The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-09-10
E0ening Story
Fate at the Wheel.
BY FREDERIC HART

the presence of d soft hand that rested
/ lightly on HIS brow and a soothing
voice that spoke words of pity in his
ear. He opened his eyes painfully but
found the glare of the sunlight too
much for him and closed them again.
Desperately he tried to reconstruct the
/ incidents that led to his present state.
There had been a long stretch of white
road-he remembered that perfectly
that had challenged the young blood
in his veins and the sixty-horse-power
and he had responded to the chal-
| Ienge; he remembered seeing the num-
Der IS crawl into sight in the little
| oblong opening OF the speedometer;
J 65-70t7S; could he make rs? And
He seemed to remember a slight
! turn in the road-such a turn as he
was accustomed to look at with con-
! tempt. But there was a little sideslip
| somewhere and he seemed t. recollect
that the world was all tilted sideways
! somehoW-and then he didn't remem-
Der any more, strive as he might. He
groaned at the futility of his effort.
Does it hurt so much?" The soft
voice was speaking. The voice surely
| had no part in his recoliections. He
opened his eyes again and this time
forced them to stay open despite<the-
/ pain it caused him And he told him
! self, shaken as he was, that it was
worth the trouble.
He was lying on a miracuIously
smooth gresnsward that was as soft
as a mattress to his aching limbs, and
under his head was a smooth white
arm while a slim hand kept up its
soothing ministrations. And very near
| to his own face was a tender pair of
! eyes and gently curving mouth that
| expressed all that ministering angels
are supposed to be. This miraculous
apparition was kneeling by him and
/ comforting him. He tried to struggle
into sitting posture and almost
| shrieEed at the sudden stab of pain
that the effort cost him. And then he
was aware of another presence
masculine presence on the other side,
who spoke gruffly the while it deIved
in a little black bag that clinked
peated itself and despite his efforts
! he moaned. The masculine presence
was speaking again.
I'VE can't move him like this 1t
| said. wait a minute
Arthur Stanley saw a hand holding a
handkerchief pushed under his nose,
smelt a sickish-sweetish odor, took a
couple of convulsive gasps and knew
no more.
| When he awoke he was in a cool,
white bed in a cool, white room, and
the divinity of a few minutes-or was
him.
''Wh-where am II" he oueried
weakly. And how-how did 1 get
here?"
| rSh-sh! The doctor said you mustn't
talk. If you'll lie still I'll tell you how
( it happened"
He was in a mood to lie still, as the
/ slghtest movement racked his body
with strange and unaccustonned pains
and he listened motionless as she told
him how she had been sitting on the
piazza reading when she had heard a
fearful crash and saw his body come
hurting thru the hedge that bounded
her place from the road; how she had
been alone at the time except for an
old gardener who pottered around the
place; how she had sent him on a run
| for the doctor while she ninistered
such first aid as she could, and finally
how she had had him moved to
room in the house instead of to the
hospital when examination had dis
/ closed no necessity for an operation
merely a setting of some broken bones
and complete rest.
''But-but where am I? And who
are you?" He seemed to be striving
to bring a hating memory within the
boundaries of his control.
She laughed deliciously.
me- said said. eve met last winter
at the Dalrymples ball at the Ritz
but I was only a little 'fapper' then,
and was awfully glad to get a chance
to dance with you-eh, yes, I knew
you then-by reputation-but you
didn't know me. Don't you remember
Constance Whitney,"
1t came back to him in great Ian
tern flashes-the glittering ball, the
round of dances with girls he knew
and cared nothing for, and the one
dance that had stuck in his memory
a waltz with a dreamy-eyed little girl
who danced as tho she were the spirit
of the music itself-a little girl classed
only as a "sub-deb." but who had
made more impression on him than
any Of the other girls he had met that
night. He remembered how he had
inquired about her, only to find that
iher family had taken her off to Eu-
rope for the season; and then she had
slipped his mind until
What happened to the carr" he
nm afraid there's nothing much
left of it but junk. You were very
reckless last with a pretty air
Of proprietorship-"to drive so fast.
It's all smashed"
At don't care a hang if there's moth
ing left but the tail light" he an
/ bounced vigorously. ct was pretty
lucky In his eagerness he tried
to sit up, and sank back with a groan
The pretty, smiling face opposite
changed in an instant to one of the
gravest concern.
"You mustn't move at ALL" she de-
cIared, land I've talked heaps too
! much TO you already. I'm going to
leave you. Briggs will bring you your
/ dinner in an hour And despite his
| weak protests she left him.
But there were oSher afternoons
| afternoons when his gradually in
creasing strength permitted him to sit
up and talk for hours together to her
He met her father-a gray-haired
product of old school of gentlemen
and her mother, a prirn, smiling old
lady who made much of him as
| mothers will who have no sons-but
most Of all he enjoyed the long, quiet
afternoons spent with her, listening to
her ripping voice as she talked to