The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-10-09
EVENING STORY
For the Country.
BY 5. B. HACKLEY.

! BY s. b. HACKLEY.
| .1f the boy who goes over there can
| go with his heart .aglow with good
cheer he will be magnificently pre-
pared to endure! oh, friends. you who
sit here eager to do something for the
country; IL there is any trouble you
rifice, smooth it. Don't let your sol
Edier, or any other you, can help, go to
France with a heavy hearth!
| In their court house the Halletts-
burg people listened in GREATNESS en-
tthnsiasm to the Red Cross worker
the little pale woman with scar on
her forehead splinter OF shell had
lmade.
lss-Margaret Rue, the daughter of Hal
iettsburg's one rich man. felt her heart
SWELL She'd been knitting, and maxi
ling bandages. and sewing on stout
Lgarments ever since the war began,
but that wasn't sacrifice.
| Sacrifice! She looked at the dia-
rnond ring on her left hands third
finger, and her face blanched. That
ring had no business to be there; she
KNEW it when Lloyd Shannon put 1t
there six months before. But Lloyd
was so desirable. and she had loved
/ him so long! Across the aisle from
Margaret sat Frances Thompson be-
sidessa slim boy of fifteen, whose
|
him. The young girls pretty oval
face was tense with the weight of re-
responsibility The little brother had
Hong been in need of an operation that
might restore him to health. but they
were orphans, with but their little
home, and Frances's small salary as
Telephone girl to keep them.
T. But Margaret looked across and
wished that she were Frances. the girl
that Lloyd Shannon loved! Why Lloyd
thad asked her to marry him she could
tonly guess. 1t must have been that
FRANCES had refused to marry him,
and. with his hurt heart craving sym
lpathy, he had recklessly turned to her.
- Lloyd-good, jolly. comradely Lloyd
had evidently made compact with
himself. never to let her know by
word or act, that he didn't truly love
her, but she knew.
Me never spoke Frances's name, but
| by one pretext or another he avoided
| the street on which. was the little
Thompson house, and whenever he
| happened to see Frances. try as Mar
garet realized he did, he could not
| keepNa telltale, wistful yearning out
| of his eyes.
! They had been engaged only two
| weeks when he enlisted as private
| the first, the very first, of the town to
volunteer. How Margaret had gloried
| iHsher patriot! And now he was to
| leave for France. he thought, soon.
I aeeThe utmost we can give the coun-
| try. friends, when we think of what
| our boys are enduring and giving, is
little" the SCARED nurse concluded
| IF sacrifices will send a soldier over
there at ease in mind, and happy, then
| let us all sacrifice and count it a
| privilege!"~.
| TAs Margaret passed Frances helping
her brother down the steps, all at once
she knew why the other girl had sent
| a mig n, a
| ring felt like a strip of molten, steel!
| A letter awaited her. addressed in
his firm handwriting. He wrote that
he was to sail the 18th, that he was
desperately sorry he couldn't get leave
| to come and bid her good-by, and
ttlaf shesnus write to him very often
lahd tell him all the news. There
wasn't much more-he never. wrote
long letters-but on the back of the
last sheet was a -two-line postscript.
said, that I want him to write to me
| when I get across. Poor little Phil
will feel that he's sdoing-something for
| the country, and III be hungry for
| letters
That was all-but it was enough.
In his delicate consideration for her,
his sense of honor and rectitude, he
would not mention Francess name,
but Margaret read between the lines.
\ His heart could not help making its
| appeal 10 near IIOIl the girl ne lOVeu.
/ Margaret had resolved to surprise
him by making Aunt Cyrena go down
\ to the camp with her on the 18th, but
| -she read the postscript again
would he be a thousand times more
| glad if it were Frances that waved
| him godspeed when he left?
| "Send your soldier over there at
ease in mind and happy
Margaret yose at last and got into
her car and went to her fathers
office. 8*
| Daddy" she said abruptly, Gin
stead of buying me new car next
summer, will you give me the money
this fall?" A.
For the country. dear?" he asked,
as he wrote her a check
Yes, daddy" she said. and kissed
him.
/ Il From the office of the Telephone
exchange manager she drove to the
little Thompson cottage.
do you think Philip would like to
make g. few days visit to my home"
while you and I and Aunt Rena go,
on a little auto and camping trip to-
gether? He loves books. know. and
he could entertain himself in fathers
library. and Uncle Zenas could take
him out driving every day. And you
few days outdoors would do you
good"
Frances colored with pleasure.
"Philly'd love it, she breathed. "and
SO would Its lovely of YOU to ask
Ius-t,ut / can't get off now"
Yes, you cam" interrupted Mar
garet: i've seen the manager. and he
says under the circumstances-pic-
nicking for your health-you might
have the week off. Now you'll go,
won't you?"
! Lloyd Shannon sent a MESA ge by
nee to Philip" she remarked a mo-
n1ent later. "Ie wants him to write
to him when he gets across. You
know Lloyd is leaving the fifteenth"
l. Frances started and her pale face
lost every vestige Of color.
e.Sc-soon? she stammered, try
ling to conceal her agitation.
Margaret took her shaking hands in
herr. -