The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1922-12-21


to the character of teacher the day
held in store for them.
Don't you think they're worth
working for?" Sylvia asked.
Dan shrugged his shoulders.
I suppose more lives are ground
up in the schoolteaching machine
than in any other way. Go on!
The girl who taught me my al
phabet in the little red schooIhouse
in Harrison County earned her sal
airy, can tell you. She was It and
wore pink dress"
I'm sorry you don't approve of me
or my clothes. Now Allen approves
Of me; 1 like Allen"
His approval is important, dare
say"
Yes, very. It's nice to be approved
Of. 1t helps some.''
And l suppose there ought to be
certain reciprocity in approval and
disapprovaI?"
"Oh, there's bound to ber'
Their eyes met and they laughed
light-heartedly.
I'm going to tell you something"
said Dan. "On the reciprocal theory
L can't expect anything, but I'm lone
some and have no friends anyhow, so
I'll give you a chance to say some
thing whitening and edged with a fine
scorn."
Good I'll promise not to disap-
point you
I'm going to be put on the legisla-
tive ticket today-to fill a vacancy. I
suppose you'll pray earnestly for my
defeat"
why should I waste prayers on
that? Besides, Allen solemnly de-
clares that the people are to be trust
ed. It's not for me to set my pray
ers agains the will Of the pee-pun."
IF you had a vote" he persisted,
you wouldn't vote for me?"
Il should have to know what you
want to go to the Legislature for be-
fore committing myself. What are
you doing 1t for?"
ITO do all the mischief can, OF
course; to support all the worst meas
ures that come up: to jump when the
boss whip cracksT'
II hope you will do all those things.
You could do nothing better calculated
to help your chances"
They were waiting at a corner Cor
a break in the street traffic, and he
turned toward her guardedly.
You put 1t pretty low" he mum
bled.
THE thing itself II not so bad. From
what I have heard and read about Mr..
Bassett, don't think he is really an
evil person. He probably didn't start
with any sort Of ideals Of public lifo;
you did. 1 read in an essay the other
night that the appeal Of the highest
should be always to the lowest. But
you're not appealing to anybody;
you're just following the band wagon
TO the centre of the track. Stop,
Look. Listen! You've come far enough
with me now. The walls of my prison
house loom before me. Good-morn-
ingr'
Good morning and good luckf'
Luders' shop was not far from Syl-
Was school and Allen devised many
excuses for waylaying her. His ma
chine being forbidden, he hung about
until she appeared and trudged home
ward with her. Often he came IN
a glow from the cabinetmalker's and
submitted for her judgment the ques-
tions that had been debated that day
at the shop. There was something
sweet and wistful and charming In
his boyishness; and she was surprised,
as HARDWOOD had been from the first,
by the intelligence he evinced in po-
lltical and social questions. He de-
manded absolute answers to problems
that were perplexng wise men all
over the world.
IF could answer that" she would
say to him, 81 should be entitled to
monument more enduring than
brass. The comfort and happiness of
mankind isn't to be won in day; we
mustn't pull up the old tree till we've
got a new one planted and growing"
THE Great Experiment will turn
out all right yeti Some fellow we
never heard Of will give the lever a
Jerk some day, and there viii be a
rumble and a fash and It win run
perfectly" he asserted.
The State campaign got under way
IN October, and HARDWOOD was often
discussed in relation to 1t. Allen al
ways praised Dan extravagantly, and
was ever alert to defend him against
her criticisms.
MY dad VIII run the roller over
Bassett, but Dan will be smart enough
to get from under. It's the greatest
show on earth-continuous vaudeville
this politicsl Dams all right. He's
got mora brains than Bassett. One
of these days Dan will take a flop
and land clean over in the Thatcher
camp It's only a matter Of time.
Gratitude and considerations like that
are holding him back. But I'm not
partisan-not even on dads side. I'm
the philosopher who sits on the fence
and keeps the score by innings"
It seemed to her, in those days and
afterward, that Allen symbolized the
unknown quantity in all the problems
that absorbed him. His idealism was
not a thing Of the air, but a flower
ing from old and vigorous roots. His
politics was a kind of religion, and
it did not prove upon analysis to be
either so fantastical or so fanatical
as she had believed at first. AS the
days shortened. he would prolong
their walk until the shops and fac
tories discharged their employees upon
the streets. The fine thing about the
people was, he said, the fact that
they were content to go on from day
to day, doing the things they did,
when the restraints upon them were
so nght,-it proved the enduring
worth of the Great Experiment. Then
they would plunge into the thick Of