The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1922-11-16
CHAPTER l


any certainty that the maid-of-all-
work would trouble herself to answer
Sylvia put down her book and went
t. the door. Very likely it was a
student or a member OF the faculty.
and as her grandfather was not al
home Sylvia was quite sure that the
interruption would be the briefest
The Kelton cottage stood Just OF
The campus. and was separated from
round the college and stole, after
many twists and turns. into town.
This thoroughfare was called Buck
eye Lane" or more commonly the
Lane" The college had been planted
literally IN the wilderness by It's
dignity as the seat Of the county
court, was the most colorless OF
prevailing red-brown mud colored
everything. Buckeye Lane was
originally a cow-path, II, the good old
times when every reputable villager
kept q COW and pastured It In the
woodlot that subsequently became
Madison Athletic Field. In those days
the Madison faculty. and their wives
and daughters. seeking social diver
sion among the hospitabIe townfolk
rtcked their way down the Lane by
lantern light.
Professor Kelton's house was
guarded on all sides by trees and
shrubbery, and a tall privet hedge
shut It of from the Lane. He tended
with his own hands a flower garden
whose roses were the despair of all
the women Of the community. The
clapboards Of the simple story-and-a.
half cottage had faded to a dull gray
hut the little plot OF ground In which
the house stood was cultivated with
scrupulous care. The lawn was
always fresh and crisp, the borders
OF prtvet were neatly trimmed and
the flower beds disposed effectively.
Once you had stepped inside the cot.
tsge the absence Of the feminine touch
was even more strikingly apparent.
Book shelves crowded to the door
open shelves, that had the effect OF
pressing at once upon the visitor the
most formidable Of dfngy volumes. sig.
nifytng that such things were Of mo-
ment to the master Of the house.
There was no parlor. for the room
that had originally been used as such
was now shelf hung and book lined,
and served as an approach to the
study into which it opened.
Comfort had set its seal everywhere,
but # was keyed to male ideals Of ease
and convenience; the thousand and one
things in which women express them.
selves were absent. It it a bit signih.
cant that Sylvia. In putting down her
book TO answer the bell, marked her
place carefully with an envelope. for
Sylvia. we may say at once, was q
young person disciplined to careful
habits.
rs this Professor Kelton's? ]
should like very much to see him.
said the young man to whom she
opened
I'm sorry. but he isn't home" re.
piled Sylvia, with that directness
which. we snail find. characterized her
speech.
The visitor was neither a member
OF the faculty nor a student. and as
her grandfather was particularly wary
OF agents she was OF guard against
the stranger.
'It is important for me to see him.
II be viii be back later can come
again"
The young man did not look like an
agent; he carried no telltale insignia.
He was tall and straight and decided.
y blond, and he smiled pleasantly az
he famed himself with his straw hat.
Where his brown hair parted there
was cowlck that flung an untam-
able bang upon his forehead. giving
him q combative look that his smile
beHed. He was a trifle too old for a
senior, Sylvia reflected. soberly study
ing his lean. smooth-shaveT face, but
not nearly old enough 10 be a profes.
sor, and except the pastor Of the
church which she attended. and the
physician who had been called to see
her IN her childish ailments, all men
In her world were either students or
teachers. The town men were strange
DCA4A5SH hAAOAAA AOAESSOI hCllOH
ly called Phinstines. and their ways
and interests were beyond her com
prehension-
If you viii wait think may be
able to find him. He may have gone
to the library or to the observatory
or for walk. Won't you please come
In7"
They debated, with much formaIity
on both sides. whether Sylvia should
seek her grandfather or merely d.
rect the visitor to places where he
would be likely to find him; but as the
stranger had never seen Professor
KeIton. they concluded that II would
be wiser Tor Sylvia to do the seeking.
She ushered the visitor into the
library. where Il was cooler than on
the doorstep, and turned toward the
campus
Sylvia II onve-sldnned and dark of
eye. And they are interesting eyes
those Of Sylvia. luminous and eager
and not fully taken In at a glance.
They call US oack for further parIey
by reason Of their grave and steady
gaze. There is something appealing
In her that takes hold of the heart,
and we remember her after she has
passed US by. We shall not prtened
that her features are perfect. hut their
trifiing irregularities contribute to an
impression Of individuality and char
acter.
This particular June afternoon fell
somewhat later than the second con
sulship OF Grover Cleveland and well
within the ensuing period CT rldiCal
ism The Hoosiers with whom we
shall have to do are not those set forth