The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-01-03
EVENING STORY
The voice Over the Wire.
CRv vincent G. Perry.)

the General hospital, and the respon-
sibility at times became wearisome.
1t had been a long, wearisome day,
day when almost all the nurses had
gone off duty complaining of head
aches and some of the probationers
had tainted at their work, which made
it all the harder for the young doc
tor. AS the hour reached midnight
The could see lots of work still to do
before he could retire. 1t was no
wonder, then, that he was in an un-
pleasant frame of mind when he
found himself at the telephone to-
make a promised report to a relative
of one of the patients.
Whats the matter with you. CEN
| trail, that's the second time you've
| given me the wrong number he
called Grossly thru the telephone
| after being told twice that he had the
wrong number.
| Il am sure l gave you the number
you asked fer both times" came the
answer. in such a pleasant tone that,
after his harsh tone, it surprised him.
Wait till 1 see,'' he mutrered as he
located his memorandum book.
That's right, 1 did give you the
wrong number. You will have to ex-
cuse me-" His voice had modulated
to smoother pitch
! That is all right. 1 guess you are
/ tired. We all get that way some
| times and must make allowances for
Others" said the girl without the least
trace of hippancy in her voice.
| 1t was early morning before Doctor
Reynolds was able to go to bed and
then he was too tired to sleep. As he
lay in bed he tried to forget the
events of the day, but they kept cross
ing his mind. The compensation with
impressed him most and it was not
so unpleasant to think of as some of
the other things. How sweet her
voice sounded, he thought, SO different
to any other telephone operators, diff
ferent to any other womans, perhaps
most like his mothers. He wondered
what sort of girl she was. very fine
girl is she were anything like her
voice. 1t seemed a shame for nice
girl like that to be Shaving away at a
switchboard. 1t wasn't any worse than
a nurses life. tho, he confessed as he
thought of the tired faces he had
seen that Gay. His mind kept wan
dering but always returned to the
telephone operator. Her voice and
polite words had certainly made more
than an ordinary impression on him
and he hoped some day to meet her
There wasn't much chance to do So
She might not come up to his ex-
pectations, if he did, so it was better
to picture her as some fairylike crea-
tIre. He wove all manner of pictures
of what she would be like and fell
asleep with his mind on her. He had
very wonderful dreams in which~rhe
girl with the pleasant voice was the
central figure, and Awoke with his
mind on her.
The hospital was filled and accom-
modations had to be taxed to the
limit, SO for days Doctor Reyonlds was
not able to think of anything but his
work; But the rush subsidized as
quickly as it had begun and the hos
pital was restored to normal routine.
In the evenings he was able to find
time for relaxation and his thoughts
went back to the telephone girl. After
thinking it over for a few nights he
cult to think of someone to call up
who he knew would be away and not
answer the telephone. When the
voice that had impressed itself so
firmly on his membery asked for the
number his heart beat faster.
After number of unanswered rings
the girl opened the way for him to
start conversation by saying, This
party doesn't answer the telephone. u
do you know If they have not been
answering the phone for a number of
days? am particularly anxious to
know if they are out of the city, His
cheeks burned at the consciousness of
the lie.
'I am almost sure they are," she
replied. 1T is weeks since 1 have had
a call for that number. I have no
ticed it particularly"
Eff SO, you must have been on this
board for some time. Have you?" He
hoped his tone would cause no Of
| Tense.
That gave the conversation a good
start and 1t was many minutes before
Reynolds hung up the receiver. She
was very fine girl, he was more
than convinced then, and he wished
he had found out her name. She
! seemed like girl who would be Of
Tended if he got personal, he thought,
and altho he called her by telephone
every evening for week he had never
| courage to ask her.
The next week was a busy one and
, it was the middle of it before he was
able to get near the telephone in the
) evening. It was a different operator
who answered his call and he was dis
appointed. The girl he wanted was
off duty, that was apparent. Night
after night he called but without sue
| cess Finally one night he asked the
/ girl who answered, where the girl who
had been on that switchboard the pre-
viouS month. was. She is ill and is
not expected to get WELL" was the
| startling answer.
The statement stunned him. He
: hung up the receiver without learning
anything further. He could not mag
inc his girl of the beautiful voice, the
. girl who haunted his dreams, as be.
ing near death, and it took him hours
to realize that he might be of some
assistance to her. When at length he
: did come to his senses, he lost nc
! time in communicating with the teIe-
phone Office and securing the girls
name and address. Her name was
Violet Bloom. a fitting name for a
! girl like her, he thought. and she
] lived in very modest section of the
city.
! Because of his profession it was not
$ out of place for DIR. Reynolds to call
= at the address given him. 1t was a
S boarding house. She was a girl very
much as he had pictured her, but was
wasted cruelty with her illness. He
= looked about her and saw it could
e hardly be otherwise with conditions
: such as they were.
e Your voice is so familiar" she
i breathed weakly. after DIR. Reynolds