The Topeka state journal., 1918-11-27
EVENING STORY
Fall Sweets.
BY BARBARA KERR.

Fall Sweets.
BY BARBARA KERR.
"An old man-an old man-an old man
soon gets gray,
While a young, man comes = full of love
do way. old man! Co Ways
So sang the lifting, rollicking voice
of a young girl from the springhouse.
Merryweathers' Miami county farm.
There followed a burst of teasing
laughter, then the singer. with sud-
den exclamation of dismay. slipped
lately toward the house, leaving her
aunt to explain to a gray-haired. SOL
dierly looking man coming up the
walk, who seemed to want to know all
about it, just how old the man had to
be to come under the ban, and why he
was singled out and-well, in fact.
bawled out, to be candid about 1t,
when he was walking along peacably
and, as he thought, attending to his
! own affairs. -
Miss Merryweather stood her ground,
| and it looked to a pair of eyes peering
thru little hole in the blind as if she
| rather liked explaining the matter.
And mercy me!'' gasped the erst-
while singer Why, If Aunt Flo isn't
| taking him into the springhouse!"
1t appeared that Aunt Flo was feel
| ing very sorry to think that her willful
niece had hurt the feelings of a very
| fine old gentleman. To make amends
she had taken him in to the apple
bins and was treating him to some
| Fall Sweets, and some other of their
prize varieties of apples. At least that
was the explanation that Aunt Flo
gave Mary Lou when she returned a
little later. Mary Lou listened very
| contritely and frankly and said that
she could not resist the temptation
now and then to be a tomboy, but that
| she did it more to tease her aunt than
| anything else, and IL Aunt Flo wanted
| her to shs would apologize to the cid
gentleman if she ever had a chance.
| This seemed to be the thing that
Aunt Flo wanted, for she hastened to
| say: Fine, Mary Lou; he is going to
| be here in the neighborhood foHa a lit
tie visit to some distant relatives and
asked him to come over and take
| Thanksgiving dinner with US tomor-
! row. You see he is not a starnger to
me-" continued Aunt Flo, with an as
sumption of carelessness; Il met him.
it appears, quite a long time ago and
| he remembered me, tho his army serv-
| ice made him look SO much older that
| did not know him at once"
"A soldier!" CALCULATED Mary Lou.
| ''Well, 1 guess we will have him! I'll
just get him the best dinner he ever
ate, and then when he is feeling all
| fed up, I'll drop around and tell him
that 1 didn't mean it, that I don't care
| how old he is. Why, Aunt Flo, III
| say: Don't go, old man! Don't go
stay and be my uncle and Mary
Lou danced off, already intent on look
ing into the IaFder to see what sort of
| dinner she was to offer to her aunts
guest. 1t did not occur to her till later
to ask about his uniform.
| Then her aunt, who thought she had
sufficiently punished Mary Lou for her
fun, told her that the soldiers lug
gage had been lost and that he had
l Ha ofv Itor o1o 10
| his travel-stained togs were being
cleaned and made fit; that his name
was Harrison Knoop and that he was
related to the old knoop family, one
of whom had gone into the Civil war
and taken his six sons with him
"MyY' interrupted Mary Lou, With
shining eyes. And is he the old man
am privileged to feed?"
'Just leave off the DID, dear, for he
is not old, unless because he is an old
pupil of mine-he went to school to
me when I taught in Troy. The gray
hair is the result of gas and shell
shock"
"oh. auntie. forgive mel" begged
Mary Lou. the tears springing to her
eyes. Not really?"
"Yes, really. And there is some-
thing else. Can you be very discreet ?
your mother a shock that she may not
recover from if tell you that we are
to set an extra place"
For whom? Auntie. don't torment
me. Not for" and Mary. Lou
whispered, with white lips, the name
of her "kid" brother, Tommy"
"Surely!" NODDED her aunt. But
wait" she added as Mary Lou was
bounding away intent on telling the
mother who was grieving her life away
because of the boy who had volun-
teered against his fathers commands
f~r
months-merely reported as among
the missing. You forget you were
to be very discreet and we are to plan
together how to break the news to
your mother and father"
4 There was so much planning to-
gether, so many whispered "Sh-
sh-sh's!" that finally the unusual ex-
citement reached the invalid mother,
who asked the cause of all the sup
pressed whisperings.
"Oh. mother" cried Mary Lou. un-
able to keep the exultation out of her
voice, "Auntie Flo and have conclud-
ed to use up all of the November
of course, we will leave you yours
but we've decided after all that we
are going to have one of the best old
Thanksgivings that we ever had. and If
you will be very sweet and discreet,
mother dear, and not upset father,
wen Tell you d secrel-duhtie is gong
to have a beau!"
Her mother, used to the whimsical
moods of her daughter. smile1 wanly
and then with trembling lips sad
gently. Il thought maybe-you might
have had"
Some good news? Did you. real
ly-did you, mother? Wer-welI-
we did"
And that was the way Mary Lou
broke the news. Her aunt rushed to
) the side of the invalid, but she was
smiling happily thru her tears. do
you girls suppose" she asked. CROP
ing for her handkerchief. that you
could go giggling and whispering
around the house .or hours without