The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1921-12-05
II DAILY
SHORT STORY
Oregon Roses
II kAuRA REIp MONTGOMERY.

aCT oTTY, / think you are awful.
~ foolish TO plan about
IL studying any more. High
school IL enough for any girl. what
Ebod will your education do you
TWhen you are married." demanded
IA MaSms as she settled her ha well
oY6r the right eye: better spend
\ that money for some doll? c!otne"'
Z .Tou'll never get you a Sweette 60
ing about in that suit. You miEnt
be your own grandmother Tor All
the style YOU have"
tottic went on soberly with her
work. Wayne had taken adYHn'
taee Of her employers absence 70
E;op work 10 minutes before u:
thA always went In and powered
I well before the noon hour so that
e.the instant the big hands pointed
70 10 she would be ready 10 shrug
into her tight little coat aud vanish.
II shall be abl0 TO earn more when
have taken thnt business course
Lofty replied.
your mother works, too, doesn't
4hA?" asked Maytoe. who took a
sErank interest III L6tty's AFFAIRS, so
you don't have to earn FOR two"
ayes, but mother doesn't like
! Chicago very we'll. YOU see, our
\ friends are all but West; we lived
\ near Portland In Oregon and sha
n would be glad to go back there.
IL 1 could earn q good salary for a
year or two, we could save enough
between ub to 10 back and take
the risk OF being out Of work for a
month or so. What I would like
TO do would be to get a small house
and take one or two ro01aefs. Then
with what l could earn, we would
2SAve enough 80 mother would not
have to 90 out every day
Wayne supplied her lipstick care
lNly before answering: You sure
gk like an old lady. Don't yoI
expect to marry: Going to work al
your iite?"
Lofty flushed and remained 81.
lent. She knew that she would not
marry now. She had held her
AdfAafdb ana lhoy had dissolved into
1.-The mists OF the past. The man
she loved lived In Oregon and they
had gone together Bince childhood.
she had never known what had
, come between them, hut he had
kkbppAd writing. That some n
had made trouble, she guessed, but
fhA4 could do nothing to bridge
SrAr the Silence that had siokened
her world for her.
Tom had. quite evidently. tired Of
the sensible, p~lain.faced girl. who
lad no spectacular, accomplish
6snts. Lofty was just a nice, aver
age girl, with an immense capacity
for love and for making her loved
ones Comparable, but as for dress.
int to catch the rowing eye OF PAM
pnted young men, such a thought
lad nevAr been entertained by tor
I'D she turned a deaf ear to the Ad.
nee Wayne lavished upon her.
M&yrnA was a big, good natured
I'm. who frankly, wIshed-t to marry
ia #h6 was willing TO drag Lofty
Alter her in the pursuit Of II cont
6iiant meaI:tIcket. Mayme tntend-
IN. in a vague, inchoate way. to be
4 GOOD wife, but her methods, in Lot
ty5k eyes, were very crude, Lofty
lived in & world OF dreams. where
the nan who loved her sought her.
Lofty, I am afraid you Will have
TOO much work II you take up that
c6lrge,0 said Mrs. Skitch, as her
daughter prepared their little meal
Mrs. SkItch was a frail, dark'eyed
0naan who had had many troubles,
] But who had preserved a cheerful
spirit in spite OF these.
mo" Lofty smiled at her across
the tiny room. Il shall enjoy ths
course. Three nights a week isn't
much and we are going to have Just
4 bite downtown those nights and
then I'm going TO take you over to
the public library, where you can
read the new magazines until I'M
khtbugh.s Then you won't have a
tonely evening at home"
The night Of the first lesson
CHANGED to be rainy. Lofty .estabs
lished her mother in the reading
room and then. slOshed down
though the mud and rain to her
Class. She had had a hard day and
lies vet feet did not add to her com
fort. The crowds iostIed her and
, the glaring street lights only served
Is Intensity her loneliness. y did
seem as though there ought to be
some place for her. All she craved
aF a tiny home, with warmth and
The crowded house where they
rented ligbt.housekeeping rooms
VA never still. The married couple
IA the rooms next them w%rangled
far into the night. The musical stu.
dent above practiced feverishly
when she was not cooking food with
strange foreign odors. A florists
display reminded her Of the wonder
FIJI roses OF Oregon. Even II I get
, through in six months she reflect
\ ed. reeling as q hurryipg man al.
\ most Knocked her Oft her feet, ~
Mill be Mt least a year after that be-
fore We'll have enough to pay our
i expenses back home.
''IR mother could putter about a
harden and sec her Old friends she
would get stronger, She isn't able
to hang to a strap night and morn.
ing. I wonder why Tom stopped
writing so shortly after father died
haPSg" This thought was always In
her miad.
Rather shyly she entered the
/. clasSto6m. The pupils were mostly
men aud women who were trying
10 study themselves into better po-
Il Eitiens. People who came TO class
sfteF . day Of hard work and wh9
= "a o.