Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-10-30
EVENING STORY.

EVENING STORY.
LETTERS AND LAURETTA.
BY DOROTHY DOUGLAS.
Copyright, 1917. by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate)
When Lauretta's parents bought the
old farmstead in a suburb in Long
Island, on the main road to the city,
and moved bag and baggage out to 1t,
LaurettA herself was perhaps even
more delighted than they were.
Although she was city girl and
the arts, stin nature, as revealed IN
the country, lent much toward con-.
pleteness in life to her She loved
proving about lanes and ancient
landmarks, and finding out. as far as
possible, what kind Of people inhabited
the regions she explored before she
had found her way there. Lauretta
had visions of one day becoming
famous writer, and was constantly on
the lookout for plots and mysteries 70
solve. The country, she felt, might al
ford many possibilities II she Just kept
her eyes open and her brain from go
ing to seed.
The old farm was more or less dilap-
idated when the Carsons took posses
sion of it, but the grounds were lovely
and the place would in time be Won
derful home.
The small, broken-down mail box
that stood on a post at the gate was
the first thing that attracted Laur-
etta's roaming eyes. 1t was SO foreign
to anything she had seen in the city
that she fell straightway to wondering
whether or not the district had free de-
livery and whether or not that old box
was obsolete. Perhaps there were let
tiers in it. Lauretta resolved to make
that wooden box one of her first inter
ests. She would have to watch con-
tinually to find out if postman col
lected from 1t and whether or not peo-
pie dropped letters in it. There was
no sign to tell if it were or were not
still used by the town people. The
house was so far from postoffice that
Lauretta was inclined to think the
wooden box on a post at her gate was
still a part Of the mailing system.
And while LAuretta was wondering
about the old box, Jimmy Gains was
fretting and Tuning because Blanche
Markham had answered his letter OF
love with silence. Six long weeks ago
he had mailed that letter while motor
ing on Long Island. Blanche had given
every reason to, suppose that his pro-
posal would meet with an affirmative
reply, but no reply had come.
Girls are a rummy lot" was jim
my's comment at the end of the sew
enth week Of silence. In the meantime
he decided upon short trip south IN
his machine. Perhaps speeding along
the country highways would restore
his brain to something like its ordi-
nary running order. "She might at
least have replied" he told himself.
and was glad that he would soon be up
at Pittsburgh training for the off,
GERS corps. mo time for girls, any
way" he decided Jimmy was fine TO
/ look upon, fine as to character and an
all around fine young man. Blanche
Markham might we'll regret her
silence.
Lauretta waited each morning at her
window to see if anything resembling
postman stopped to collect letters
from the box, while Jimmy Gains
motored through the country because
of a letter that had reposed for seven
weeks in the very box that Lauretta
| watched with SO much interest
Strange bits Of thread were weaving
quaint pattern for Jimmy and Lauretta-
Neither was as yet aware OF the oth.
er's existence. but the tiny imps OF
destiny were very, very busy WORKING
and planning their way for them.
Lauretta waited FOR one whole week
before she felt justified in looking into
the old mail box. The farm was al
ready beginning to look inhabited, ana
/ Laurettas mother and father were
/ happy strolling about the garden one
afternoon. L2uretta went out to the
| roadside. and with a quick jerk dis
lodged the mail box from its ancient
! resting place on top of the post.
Her heart beat quickly. She felt let
ters shaking about inside. and felt the
| coming of much interesting material
for her imagination to play with. She
took the box to the wide porch and
sat down on the steps to open II
Lauretta seemed to be opening tomb
1
continued nevertheless.
There were some half dozen letters
| in the box. Some we're Of very ancient
date, while two had been recently
mailed. Apparently there were sun
| people as ignorant as to country mar
ing systems as she herself was. EVl.
IDENTIFY motorists had stopped to mail
those two letters. thinking they would
be collected on the first route OF the
village mailman.
Lauretta decided 70 return the let
tiers to the writers rather than to the
persons to whom they were written.
The address in each case was on the
envelope. She thought it would be tar
better to let the sender know why the
letters had not reached their destina'
ton. So she wrote short note with
each one telling of the strange way IN