The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-09-16
.Euening Story
Hello EreckIes!
BY H. LOUIS RAYBoLD.


That was what it began with-the
long love affair between Perry Hamp-
ton and Sally Preston which later be-
came so woefully tangled with money
matters and isolation in the wilderness
and the Rev. Horace Crane.
But back to the day Of first things
Ferry Hampton by some queer chance,
lad been dumped without ceremony
into the Misses Hills select kinder
garten and, standing, a small, shy,
prownheaded stranger, on the out
skirts of a magic circle, had seen ex-
tended to him g. little individual hand
Hello, Freckles!' the dearest voice
he had ever heard addressed him. And
straightWRy in love fell Master Perry
with Miss Sarah V. Preston who was
as adorable at five as she was later
at nineteen
teen that Perry babe her a cold
good-by. Not that he meant it coldly.
No, indeed Only the barrier be-
tween them-it was Perry who
thought of it that way-loomed to the
man as insurm at least. until
mood for two from his civil engineer
ing. For Sarah, was scheduled to in
herit a considerable fortune from an
old and grabbed aunt who lived in Sc
cluslon up in the country and seemed
liable to a quick demise at any mo-
AAANAAS- <11lO d SlQpDOIH SlTCdh VI OOn
Quixoteism in Perry kept his mouth
closed on the declarations of love
which surged within him until he
could back them with offerings more
substantial.
Their farewell conversation was
tragically restrained, its CHIEF i'm
portance = and poignancy i lying in
what he left unsaid:
the Rockies"
/ $50 soon?" Sally bit an under lip
which might otherwise have quivered
The sooner the better" returned
Perry, almost savagely. IT'S my
first big job-damming an undam-
mable river I've got to make goodi"
II wish you luck, Perry"
Midway she checked the impulse to
utter words which would have brought
Perry's arms about her in spite of
herself
when I come back began Perry.
when come back-I'll-In let you
know"
why, of course" said Sally in sur
prise. and well be writing back and
forth all the timel"
$50 it was with the promise of fire.
quent letters ringing in his ears that
Perry finally took himself away. per-
hitting only ever so slight and pro-
longed pressure of his fingers to con-
vey the yearning and love with which
MS heart was filled.
For a while letters from Sally
reached Perry regularly. He responded
promptly with long, interesting ac-
counts of his work-the progress
made, the obstacles surmounted.
Then, without warning, the letters
stopped.
Perry, at first frantic, then sunk in,
depths of gloom, plunged bitterly into
his task until its completion was in
sight and his return home made pos
sible. His one desire was to See Sally
and learn the explanation of her
silence.
Came the night before his depar-
ture. Sitting in the doorway of the
shanty that was headquarters for the
of the boys coming up the trail, and
his heart leaped at the thought of
possible mail.
But. after all, what he had hoped
would be letters proved only a bundle
of newspapers, many days old. Sud
denly, at an inconspicuous item, his
universe spun dizzily around.
"Married-on the 30th, Miss Sarah
V. Preston to the Rev. Horace Crane"
/ 1t couldn't bel Merciful heavens
his Sally whom he had loved since
childhood. And yet. there it was in
cold black and white for every one
to read. Forcing the unwelcome con-
viction of its truth upon him, flashed
across his mind that here lay the rea-
son for her failure to write. Engaged
to another man, why should she care
whether or not her letters had been
the one brightness of his 1aborious
days? The Rev. Horace Cranel Who
was he? Watch. no, surely~ that
could not be the man. And yet-Rerry
called to mind a saunt. elderly person
who preached in the church to which
he had frequently accompanied Sally.
But the thought of his fresh, girlish
sweetheart married to that man was
bitter to Perry.
Tinkle-tinkle- tinkIe- The teie-