The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-11-22
EVENING STORY


FiSe. Inns proposal from JACK FOR
| ter, Junior partner of the firm for
which she was st, nographer. was as
unexpected as the one of that morn
ing from Harry Marvin son of the
senior partner, also employed in the
| office. size had received attentions
| from them both and had come to re-
gard them as very dear friends, but
| them had never lodged in her mind
| for a minute.
"I'Il have to tell you what 1 told
Harry this morning when he asked
me the same question, Jack" Pearl
said after Jack had made his declara-
ton. 4 cannot decide until 1 have
| had time to think it over. 1 have
never thought of either of you as any
thing but very dear friends, but 1 see
now that l must ecide between you
/ two weeks and I will promise you
/ whatever way l decide 1 will always
count you as one of my very best and
closest friends"
Harry is one of my best friends
and 1 am sorry that we have both
decided upon you as the only woman
Your decision must bring unhappi-
ness to one of us, and if l am to be
the lucky one my sympathy will go
out to him, and l know that If it is
reversed he will feel the same way
about it toward me. 1t is a crisis that
we are both big enough to face, and
l think we can wait the two weeks
! for your decision" Jack answered as
/ he prepared to leave I'm the mean
! time if you decide don't -eep us in
suspense the full time
/ After Jack had left Pearl sat down
and tride to con- pare the two men
whose happiness she held in her
| hands.
/ Harry Marvin was a bright, reckless
fellow with not a care in the world,
a pleasure seeker, generous to his
| friends and general good fellow. He
was liked by ALL good looking and a
man no woman need feel ashamed Of
| True, he was self-indulgent and very
way inconvenience himself. He was
very fond of ridiculing and telling
/ jokes on others but always showed
| displeasure when a joke was turned
on him. OF course a man couldn't
| be perfect-Pearl realized that.
| Jack Porter was of very different
makeup. He seemed to get more of
the real things out of life. He looked
on life little too seriously, perhaps.
/ He never made a loan or showed gem
| crosby toward one unless he was sat
| isfied that one was deserving and in
need, but if he found such to be the
case he did not think of any personal
/ inconvenience in his endeavor to help.
/ He was not mean spender, but he
t was by no means an eXtrayagant one.
| He had a keen sense of humor and
could appreciate a joke on himself as
| well as others, but was careful not to
hurt the feelings of theN sensitive. He
was not handsome, but he was pleas
ant looking.
The days passed quickly and Pearl
/ found her two weeks almost up. She
| had not come to her decision yet. She
! found it next to impossible to choose
! between the two men. Both would
make desirable husbands, she thought,
/ but which was best suited to her was
the problem that kept her awake long
| hours after she should have been
! asleep.
She was sitting at her desk, absent
! minded1y picking at the keys of her
typewriter, her thoughts on the de-
cision she had to make before the end
of the week. She had almost decided
to tell them she could not marry either
| of them and make them both I'M
happy when the office door was pushed
open and shut with a bang and Harry
J Marvins laugh drew the attention of
the whole office staff to the door
where he was standing with grin on
his face that told them all he had
joke on some one to tell. They crowd
ed around him, eager to hear what it
was.
tIts the best joke YETI he an
nounced. Jack andH were on our
/ way here, were just crossing the street
arms full of bundles was nearly run
over by an auto. She was frightened
nearly to death and looked as if she
was going to keel over. L knew she
would be all right in a minute, but
Jack caught hold of her and led her to
seat in the park. He fused over
her as # she was his grandmother
and a crowd collected. She was such
a seedy looking old person I got out of
the way as quickly as could. When
I HnII h 7 1Ta1 rad
back, and if there wasn't Jack coming
along the sidewalk with the old coun-
trified lady on one arm and her bum
dies under the other. 1t looked too
funny for anything. If any of the
boys of the club see him they'll roast
the life out of him about it
The others joined in Harry's laugh
all except Pearl. Somehow the humor
of the incident did not strike her. She
wondered what the others saw in it
to make Jack a laughing stock He
only showed himself to be the gentle
man he was. The old lady must have
been deserving of help or he would
have given it to her She was prob
ably somebody's mother, and Pearl
was glad Jack had helped her Sne
would have done the same thing un-
der the circumstances. What if it had
been her little mother, safe home in
the country?
|. AS Pearl settled down to her work
again she found it hard to keep her
mind off the scene Harry had describ-
ed. She wondered what was keeping
Jack so long. 1t was long past the
hour to return from lunch. As she
heard the outer door open, she turned
expectantly, then jumped up in de-
light.
'Motherl" she cried, as she ran to
the little old lady who was standing
in the doorway. Mother mine, what
are you doing here, darling" She
had the little person in her arms nd
was kissing her wrinkied cheeks again
and again, unmindful of the fact that
Jack was standing behind her mother
and the whole office staff was staring
in their direction,
rs this your mother, Pearl? I'm
SO glad" Jack said as Pearl looked
up and saw him.
..rrhfs Ynnng man has haar 81, Liza