The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-03-02
EVENING STORY
1.-THE Judges Catch"
by Oliver Gray.)


The judge was fishing. He was
good fisherman, not because he
caught SO many of the finny tribe,
but because he could sit hour in and
hour out. day in and day out, week in
and week out without getting single
strickland without losing his pa
thence.
The river stretched away on both
sides, quiet, undisturbed by so much
as ripple; the day was warm ana
very still. Willows thanked the stream
| on both sides and under one of these
| in an old boat, with a straw hat bak-
ed brown with the suns of many sum
merS. a pair of trousers long since
overdue in the missionar&box, and a
pipe caked almost solid. sat the judge,
| happy as a boy out of school
! His thoughts were drifting like the
white clouds in the blue sky reflected
/ in the water. ANY fellow is a fool
who goes to a summer resort" Puff!
| Dress up and mind your manners,
pretend you're clear sappy over half
the fools in the world, chase a golf
ball till you drop and a lot of rot.
This-is-the-hfe. He felt a tug
and gently raised the line. 1t came
up too easily to be carrying freight.
| Nothing doingi" he sighed, and
dropped it again.
IT'S nice to be free, If a fellow was
married he'd have to go where the
family wanted Look at poor Willis
/
slaughter. He didn't want to go to
the mountains any more than L want
to go to the bad place. That's what
he gets for getting married. Any
softly can do that!" Suddenly he felt
a pull on his line. He reeled in slowly
very slowly. It's big bass. I'll bet,
he eXulted. II always knew the river
was full of 'em. I'll take a picture OF
it and send it to Willis
But to his surprise he hauled in not
! a bass a 81
I'll be hanged. I've fished up rubber
boots and clock springs but this is the
first time anything like this has come
my way" He was wiping the mud
off on the grass and by this time had
| uncovered a long flat purse of patent
leather with flat plates of silver al
| each end and a silver clasp. He
turned it over thoughtfully. Wet and
sogSy as it was it had not lost its
identity and it was coming to him
| slowly that he had seen that same
purse before. Could it be? Or was
he just having one of those hallucina-
| tons common to us all that the event
of the moment has happened aeons OF
ages before, and that we know, almost
but not quite, what is going to hap
pen next. He laid the purse on the
seat in front of him and, nursing his
knee, puffed thoughtfully.
"Of course" he argued, her name
and address are inside and it's ridicu-
lOuS me TO waste time guessing
But there's something about thai
purse that brings back-I have it Il
was the case of the Crockett heir.
and the whole family connection wa.
in court. She wore dark blue and
had sort of copper colored hair ant
deep blue eyes and she dropped thi.
pocket book three times and ever,
time young Skillings picked it up fol
her she bluShed red as her hair
Pretty girl. She was afraid of me,
remember. Wouldn't look at me a
all. Thought I'd bite her head off
guess Come to think of It 1 los
some sleep over those eyes for sew
era1 days. If 1 were like Willis ant
hadn't the sense to keep my head
might be married to them by thi:
time.
'I'l just open it to make sure i
belongs to her" But the first thing
he pulled out was a newspaper clip
ping, wet and discolored but never
! theless perfectly decipherable. In thu
centre was his own photograph Oh
the margin was written in ink, '"Th'
Feachiest thing you ever saw. Onl.
about 80. Dream of him every night
Sorry when the case is over.
Shades of Izaac Walton, The fish
were forgotten and so were the rive
and the clouds and the weakness O.
Willis who was led to the mountains
He gathered up his tackle ant
poles, picked up his oars and rowet
down river to the landing and thence
went afoot across fields to his farm
. house.
MIR. Elder, / found a pocketbooi
today with a Miss Eileen Porter:
card in it. You don't happen to know
her do you?"
mo 1 don't believe I do. Nobod.
around this neighborhood by tina
name Must be-oh, l know; she'
likely one of those girls who visited
the Kramers. They have a summel
home here on the hill, but they're al
away now. That was a month ago.
"All right" answered the judg'
casually. There's not much money il
it Just two dollars and something. II