Evening star., 1922-04-30
BY Bernice Brown

he went home.
It had been q ridiculous speech. and
he knew it. Anna was neither AZ
good nor as beautiful NJ he had de-
| scribed her. His love for her had
been a composite thing. born of de-
spair and loneliness and youth. Into
his solitude she had brought her
presence, and he had been grateful to
her. a. q man 10 grateful for warmth
and spring and affection.
He had justified her to himself In
| that defense at tho post ONCE more
than to tho group Of loungers. By
his proposal of marriage to her he
had linked his life with hers. He
had to believe in her. And now he
must follow her and bring her home.
The train for Dos Moines passed by in
three hours. He would pack first and
persuade one OF the Terschak boys
| to come over to help with the work
| while he was gone. At the back
| steps he tossed the reins over the
pump handle and went up to his
room.
Then, for tho first time. the difi-
culties of tho undertaking overwhelm-
ed him. He was needed on the farm
for the harvest, and the little money
| he had brought home in the spring
was gone now. OF course. he could
borrow from Hephzibah. She had
the fifty dollars he had returned to her.
the fifty dollars she had boarded
| away against her visit back home.
To ask her for that money would be
the most humiliating experience OF
his life, but he would have to endure
| it.
He sat down on the edge Of the bed
drearily, his he'd in his hands. Wha
a ridiculous, unaccountable thing lif1
was, Nothing had worked out a4
he had intended. and the future heS
for him only drudgery and unhap3
piness- happiness Of his own makinnE
THEN he heard footsteps on the
! unpaintsd steps to his room. and
Hephzibsh stood in the doorway. rComs
in." he said. 1--WE got to talk to you"
She sat down on the bed beside
him, and her eyes saw the wretched-
ness In every line Of his figure. "Anna's
gone"
Startled. he looked UP at her. You
| knew"
Shes nodded. "She said she was
goin' to write you"
He felt in his pocket for the letters
he had brought back from the village.
One was in pencil, and it bore the
postmark Of Green Mountain. Dumbly
he opened it and read:
Dear steve-Don't look for me be-
| cause I don't want you should find
me. It's much better this way. We
never was suited-really. Now I'm
free and you're free and we both
got a chance at happiness. Don't
try to spoil it.
wish I could write but I can't.
There's a lot of things I would like
to tell you only amt got no knack
at speech. So I'll only say good-bye
and GOOD luck. ANNA. ,
p. S.-N Hephzibah Preston don
get no trip east this year, you'll
| know It was because she done some
thin else with her money. Shes
kind woman, Stephen, the first ever
knew, guess. a.
For q long time. they sat there In
silence. The sun filled the room win
the gold yellow softness Of late
afternoon, and through the open
window. where a cheesecloth curtain
billoved, they could see the gold
yellow stretch Of stubble and OF har-
vested wheat field.
"whats in the other letter
Hephzibah asked at last
| He read 1t once and gave it to hef.
Slowly she studied -out the "oruS'
mice what she says about he'
father wantin' you back this winter.
amt IT? It's q friendly letter anu
real entertainin'" She wished he
would say something. Did he sus-
meet her, Was he angry with her
rJad she been mad to act so rashi!'
"Stephen-
slowly he smoothed out the rough
penciled letter with the Green Noun
tain postmark and folded 1t into ,hs
envelope. You liked her, dion
you?" he asked at last.
"I low she sort of disarmeo me
Being from New England. don
.uppose I approved Of her being SO
handsome and SO takin'." She stopped
suddenly, realizing how clumsy ana
| dangerous words can become. LII"
amt been easy for her. Maybe IL
| never will be. But she's got chance
| now, for the first time.
81 suppose So
y Y
THE gold light had gone from the
room now, and across the mead
| ows stretched thin steamers OF mist
and the air held the smell Of Sep
| tember.
"steyie-" She touched his arm
timfdly. He seemed so young, to her'
and defenseless, for all his fine learn
ing. "Stevie. you didn't love her
really?"
Il don't know" he said. Its all so
mixed up now"
| Again there was silence.
| II low you'll be goin' back to the
city as soon as the harvest is in'
she said. "Zekell be fit enough by
that time"
The city!
Suddenly his dream returned to him.
his dream to be a lawyer, judge.
perhaps-a great man. 1t WAS dis
tant and nebulous and full OF halt
yisioned achievements. 1t was only
wish, maybe-but he believed IT. Won