The Republican journal., 1922-09-14
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES:
The Call Of
Already
BY L}LLIACE MITCHELL
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.


Esther had always lived in institu-
tions-and she was deathly tired of
them. She sometimes thought that If
ever again she heard gong sound she
would curl up on the floor and die.
But she didn't. Instead, the moment
that the first jangle sounded she was
on her feet hurrying to breakfast in
the morning or putting out the lights
at 10 80 at night. Just the same, she
always hoped stolidly that something
some day would happen to take her
away from institutional life. Yet she
really did not anticipate it greatly.
Then, one day, going home from
work on the street car she found
volume of success articles. Esther
liked stories, but past that she seldom
read anything unless ii was news
paper. This book, however, had a
led cover and the name of 1t was
stamped on 1t in startling golden let
ters. She glanced inside and became
interested. She found that she had
sunk into a rut-although had it not
been for the book she never would have
thought of it. She read on, for 1t
seemed to give some idea that II one
chose she could climb out of the rut
no matter how deep and rough a rut
1t might be.
And that night, when the 10 30 bell
the lights out" bell-sounded, she
put her lights out with the rest of
them, listened to her roommate's reg
ular breathing, and then made gay
plans for herself.
After all, life was only pattern,
and it need not necessarily be stencil
pattern-just the same old thing day
after day. True she had been left an
orphan in an orphan asylum, and at
fourteen, when she was considered too
old to be any longer an orphan to be
supported by "the authorities" she
was permitted to go to the home OF
Mrs. AyIeshire. where she was general
helper in the kitchen.
There was nothing very inspiring
about the kitchen work of the largest
cafeteria in the world. 1t was always
a case of just getting a thing done.
VI luSialilStf pNtt1tAS SAD"SiA tVN'tS01
to odd sizes that would not go through
the machine and then finding that the
bin was again filled with odd sizes.
She often wondered as she did these
odd jobs what Johnny Johns had done
when he became fourteen and was au-
tomaticalIy released from the orphan
asylum. She and Johnny had used to
1, e-l,.n oil
with rare admiration upon his shock
of red hair that stood upright.
To the other orphans that hair had
been a source of amusement and
Johnny had been called Red by the
others. She could recall three sepa-
rate occasions when people of the city
who had automobiles had lent them to
the orphan asylum for the day and
they had all piled in and had gone to
the zoo. Those days to Esther and
Johnny Johns had been red-letter days
days of Already life.
And they used to plan to go every
day TO the zoo just the minute they
were old enough to get out of the
ASYLUM. And with dismayed eyes that
stared into the darkness of the girls
boarding club that was her present In
stitutional home, Esther realized that,
although it had been almost six years
since she had left Johnny and the
other children, she had never once
gone to Already, as they had called the
zoo
Tomorrow" she said aloud, "Tm 60
ing"
"Wliatp asked her roommate, sit
ting straight up in her narrow bed of
white iron that was so durable in the
dormitory,
"Im going to Already" said Esther
firmly.
Her roommate lay down again. you
must a eaten plum pudding for your
dinner tonight" she said sulkily.
And Esther giggled at the thought
Of plum pudding in an institution.
The next day she stopped to tell the
commissary that she probably would
not be back for tea--it was sunday
and if the girls notified the commits
sary in time they We're allowed 20
cents on their weekly bill.
"Going out to the zoo?' said that
plump lady behind the desk. 'Well,
wait a bit and We'll go together. al
ways take my little boy out Sunday
afternoons, and we always meet my
nephew there. l always kid him and
tell him he must be going to meet
girl there-he goes so regular-llke.
But he takes the teasing well-ah," she
stretched her arms out ahead OF her
as gong sounded, now I'm through
and can CO."
Esther felt Il little shock to think
that Mrs. Spears was glad to be free
for the afternoon. Somehow she had
always thought that people who ran
institutions did so because they loved
the authority. But there was little
time TO con over this thought, for they
were on their way, and Esther felt
very cozy and honey somehow, as lit.
tie Tommy Spears clutched her hand
confidently as he trotted along be-
tween his mother and her.
Once in the zoo, where every one
had peanuts and where almost every
one was laughing and jolly, Esther
wondered why it was she had never
come here before. But Tommy had
loosened his grasp and was running
RAPIDLY toward a tall young man whose
ewes were laughing, although MS lips