Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1922-01-26
VALUES
BY CAROL FARMER.


Alice swayed unresistingly with |
I every movement Of the elevated trains !
too weary even to try to protect her.
self from the jolts caused by the prox-
unity of her fellow sufferers. Despite !
her pallor and evident exhaustion, her
face shone f1ower-like above her shah
/ by furs.
'"Tired, AliceT'
! Her companion clumsily tried to
steady her as she was almost swept
off her feet between the human mael-
strOm. those fighting to get off and
! those getting on, like two mighty
I streams, each determined to have the
right of way.
! The girl felt that If he touched her
again she would scream. Tonight
more than ever he seemed to typify
/ all the things she hated with every
| fiber Of her being, all the sordidness
which so far had made up her life.
All about her was the same apathy;
the self-evident signs of struggle for
a roof over ones head and enough to
cover ones nakedness of body if not
of spirit. She tried to bring her hard
won philosophy into play.
She had her health and Joe, and Z
:. nomentary pang of compunction
smote her. In all the world he was
the only one who really cared any,
thing about her. To all the hustling
pushing throng she was nothing but a
mere atom.
In the deep recesses Of her soul she
knew that in marrying Joe she was not
being true to her higher self. She
knew 1t would mean the end of all her
! striving for some of the beauty and
Joy of life. No matter how hard she
tried she could never take him up
ward and onward with her; she would
have to come down to his level. While
he secretly admired and stood in awe
of her notions" as he called them,
they were entirely beyond his compre-
hension.
When she allowed herself to think,
Alice despised herself for giving up
the struggle so ignobly. But she was
so tired of the eternal loneliness, the
terrifying abysmal loneliness Of her
p cheerless room. with It's musty damp
4 ness and single gas Jet, Of the bargain
n basement with its tight-skirted, gum
chewing, rouged prisoners, with whom
|. she felt so inadequate to cope. And
S Joe seemed to offer her the only escape,
her only surcease. Dull, plOdding, yet
: he could give her physical companion
t ship, a home better than she could win
for herself. and mitigate the ever
present specter Of the wolf on her
horizon.
But her dreams; they could never
be anything else but dreams, and she
would have to dream alone. So they
were to he married the next day.
A Suddenly, she looked down straight
d into the eyes of woman who was the
'. very essence of all her visions. Svelte
IS beautifully gowned, with the pride Of
race in every line she looked as Out
If of place in that throng as a lily in q
e potato patch. And as their eyes clung
II for one long moment, Alice enviet
le with an envy that was as poignant a:
~ "a knife in an open wound.
Leila had dropped breathlessly int
q seat, her pulses tingling with a new
excitement, rather childishly proud o.
the fact that she, among all that aw
full crush, had secured a seat. No
that she was tired, for she had beer
at a matinee all afternoon ana a!
II usual had stepped directly into he
luxurious limousine, waiting for her q
re the close of the performance. Blu
te midway the car had broken down ant
* she had taken a sudden fancy to g
D. home on the cars. The experience a
j. this hour was a unique one, something
b. beyond her ken.
a What lay behind all this struggle
for seat, even for foOthOld, mean
e. nothing to her. She could not evel
'h sense the crushing WEAKNESS of tn
io tired-eyed women and perspiring meT
- - For Leila had had ease and beaut
- and luxury all her life and she ha
= married for more ease and luxury
Nv But she had had her dreams, too
a such wonderful dreams of a gallan
lover, a tender comrade and laughin
a little children-a life above the selfiSf
indOlent life a worldly mother ha
It forced on her. And she, too, had ha
in to give up her dreams; had watche
st them drift away day by day like littl
IN errant silver clouds overpowered b
hu gold and might.
III For instead of a gallant lover sh
had married a power; instead of
-, cOmrade, mOney-making machine
tn and instead of encircling little arm
RI and childish prattle, there was a bi
M mouse whose rooms seemed nlleu VII
a haunting quiet that thrilled he
ng soul
on, For the first time in many weel
ct she felt exhilarated, she forgot ht
on boredom; forgot that she was gOiI
,he home to silent dinner to sit Opposi
1u- husband who thought that wOme
lSo were only dolls to be bought and pa
3el for and looked upon as a symbol of
mans material success. These pc
~ Die all about her-what interests the
must have, what strivings for dream
in not yet fulfilled, what glorious hopes
ngi, She watched hungrily the tend
M sOlicitude of the man for the pret
Ir's girl who stood before her, and h
ing mind painted glowing pictures of the
hat future together. Oh, to be once aga
be at the threshold of youth and lOv
Is out of her golden prison, free
ou- choose and dream again, even as ii
IN ,i" girl.
ded ~. | u" s,,-. kaa,. os sh,oIdod
ent the pro'ectlNe einoiaoe VI inc man
her side Leila envied with an en-
Ehat was more bitter than gall Al
E? ,rornnunod