The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-08-12
EVENING STORY
Daisies Tell.
BY R. RAY BAKER.

In the box were roses-intensely red
roses.
Mabel Morrison smiled rather queer
ly and bit her lower lip with the up
per as she carried them to the
table and placed them in a vase. In
contrast with them the white and yell
low daisies that occupied a similar re-
ceptacle on the same table looked
like mere pretenders to beauty. The
roses must have cost many dollars,
while the daisies-well, Mabel knew
well the very spot in the woods where
they had been plucked.
Poor Eric" she sighed. and looked
out the window at the radiant summer
day. He certainly means well, but
the daisies-they are so common,
She smiled again. rather whimsical
ly. 1t, was Il strange coincidence that
both her admirers should remember
her with flowers almost at the same
hour of the same day. She looked at
the card that had accompanied the red
flowers. She had read 1t once. but she
read It again, and as she did so her
cheeks rapidly took on the same color
| of the petals of the blossoms
LET these flowers express the in
tensity of my love.-Gaston."
She recalled the words Eric had
spoken when he appeared at the
kitchen door only a few minutes ago,
dirty and grimy, in brown overalls, and
presented her with the daisy bouquet.
These flowers perhaps can-can-
tell YOU how how I feel toward
YOU" he had stammered, blushing, and
walked briskly away.
Having two persistent admirers did
not make Mabel happy. for the simple
reason that she wanted to play 1alr
with all the three parties concerned,
| including herself, and she did not
know Just how to go about 1t.
Admirer No. that is. the one who
appeared first on the horizon of her
vorld-was Eric Fenton, whose father
| was a retired farmer, not wealthy but
one of the kind the neighbors declare
to be comfortably fixed"
Eric lived on the farm with his par
ents and came to town every morning
in a shaky little old ''tin cart" which
was the name applied by the local
wags to the gasoline-propelled vehicle.
The town was Fairview, which boast
ed of a population of four thousand
and actually had about three thou
sand.
In the town was a big hardware
store. which supplied the whole coun-
try with farm and kitchen imple-
ments, and in this establishment Eric
held a job-or it might be termed a
position-as assistant general mana
ger This title did not keep dirt off
| his clothes or hands, for he was one
store, but he had prospects of stepping
into the top-notch place in the very
near future.
Eric was sandy-haired and freckled.
and in truth a very plain sort of boy.
not much on looks, but a prize winner
| in ambition. His rival for the hand
| of Mabel was CASTOR Clairmont,
suave young gentleman who came to
| Fairview about a year before the
opening of this story and took more
or less important desk in the bank.
This CASTOR was dark and hand
some to an exceptional degree. and MS
| manners were as polished as his tan
shoes. If charm of appearance and
| personality went for much. Eric Fem
| ton was decidedly left out in the cold;
especially when periodical spells OF
self-consciousness, during which he
stammered and blushed profusely,
were considered.
Eric was born in Fairview and had
| lived there all his life except for four
years in an agricultural college. and
| he had admired Mabel since the day,
many years ago, it seemed, when he
was forced to sit with her in school
as a punishment >or whispering,
when, as a matter of fact. it was a
| boon rather than a punishment, al
| though he had tried to make the 9TH
er boys believe it was the latter.
"Its almost pathetic" Mabel unused,
I as neT QeII fingers gave d lew llIiiSh-
| ing touches to the arrangement OF the
red flowers. Imagine Eric trying to
compete with CASTOR, who's from the
| city and up in the ways of society.
| What thought of love can a daisy pos
sibly express? Such a sentiment is
| absurd"
Mabel herself was "up in society,""
such as it went at Fairview. Her
! father was rated the rich st man in
the village, and this placed her on the
| topmost plane of social activity. altho
4 she did not often take advantage of
| his money in stock deals. and he still
| maintained an office in New York and
spent much of his time in Wall street.
STILL" Mabel went on, talking to
herself, Eric is fine fellow, and one
must admire the way he buckles down
to business. OF courc> there's no com
parison between him and CASTOR"
short time later Mabel slung a
| market basket over her arm and start
ed on a shopping expedition. Less
her father, whom she had supposed to
| be in New York. He was walking
| brisl1,y, altho with his head down, and
when he looked up and saw her an ex-
1 :ession of anguish crossed his face.
| Come on back home with me
daughter" he said, in broken tones.
passing an arm round her waist.
Mabel was puzzled. Had her father
been attacked by illness? No. 1t could
not be that, or else he would not be
walking to the house. Once in the IL
brary, he explained in few words.
Consolidated Iron, Ia which he had
been interested. had dropped-the
: bottom had fallen out Of the market
! in fact-and he was practically ruined
| Only a few thousand of his hundred
. thousand dollars remained and he
! would have to start all over.
The next day was trying one FOR
/ the Morrison family. The head OF the
| house had suffered a nervous collapse
. and medical attention was necessary.
| In that strange way that news. es-
pecially bad news. travels in small