The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-02-28
Evening Story
Mrs. Laurence Tries Her Hand
BY KATE TUCKER

| life as general practitioner in the small
| town of Crawford were cases that are
generally known as nervous" He
was courageous and versatile as most
small town doctors have to be. He
would go his rounds fourteen hours
out of the twenty-four during cpl
| denies; would go with steady nerve
| thru operations that would have tried
a more celebrated surgeon: he would
| listen patiently to the queries of young
mothers over their infants teething
! difficulties-au that sort of thing.
! But when a patient said NERVES" Doc
tor Laurence wished to give up
Mrs. Laurence, however, had been.
reading up on modern. methods of
treating nervous disorders in the doc
| tors medical journals and in the pop
ular magazines. Psychopathic was
her latest hobby, and somehow. in
spite of the five little Laurences, Mrs.
Laurence always had time for some
| hobby or another.
"I really feel" she told the doctor
one evening while the mothers help
er. Vera. was patiently putting the
younger two LaurenceS to bed and the
I older two were dancing an Indian war
dance as a preliminary to putting
themselves to bed, II really think that
L would have a positive talent for
psychic healing. You know reputable
doctors are taking it up now. There
is a wonderful future for it. I don't
see why you don't go in for that sort
of thing. All the best doctors are do
ing it. Take Robert Ludwell, for in
stance. His case is purely psyche
| pathic-perfectly absurd for you to
Hook at the case in any other way.
! What you want to do is to get down
deep at the root of the matter. He
| doesn't sleep and he's losing weight,
not because he has overworked on that
book of his. as you tell him. but be-
cause of some fear image that turks
| in his mind. 1t is your duty to probe
down till you find it and then, thru
the force Of your mentality over his,
! to dispel that fear image"
| so you said" commented Doctor
Laurence, and then-'perfect bosh,
perfect bosh." He paced back and
forth before thel wing room open fire.
Il wish, I could do something for Rob
| ert. however"
| There was suddenly an unusual note
! of pleading in Mrs Laurences voice
..ENill you let me try?" she said. and
apparently Doctor Laurence agreed.
altho if he did agree it was surely not
because he had any. interest in his
wife's thory of psychic healing.
| The first step in Mrs. Laurence
campaign to cure Robert Ludwell took
place the next evening when the doc
tor asked him to spend the evening at
his house. without, of course, suggest
ing to him that Mrs. Laurence was go
ing to administer her first treatment
in psychic healing.
There was considerable confusion
Vera, the mothers helper, had been
away on her very rare afternoon OFF.
The twins refused to be put to bed by
any one else and their rebellion gave
the cue to the older child to fall down
stairs with considerable injury to his
tired feelings, but no great brulSlng-
So dinner was late and the confusion
still was discernible when Robert ar
rived.
There were Intermittent walls from
the nursery, a slamming of dishes in
! the kitchen and glimpses of the rather
! flush faced. distracted Vera as she pur-
sued the older children thru the liv-
ing room in her effort to pack them
off to bed. But Mrs. Laurence was
not one to be much ruff1ed by such
mild domestic confusion and eventual
" she. managed to sit beside Mr.. Iud-
well alone before the fireplace and
make the first probing
She discovered one thing. He had
horror of boarding houses He dis
liked boarding house coffee He like
wise had a horror of any sort of con-
fusion He intimated when Mrs. Lau-
renee asked him point-blank why he
had never married that possibly it was
because he was a recluse by-nature-
He had to have quiet for his writing.
So Mrs. Laurence decided to invite
Mr.. Ludwig to leave. his boarding
house and. to spend a month at the
Laurence establishment There he
would have no more boarding mouse
coffee, there would be no more con-
fusion, she was sure.
She was surprised when he accepted
her and the doctors invitation. she
hadn't expected he would come so
willingly. And the doctor was even
more surprised.
He says he wants to be away from
confusion ?" ~gasped the doctor.
II am sure you don't think there
is ever any confusion mere said Mrs
Laurence. land the coffee is certa My
better than the kind one gets in a
boarding house" Mrs. Laurence was
planning now for her system OIL
psychopathic treatment on Mr.. Lud-
well. If she succeeded with him she
might take the work up as a career
she might become quite a specialist.
Meantime Doctor Laurence had
been making observations, and he had
observed a pain of pretty blue eyes
which he had come to regard with
something akin to fatherly affection
He noticed that at times those eyes
turned a very soft Iimpid blue and
then dropped in confusion. And then
he would glance across the room, only
to find a pair of supposedly mel
ancholy dark eyes suddenly delve deep
in book or newspaper.
At times Mrs Laurence was pro-
fuse in her apologies to Mr.. Ludwell.
AL breakfast sne Wouiu ask hnl now
he slept Il hope you didn't hear
the twins" she would say. They were
up earlier than usual and Richard fell
out of bed. You may have heard him
screaming in the night; not hurt,
merely frightened" And you might
i have discerned her confusion which
was deep-seated because it had been
part of her plan to have the LAIR
ence household breathe that calm and
quiet which would be the proper anti
dote for the boarding house fear
image.
Then one evening you might. had
you been hidden somewhere beside
the side veranda of the Laurence
homestead. have heard the following
conversation. 1t was an evening when
Doctor and Mrs. Laurence were at