Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1917-09-01

Spcctcf Oh persons, thnt big income
may be lived to its limit with nothing
left when the brain force which COM
manded II ceases to function. Her In.
Their produced perhaps fifteen to TWEEN
ty thousand dollars Il year in his broker
age business. and he had saved moth
ing. Thus ut one stroke she was put
on an equal footing with the stcnor-
raphcr In her fathers Office. Scarcely
equal either. for the Stonoyruphcr earn
Ell her bread ana WAS technically equip
ped for the task. whereas EStclla Ben
ton had no training Whatsoever EXCEPT
III social usage She did not set fully
realize just what mad uvrrtnkrn her.
Things had happlnrd so swiftly, so
ruthlcSSly. that she still vcrycd upon
the incrcdulouS. Habit chung fast. But
she had begun To think. to try and cs-
tabliSh some working relation between
herself ana ;hin@S us she found them.
She had discovered already thnt GER
tain theories OF humun relations are
not soumdly established In fact.
She turned ut last in her seat The
limitcdS whistle had Slirillcd for n
stop. At the next Siol,-Shc wondered
what lay in St"r" ;or her just beyond
the next stop. While she dwclt mcn-
tally upon III her hands were gather
Ing up som" Jew Odds and ends of her
belongings Ca the berth.
Across ,hr aisle II lar.:r, smooth faced
young man watched her with covert
admiration. When she had settled
bnrk with bag ami suit ease locked
ana strapped IN The opposite seat and
was halted nnd slowed he leaned over
and addressed her rcnially:
"Gr!tinG OF at IIopyurd? Happen to
he going ont /" Il, airing Springs!"
Miss Hcnl"n'S gray eye, rested I'M
personally 'n the top OF his head, tray
rlrd slowly Gown over the rim front of
his blnc S"r-c to The polished tan on
lordS on lis feet, aud there wnS not In
eyes or on rounicnan' the slightest
Sign TINT she saw or heard him. The
large young man flushed vivid red
Miss Benton was partly amused, part
ly provoked The large young man had
been her vis-a-vis ut dinner the day be-
forc ana ut breakfast that morning.
Ne had erincc,!~a ycarning Esr CONVEX
sation each time, but 1t had been dip
lomnticnlly confined to salt and other
condiments, the weather and the seen
cry. Miss Benton had no objection to
young men in general. quite the con-
trary, but she did not consider it quite
the thing to countcnance every amiablc
stranger.
Within few minutes the porter
came for her things and the blast OF
the lAmttcds whistle warned her that
1t was time to icnvc the train. Ten
minutes later the limited was van.
ishing object down an aisle slashed
through forest OF great trees, and
Miss Estclla Benton stood on the plank
platform In Il"pynrd station.
Beside the platform were ranged two
touring cars. Three or four OF those
who had a!ightcd entered these. Their
baggage WAS pied over the hoods.
Ducklcd on the rnnnin:, boards. The
driver OF one car ap.r"a ,hcd her. "IIot
Springs? he inquired i"rSrly.
She affirmed THIS. and he took her
baggage. lil"N.Sr Der trunk check when
she asked h"w that article would be
transported To I'll" .aHr. She mad some
idea Of roar" and means from her
brothers written instr lt.!icn, but she
thought hn might hnvr hrrn there 10
meet her. ~ feast he wuuid he AT the
Springs.
So she WAS whi"lcd a:unw country
road. joltcn IN ~" tonlrar bot tween II
fat man from "a ."u"y :trd n rh .umai.c
dame on her way 10 Ease hot sulphur
IN nt
sccdy farmh"nSrs. primitive in con
struction, and h!g barns with moss
plcntifully clinGin% Oh roof and gable.
The stretch OF "harrcd Stuinps was left
far behind, but IN every field Of grain
and vegetable and root great butts of
fir and cedar rose amid The crops. Her
first indefinitely agreeable impression
OF this land. which so far as she knew
must be her home. was OF those huge
and numerous stumps contending with
crops for possession OF the fields.
At first she had been ovcrpOwcrcd
with sense of insignificance utterly
foreign to her previous experience, but
now she discovered wl'h an agreeable
sensation OF surprise she could vibrate
to such keynote. And while she
communed with this pleasant discov-
cry the car sped down straight
stretch and around corner and stop
ped short 10 unload sacks OF mail at q
weather beaten yellow edilicc, its WIN
dows displaying indiscriminatcly In
dian baskets, groceries and hardware.
Northward opened a broad scope Of
lake level. eirt about with tremendous
peaks whose lower slopes were banked
with thick forest
Somewhere distant along that lake
shore was to be her home. AS the car
rolled over the 400 yards between store
md white aud green st. AllwoDds she
wondered If Charlie would be there to
meet her. She was weary of seeing
strange faces. Of being directed OF he
ing hustled about.
But he was not there, and she re-
called that he never had been notablc
for punctuality Five years Is long
time. She expected to find him changed
for the better, in certain directions.