
your various interests and bind you to
a life you could not escape. That is
| about it. is it not?
Dear, did you ever really think
what home meant-home, spelled in
/ ment; not rooms in a hotel. But a
home with space about it-with roses
with beds of old-fashioned phlox
with trellises of sweet peas. Inside
. comfort. not luxury; old-fashioned
with the sun streaming thru the win
lows, the fire in the living-room CLINT
ing across the rugs. and the two OF
US sitting there cOntented. / have
pictured this too long to give it up
The only difference between anticipa-
s changes from the living-roorn to your
s own. For little time you will not
move about with Your usual freedom
That will right itself, and the sooner
We get home the sooner you will be
better.
Joe, 1 tell you
Put your mind on those rose beds
l Harriet. He paused, then went or
in lower tone. Put the whole OF
your mind upon my need of you. If
knew you would spend the rest of youl
life as you are lying now, would no
s give you up. Neither of US has any
e one but the other. Your money will
buy you service. 1t will not buy wha
, 1 give you with my whole strength