The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-01-03
LETTERS OF
TWO WOMEN
Action, at Least.
BIZ ZOE BECKLEY,

Cavalonia, Cal, the 7th
Well. Kits dearest, your letter
brought luck at any rate The day
after 1T came, Curtis arrived home
from the bank with the simple an
nouncement that he had bought a
ranch-yes. a RANCH, just like
that-down near Fortuna, and that we
were about to pay it a visit! By mo-
tor car, OF course.
l was ready in an hour, thanking
heaven for ripple in my deadly dull
existence! Mother-in-law consented
reluctantly to keep the babies, and
leaving my conscience and cowardice
behind, 1 gave myself up to 500
mile trip at the rate of forty miles an
hour, for Curt is a mailman at driving.
We left at noon, taking as ballast
Financial and otherwise) one Jim
mie Greene, in the tonneau Ca ton
should hold the ton-neau down,
shouldn't, it? Tee-heeD
Well, were off! Into Los Angeles
and out again, with mother terrifying
herself with a fat box of chocolates,
over miles of rolling country to Bou-
quet Canyon, as gentle and beautiful
as its name-winding, wooded, with
no appalling declivities but frequent
shaded plateaus where campers have
left their sign and an invitation to
stop. Then up and up till we reach
a lovely lake at sunset. Oh, to linger,
But no. the mailman at the wheel sees
a level stretch, so we open her up and
let 'er go-forty-fifty-sixt miles
an hour-on and on till we suddenly
realize we're on the edge of the Mo-
| jave desert.
An eerie feeling, Kits, in that open
auto, with no living thing in sight
| Just dust and grains of sand in ones
| eyes, for the desert wind never stops
| blowing over miles and miles and
miles of nOthingneSS. Plain and plain,
no mountains even.
fOrlr the road No sign Which
way? Ask. Whom? Tenantless lies
the sand. To the right? Does the
right fork meet the other? Are we
lost? Dusk, then dark, more sand. and
no abatement of the wind l shiver
and shudder, wind my veil round and
| round my head, and we fly on, and on.
| At last-the main road again. We
draw long breath and relax. BAL
last breathes hard, but with evident
relief! There's light ahead
Bramley's ranch A long, low house
| in the shadows Voices somewhere.
Men-cowboys in for the night, wash
| ing at the pump. A friendly dog.
| drink. A query as to how far, etc.
| Must we go on tonight thru ths
| waste? Our mad driver says So
So on we go, but mountains are Wis
ible again and wooded lands and hab-
| itation. 1t is eight O'Clock and we
all finish! La sign stands out
against the bIackness- Meals, IL
saws. A simple word. A primitive
| call. Mother puts her foot down con
| the brake). I'VE stop hereH says she
And we stop. (Kate.> was weak
| from hunger.D ,.
made no swifter onslaught upon that
meal than did yours truly! a
| bone" steak with gravy running ali
! over the platter, and hot biscuits ana
coffee-oh, yum! HOW l ionseo 10
stay the night. But move must
make Bakersfield. so we leave Lee
Bees and fly down. down. round and
round inside the white danger FENCES
that mark the descending roao. uli
We strike the level boulevard-forty-
two miles of it. Kit. without turn:
/ a si1ken ribbon, then the lights OF
! Bakersfield! A goodly town. calling
to us from every tempting hotel we
will stay? We will NOT.
I, Into a huge garage we slip, then
! out again and on our way along
sixty-mile stretch of level road with
hardly a turn thru ranches of thou
sands of acres-Oh, Kate, these vast
nesses of the west!
Nearly midnight and we reach the
! end of our boulevard and wee town
where we. seek lodging; A clean pea.
hoon,ing sound outside our door.
ballast. is ready to go. In fact, be-
ing a farmer he had been ready since
four a M, but consideration for the
/ lady-etc., etc. Into our clothes
? three coats 1Or InOlneT-J anu Out
into the cold morning air sans break-
fast. sans coffee-try It'll Ugh, How
ever, we ate up the road, so at least
the driver felt better.
Thru ranch lands and awakening
orchards we flew. Then a sudden
halt. Has the driver gone mad? No
He sees something's red-brown
cloud moving slowly toward us. We
go to one side and watch. Five hum
bred head (and tail) of cattle APP
proach, giving way grudgingly to our
/ car, and pass, kept in order by q
dozen picturesque cowmen with pfs-
+, tolls a foot long.
| We're off again-Oh, the sweet
| country air, with the sun coming up.
Presently Tular e-and breakfast.
Then on to the ranchl How far? oh.
4 Just around that hill there, being
\ some sixty miles around" But at
last the ranch, Fenced-in- acres and
acres and a ramshackle farmhouse.
Isolation, Abomination! Kate.
II make a solemn vow that / shall
never go and live on that ranch
Cavalonia is the limit of my endur-
ance-
| Adoringly, MAY.
| A well known bishop in the south
sone time ago lost his third wife. A