The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-06-03
Story
In the Rebound.

! LAS DE sure II Was no QuCo-
| ton of hisS asking-he did not. in
deed, realize its existence. He was,
you see, self-sufficient with malice
Iaforethought, hence took no account
OF the winds of chance.
Yet they had blown him thru pain
fully meager college years to a schol-
arly success that he felt assured sue
cess still greater. Thus he had had
no time for playing, still less for the
expressed concretely in expensive
things like flowers, candy, auto and
theater parties, not to mention giddy
raiment of the latest mode. Girls
meant all these-so imperatiyely Ben
ming had stoically passed them up.
Notwithstandi ding he did not lack SEX
consciousness-btlt it was SO braided
| in with thrift and ambition that he
had held it rigidly- in check. Yet in
! the backmost corner of his Fhind,
where he visioned future of eminence
| he stored an appraisal of PersiS Moon,
not strictly of the college set. her
father being only an adjunct professor
| in the lethargic law branch of the
university Persis looked thrift per-
sonified-and lived up to it, yet owned
a delicate small prettiness, and a gen.
| tly clipt speech, that wasted no breath
| in undue emphasis.
! If he did not tell her so outright
| he knew She understood-as is the
| privilege of such ingrowing natures.
| So when he plunged into the world of
swept from it by the war flood, he
| felt that only an 'if''> stood between
them. Several ifs, in fact--if she
lacked patience, if another man de-
| sired her, if he himself found out
somebody more to his advantage
even the dazzling if of sudden success
that would set him beyond her poten-
tialities-all these he pondered, but
ended by leaving his mind clouded
with mists. only now and then 1roseate.
Luck lay in wait for him. Home
from the wars, with >never a scratch,
she opened a way for him, not gilt
edged but gilt-paVed. 1t led to mill
lions, some few years ahead. Mean
time he had to get acclimated in the
atmosphere of wealtn-learn to dress
amounted to camouflage. to forget the
name of money, except when he
seemed to himself to squander it-and
to do the squandering with the gayest
good will. He caught quickly the dis
paraging implication of "tightwad."
fThere Poppy was a rock of refuge.
Poppy being the synonym of a super
faithful buddy, professionally rich and
reasonably sensible. Thru the medi-
UNI of his own hearty sincerity he
| saw BenninS as wonder. Therefore
he was glad to sponsor him socially,
CNSlA " known TO Mel1LLa
Nane, the queen of his own affections.
Melitta> was, after a sort, compound
| ed of saint and siren. Vividly beau
| tiful, alive to her finger tips, dancing
IKE menad and singing like a, thrush
in June, she had undisputed right to
be first in the hearts of her country
| men. Benning had no intention of
disputing the right-when it came
Poppy Sanders, there was another
story. Poppy had already more than
! he deserXed-besides, he could not
possibly need Melitta as Benning him.
self did. Hence, therefore and be-
cause, Benning set himself sedulously
to, the supplanting of his friend. At
first cannily, covertly, but soon by
| open and eager pursuit. He haunted
her waking hours, wrote to her daily
or oftener, sent fine, small, we'll
chosen gifts upon any occasion, or
none, and by clever maneuvering made
himself her social complement upon
| the most part of important affairs.
| Fate. appeared to have taken the
case for him. Somehowsthere was a
growing distance betwixt Melitta aId
Poppy. Not an open break, but a
withdrawing from comraderie. Poppy
had spells of being actually taciturn.
but Melitta, away from him, was gayer
than ever. Benning flattered himself
that it was because of hiH-a wom-
ans heart, like the moon, thought he,
had always a man in 1t. No other
man should have a chance to set his
image in Melitta's breast. Since two
bodies cannot occupy the same space,
Benning was relying a lot upon pre-
emptions. The sense of security they
bred In him went to his head-he not
only spent with both hands almost os-
tentatiously but got mad joy from
the spending. Melitta loved LUXURY
he wanted to prove TO her that with
L
easily possible, as his wife she would
need only to wish for a thing and
have it.
He fancied her ambitious. therefore
he played upon her skillfully, but
without ceasing in full stream, all the
social or official. Also he let her
know indirectly that he had not yet
reached apogee. If he chose he could
slide into politico-capitalistic life,
where his brains, plus influence,
would soon exalt him greatly. He
presented and presenting at courts, a
cabinet lady, even dimly. first lady OF
the land. She would grace any sta
tion-he told her so more than once
} She made faces at him. calling him
flatterer, but he knew she was not Of
Tended. So he ventured upon open
love-making, with warmth and
earnestness that amazed himself. She
listened, sometimes laughing, some
times yawning, giving him neither
yea-say nor nay-say, but elfin oracles
that made her more than ever mad
dening.
This could not last forever. Tive
careers were open to him-whieh he
should choose, depended on Meiitta
: One. semi-scientific, spelled secure
| competence, ultimate wealth, grea1
, consequence among men OF his
sort, but nothing spectacular, nj
: beating of drums nor sounding Of
tomtomss This was delving into deeI
, things. But over against it there la,
a breathless opportunity to gain, BY
somewhat of risk, millions, grea
+ power, and the whole worlds ap
pIause 1t would mean Paradise
plus Melitta. Without her he refused
to let himself think. Instead, he wen
to her rather Mhite-faced and shaker