The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-01-27

her first terror. He was obviously not
from the city, but there was nothing
awkward about the man in spite OF his
6 feet 2 inches of height. He was
young, but with the youth that showed
achievement and mental 'concentra-
ton. He did not smile even when
Jane smiled apologetically up to him.
ITO be sure, Professor Silchester
sometimes makes Mistakes, she be-
gan. 81 am very sorry Then for
some reason, probably because of the
steadfast and searching gaze of the
gray eyes of the man, she forgot her
role. You see 1 am really Prof.
Simeon Silchester. 1 try to make the
right guesses. How could I tell that
you were a big man, and how did 1
know that you were a perfect bear of
courage? You might have been
coward %
And you wrote that about my not
having had the nerve to get married? ~
laughed for the first time. well,
you're a funny kind of girl. So you
think you are Simeon Silchester?
Well, that's very funny. I've come
all the way from my place in Mon
tana, just to have a fight with you.
Nothing ever made me so mad in my
life as that letter-but 1 won't fight
lady even when she deserves it,
So relieved was Jane at the way the
angry one recovered from the first in
CenS1Cy OIL MS anger lUdI she I1ldut
him tarry on that first call, pledged
| him never to tell another soul that
| there was no real Simeon Silchester
and never to let any of the office staff
| at the magazine know that she had
| admitted herself to be that person
age.
| They spoke of Montana and ranches
| and the girls face lighted up with eX-
pectation and interest. She told the
stranger of her ambition and he was
as interested as she. In short. he won
James confidence so that when he
suggested that she take luncheon with
| him she did not think to hesitate,
tho she had made it rul- of business
never to lunch with the men she
knew, much less with the men she
didn't know.
So the acquaintance progressed
within the ten days that the Mon
tanan had allowed himself to remain
| in the big city and never again did he
speak of the letter but always of the
ranch and the girls ambitions to lead
a country, outdoor life. The proposal
occurred in the girls office, the aft
ernoon before he was planning to
return. The girl really knew it was
coming. She would have been disap-
pointed if it had not come, and yet 1t
seemed, when it did come, one of the
most trying things that had ever hap
pened.
How can I accept?" she said. 81
don't even know your name I'm
| dreadful1y frightened just to think of
the way we have grown SO well ac-
quainted in such a short time
| True" he said. I'm bit fright
ened myself. But the letter you
wrote to me said that that was my be-
setting sin. 1t told me, too, that if 1
ever wanted to win the girl / wanted
| for wife I'd have to have courage"
Here his expression changed quickly.
How'd you hit on that name of yours
simeon Silchester? It's a good
| name, and it doesn't soand faxed"
Il think it is good" said the girl,
| glad for the moment for the change
| to an objective subject of converse
| ton, and she explained. Il wanted to
| get a name that sounded like what L
| think a handwriting expert would be
"a thin old crank with a white beard
| and long nose. 1 got out the Who's
| Who and looked thru till 1 found Il
| name that sounded just like that
| When write short stories I always do
| that. Sometimes 1 take one mans
first name and another mans last
| name. This time found the name al
| ready made. Don't you think I made
good selection?''
| "Capital-a thin old crank with a
| long nose. Do you happen to know
the original?"
| Jane reached for the who's Who,
| on the top of her desk and found the
| place HE seems to be an inventor
and a ranch owner in Montana Why.
that's where you come FROM
/ Somewhere near" said the man.
| ''In fact I'm the white-bearded, long
i nosed crank. Now you know who 1
really am. Will you take me %
i And the girl, weary of impersonat-
/ ing the handwriting expert and al
i ready in heart surrendered to the
| man who stood before her, had no will
10 saw ..No"-(Copyright, 1917, by
u the Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate.)