Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-11-27
w est Wind Drift
BY GEORGE BARR McCUTCHEON
Copyright. 1880 BY George Ba-r secv,c,.o,

IL '~N'N
!. lightly or In the spirit of jest They
S.rs serious, they were sober-minded.
,.,.,est. Incentive, grim determination
| c,ntered in the seemingly childish ar
,onsement. Greed was lacking. for there
,raa no chance to hoard confidence was
paramount, for there was no chance to
lose
Tho .hours" Travelled In a circle, from
,b. government" to people. from people
,o government; when all was said
and done, It was the product Of soil and
.ea that formed the backbone OF the sys-
TEN.
.. b.como a punishable offense---indeed
~ vas to be classified as treason---for
.nv resident Of Trigger Island to for
900" for necessities. He could do what
| no pleased In respect to the nonesscn-
fails. but when It came to foodstufrs Of
.nv kind or description, he was guilty
~ a felony II he failed to turn all that
no produced or secured into the general
stores
"strikes no." said Randolph Fits In
council, meeting. that we are arriving at
the most exquisite state of socialism.
ss,ence OF that historic American dream
of the people. BY the people, for the
people Up 70 date, that has been the
gated, but we are going Il long sight
Better. From the people. by the people.
10 the people. What do you call that
but socialism,
We'll. It's not my idea Of socialism.
far es I've been able s,tS to dis d,seoysr so.
nosed to take something out Of your
pocket and put It into the other fellows
whether he wants II or not. This scheme
s GSss nnnnns II aas to sp, o.Ssn svsn on
rot in our pockets so much as we're
pianning TO divide what we've got in our
hands, and there's a lot Of difference
You Sets car, see what's in one and YOU can't
see what's in tho other. And. BY the
way, Fits. X we let the socialists In this
camp suspect that we're trying to In
troduce socialism here. there'll be q re-
yolution before you can say Jack Robin:
son. They won't stand for It They'd
let out the blamedest roar on record II
they thought we were trying TO deprive
them Of the right to feel sorry for them
Ruth hurried over to the town hall
bright and early on this snowy gusty
morning. The forenoon sesson y sa t,ooS ot tie
She was there half an hour ahead OF
time to see that there was a roaring
fire in the huge fireplace. and that
the benches for the scholars were
There wero two teachers besides her:
self---and both OF them were expcriencco
"school r,arr,s." She taught the "infan'
class" comprising about dozen tots
building the fires. arranging the benchcs
and cleaning the crude blackboard.
There had bcen church services tins
night before, and the benches were al
in usc, arranged so that they faced M
combination pulpit-rostrum.staTe at tn,
far end Of tho room. Tonight there wa'
10 be a general committee meeting tt
discuss the prospective financial schemt
and tho general election that was e
take place the following week. ia.
The structure was not pleased with .
paucity Of names. II there was TO be
council meeting or camp assembly. u
was called the meeting house" :)n sun
days It became the tabernacle" Week
and at odd times It was spoken OF as m
Theatre" the concert ball." and thu
Trigger Island court house" In one
corner stood the grand riano from IN,
Doralne. regularly and laboriSusl,
Careni .Amori gave vocal and instru
mental lessons here every afternoon II
the week, from 6 to .. Among the oldcl
children there were a number VINO nat
voices that seemed worth developing
and soul into the bcwilderinE task o.
stuiiing the rudiments Of music dow
their throats.
Ruth stopped Just inside the door an(
looked about her In aston'shment. IN
benches had been drawn up In an orncr
" semicircle about the fireplace Be
yond then, rho observed the hsure o
man kne~iing before the fire. using
bellows with great effect. The big .og
wera swapping, and cracking. and spit
ting before the furious blnsta.
She closed the door and started acrCs
the room in his direction. Suddenly sh'
recognised the broad back and tho IA
milinr but very unseaaonnole penatn'
making her escape. Her heart was beat
ing like triphammcr--she rel
strangely weak in the knees. a.
abruptly. shc checked the impulse u
fee. why should she run away: now tha
IDENTIFY tho night before WAS at hand
Chance had answered her call wiz,
amazing swiftness. She was alone VIII
hin--she could go to him and lay ne
weapons At his feet and says sn
had said a hundred times In the "rEnt-
~ can fight no more. am beaten
But now that the time had come 10
bravery. she found herself sorely afrain
4 chilli swept through her-a wcakenih
chill tnut tODk AWAY S'StsNh
left her trembling from head to foot. IN,
crisis was at hand--the great; surpnss
ing crisis She found herself hazhy
tremulously wondering what the mex
minute in her life would be like? Woui
she be In his arms. would his lips ID
upo1 hors---all in tho minute to come
WCs the whole Of her life to be altere
In the brief space Of a minutes time'
A warm glow suddenly drove OF IN
chill. II came with the realization Una
r.. A,.nI sha Arr hpF--lna
his thoughts were of her--thst he ha
stolen into the building to make II war;
and comfortable long before abe was gu
to arr!ve---and shat he would steal ava
again as soon as the chores "er
done.
He arose to his feet and stocd oye
the fro for moment or two, ~atchih
its livery progress.
Apparently satisfied with his erortl
he turned and started toward the dool
She was standing In his path, sh'
whvering smile on her lips.
lie lated. and after an instants heSi
tAtiOn, Htumlhered:
II rtver dreamed you'd be aroun
30 early. ! thought I'd run In az wa
passing and build fire for-ior IN
k!ddies. Get the place warmed UP
viii you let me say something. M
PercIval?" she broke in. hurryins IN
words.
lie tumbled for his hat. II am sorr
II you are annoyed, Miss Clinton. Pleas
believe me when I tell you I hoped
get "lt before you came. came ear'
so that you would not find me-
You are not letting me say what
want TO say"
She came toward him. her hand 81
tended "Oh, don't want to thank yo
% room k"tnE n oTdsr 'hf was. aS nd so tell You that
surrender"
Surrender he exclaimed. staring