The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-03-04
EVENING STORY
The Magnet.


other. which might be considered a
rema rkable record
BY this it is not meant that the
present generation of men and wo-
men is so ruled by fickleness that
three years of being true is out of the
ordinary, altho you will find soured-
on-the-world cynics who will assert
that such is the case.
One of the extraordinary things
about the fealty of Leah and Grover
was that during the three-year period
in question they were in different
tier or postcard. But the feature
that really justifies the use of the
word .'rernarka able is the fact that
the young lady and young man con-
cerned never had formed an acquaint-
anceship-did not, in fact, know each
others names.s
Leah was clerk in the magazine,
cigar, popcorn. candy, postcard coun-
ter at the union station in a city of
some 100, 900 souls in Illinois,, Grover
! was one of those hustling young men
who can convince you that not to take.
tout insurance on your life is rank
treason against the human race.
Grover arrived at the station one
evening, weary from a slow, humping
ride on a local train that appeared to
scorn the rails and insist on traverS-
/ ing the ties between them. He had a
crouch which he directed against the
railroad, the insurance business and
the world in general-until he spied
Leah.
Leah was not in joyful mood. She
| was obliged to work overtime because
the night clerk at the stand was sick
and she had to miss a theater party
with four girl friends. She scowled
! as she>sold a fat man a package of
| gum, but when she looked up from
| the cash register and saw Grover
wreaths of smiles adorned her coun>>
| tenance. u
There he is at last" breathed
Leah; 1.-The handsome man I've
! dreamed about SO often. l always
knew I'd meet him some day."
! by George! That's the girl I've
been waiting all these years for" Gro
yer told himself. Isn't she the pretty
| thing?"
| AS matter of fact, neither of them
was beautiful or handsome. altho each
possessed the normal amount OF at
| ira ctiveneSs.
Grover at once approached the
stand She smiled welcome at him,
somewhat timidly, for her experience
! with men had been limited, as had
his with girls. He was far from be-
| ing at ease, and somehow he could
not decide on what to purchase from
| her. Naturally, when a stranger ap-
proaches a place where things are sold
| and stares at clerk, the clerk ex-
j poets to sell something, he argued,
and still he could not think OF thing
/ he needed.
He looked over the magazines, final
| " selecting one, but when he thrust
a hand into his pocket he found that
his purse had vanished. She was roll
| ing up the magazine.
No I don't want that, after all'
he faltered. IT have read it, come to
| think of it,"
| She laid it back. He ransacked his
brain for the name of some magazine
/ I,n n on he fa
! was useless. The supply laid out be-
! fore. him apparently included every
| pub fieation in the world
She was waiting and he was being
tossed helplessly on stormy sea OF
distress. He fidgeted and perspired.
At last, desperately, he blurted out:
THE magazine L want is The Mag
net. Have you the last issue?S
The smile left her face and disap-
pointment crept into her eyes. She
wanted to please this stranger, tos fur
nish him with the article he desired
to purchase. She had failed.
mo, SIR she answered, 1--WE don't
keep that magazine. In fact. I never
heard of It, and 1 thought l was an
authority on periodicals.
He thanked her and tr1Idged home
ward with a curtain of gloom settled
over him. He had made a mess of it,
| he ragged, and he went to sleep to
| dream that he had met The girl that
vas meant for him, and that, just as
he was about to lead her to the altar
to make her his bride, Il witch de-
scenGed from the clouds ana trans
/ formed him into a donkey.
However, on thinking it ever Grover
saw that his laundering haG opened
the gate o. opportunity for further
converse sons with the miss that fate
had se.ected to become his partner
IN the highway of life. So al least
three times a week he appeared at
the station and asked if the Magnet
| Magazine had appeared. Every time
Leah was Obliged to confess that she
had been unable to get track of it.
If it had been possible she would have
obtained it for him, for she had made
| a search which included all the
agencies in town.
/ If Grover had used the same tactics
| in love that he used in selling insur-
ance it would have been comparatively
| easy to win his hearts desire. Leah
was ready and waiting, for she was a
firm believer in the doctrine that every
woman born into the world is intended
to wed certain. particular, pre-
I selected man.
Leah had been told, and she be-
lieved, that if a woman failed to mar
ry the man that fate had selected for
her unhappiness would be certain to
result. 1t was the reason for many
failures in matrimony, she was con-
WINGED. People didn't wait for the
right one to come along. Somehow
Leah always felt that she would know
when her right one appeared, and now
she was sure that Grover Gray was he.
So she merely waited for him to get
down to business and make himself
acquainted and ask her to be his wife.
But Grover didn't get down to BUSH
ness. He found himself tongue-tied
whenever he tried to talk anything
| hOrdPTed DerSOnal
could not even bring himself to the
| noint Of intrndr1nino hirnSalf o,-a-