Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-08-28
ReapinR the Whirlwind

uHro. @, you can't take me back,
I IN because I've got to operate on a
..,a tonight. But you can take back a
Liter from me to that Sophie gel'-and
Elook here-next week I'm going
west"
The "sophie gel" stayed perforce
,b,re q had left her. and her aston.
,,bed sensss gradually composed them
..lves, She had been snatched up out
A. her own purposes as by whirlwind,
.nd constrained to an objective contein-
n,,tion which, in a few dizsied mo-
..rt. showed her the fairly volcanic
abyss she had escaped. Nights OF toss
ins. aching sleeplessness, days Of re-.
ientles persecution, pain OF heart and
bitterness of personal failure--for she
~ believed that Laurie's love would
ned 49, only a sight Of hers for its re-
nrswsl~such hours and such pangs and
Sssrs. tuned to a monotony Of work in
Etchen and dining room, had tangled
\ IA rirl out Of her dreams. and it is
ryscisely when such habitual dreamers
"a 40 rudely walked that they embrace
nronpt disaster. Her attempt to edu-
sate herself, to reach UP to Laurie,
h having failed, all that was vulgar and
commonplace In her inheritance and
4 circumstance threw her back violently
( anon such consolation as the salesman's 8
dibness had to offer. Not good enough
hr Laurie, she was at least good enough
fof the handsome Rupert Seaman. The
wife Of a Benton would scarcely prove
4 less damaged vessel than the ,adven-
l turing heroine Of the drunner's ro-
l mince., That enchanted forest Of which
poor, exquisite Sophie with her startled
eyes was born denizen, was no train
inE.school for the main street of Sluy-
penkill or for the lobby of the River
Hotel. When a prince had alighted at
her door, Sophie was ready: the prince
having, thrust her out Of fairy land.
she fell against ragged and sordid
reality with all the violence Of Ter
There is a theory abroad that goes
BY the precious name of realism, and
which 'dogmatically asserts, in many di.
verse ways. that the mole on lady s
cheek is more real than the dimple |;
that, to be honest, one must pluck the
wings from butterfly and make notes
% its crawling powers; that marriage
y a matter Of morning yawns rather
tan midnight kisses; that life walks
attentively beside the gutter and not
along the front Of palaces; that, in
short, mans big toe is Of infinitely
greater moment than his craving for
beauty. But surely, whatever chances
and changes mortify and afflict our
PHYSICAL lives, the life of our thought
nay always be a journey of enchant-
Hent. II We work in a. department
sore and travel thereto in q subway,
eAngipg to a strap, nevertheless, we
remain eternally seekers of buried treas
ue; II we wash the baby's underclothes
and make it's bed. Mary, the Madonna,
must have done no less; yet what we
remember is that she carried His say
ru In her heart, Perhaps baby''s
nfN recognizing smile Is melodrama,
t9t 1t Is at least as real as his collie.
~ OF which is to defend a predilec.
uon. A realis ist would doubtless find
Goter profit in, watching Mrs. Huggs
SanlnE her doorstep than in watching
IN. Hugs weep with her broken
neart. She did both daily. And So
Rale, washing dishes. and blowing tears
uom redeemed nose. would be more
sohvlnclng than Sophie wandering in
Mnd OF faerie where no birds sing"
10 such realists, in fact, the telling
va tale must forever remain a sheer
sosurdity. for what makes the chronicle
u ~ or OF Sophie significant is
O. Ihe acquiescence in circumstance,
W. tae rebellion against It. When q
nr to his chair, he was acting more
&%pW' naturally, and inevitably than
when he constrained himself TO use
Tuts services with the "buzz box. ."
Ihe ascent and descent in the elevator
.emalned always to him romantic and
astonishing adventure. He understood
isr more readily what Sophie had been
sooqt to do and her reasons for doing
y tuah ne understood Heloise's delib-
Gate slipping of Ferdy's temptation
while she held her rescuer off until such
ume as the poison began to take dan
Serous effect. The ways Of mental OK.
pertinent were to him indeed bewilder.
~, but physical adventure was the
sery breath Of his being. Following
instinct. he would, in one riotous'
SSusfying week, have beaten up Dr.
SSsies' mopped up the lobby floor with
nenton. held up Miss Selda for n fat
purse for her brother and niece. shot
setay through the head, married Laurie
sophie at the muzzle of a gun. and
lioped off with Heloise before him or,
s saddle. OF course, this is what,
Y the course of a six months strugge'
was trying to do. Condense his
S@e limit to week and YOU will
~ tne untrammeled man at work.
nut was not a superman. and con.
.sntlon, the cold weight Of circum.
Mnce, had their ropes amen him.
sophie was the first victim of his
HSaasashed Ha sincerity. She sat, feeling in
Vys the weight of his hands. the con.
.mietlon of his rope and scarf, and the
h, T.shs, laughing touch of his lips on her
%,snead, and feeling In spirit a beatifc
H.ease, Life had been taken out of
s.r hands, and she realized that she
vs profoundly tired, that her nerves
MI; ne stretched almost to the breaking
as' '.s coercion was a rest. She re-
Hs.eJa IN the chair, leaned back her
49,, 49,, ana, through half closed, still
kon'shed eyes, wondered what was to
,one Wss OF her. Q would 90 to Laurie,
and on his way. Would he rope him
pr ,earsy him back and lay him at
lSn.het' theet' She was seized with sobblng
sroInseer 80 that her breath shook
tsars t.aS. her bonds. Her heart swelled.
sod rs ;sLl SLl from her eyes. Q was her
tbs % ehs coul have followed him to
Ess.MS worlds end, She would now have
hsnddaa MS strong, gentle, constrained
pt,sa, She was safe, silent, hid from
cpnor,unon, from passion, from ugly
ofgSUn.uhity--love's of prisoner, a prisoner
tb.as nope Would Laurie come? Leave
Nh. 70 y! She looked ut her shabby
whir,v ,;ea,her bag, caught up by the
now m,hd WHO, that had caught her and
Of tba 'led over on it's side In Il corne,
4insiu ie room, and she wondered auiver-
Nr 90 now she could ever have packed IL
forc,hi mad purpose. To be lift,
clsr;Sy and tied up was a, marve.ou
esinst, u would seem, OF ones i'm
~ Here shs, Sophie. sat---