Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-08-08
- BY Katharine
Ne,ULin Burt
Mary or
Eloise?
Which
Should Win
Unusual Hero?

value. Heloise among her circle en-.
Joyed the pride Of the bear trainer, Sho
was aware Of the silent, graceful beauty
and the laughter provoking Originality
OF her savage, and vain OF her power
over him; but she held her trainers
whip always ready in her cruel right
hand. This--except when at moments,
under his eyes, all the insignificant
trappings of her soul fell from it nnd
she felt deep mysterious waver, n
ituttering as though q fortress shook.
1t was that profound confusion. visible
more often than she knew, that kept
him a prisoner of hope. TO a man Of
ms type and experience, the life he now
lea was Calling to every fiber. His
hours OF study exhausted him, his social
experiences bewildered him. He had
always practiced self control; It had
been q necessity of his existence, but a
million little nerves that had never been
teased into consciousness were now ioiiv
sstung and twisted. Great space, great
the rare and humorous
speech Of roundup and range, the
quaint nosing ways Of pony friends, the
snowpeaks, tipped, iron gray, or
purple as gOblets filled with wine, the
fairy aspen woods, twinkling with round
green leaves and flowers, the sombcr
pine trails hushed and haunted, the
little sudden meadows all warm and
scented. where a starhcd bull. elk raised
his antlered head for moments noble
hesitation before he yielded to the trot.
ting. unhurried necessity Of a retreat,
the cottonwoods smoky or ablaze with
autumn, the wide gray green plains
noble as the sea--he would wake at
night and gasp with n choked longing
for such familiars. His ears would be
clattcring with sharp, rapid, Eastern
voices, his sensitive memory pricked
with the cold. inquisitive, pleasure.
seeking countcnance Of Eastern folk.
Hate and love, which after all are lonely
and noble in certain intensities, kept
him steady except at such moments of
misery as Heloise had dealt him that
afternoon with her fippnnt reference to
jealousy. He had his revenge, for Sir
Sydney's descendant, elf-rcvealed by
Q's flush and look, had smartcd for her
own vulgarity; but he didn't know this
and the knowledge would hardly hnvc
been a comfort to him. In fact. he
found no comfort until he eascd his
heart. little by speech. 1t was. a
cryptic speech enough-one Of his
aphorisms.
q Becomes PhilosOphic
"Ain't It funny. though" he said,
looking across the table at his school
marm, who was threading n needle
deftly, leaning close to the lamp so TINT
threads of fire moved about her curly
head, that n woman will say things
that man couldn't abcar to thini;
about himself things that arc
so. but that she ought not to let on
that she had found them OUT
Mary looked up from her needle. II
don't understand. q. just what you
mean
II mean, that man emit abear
hearin' from n woman that she has see'l
through him.
Cant he. Q? No. that's true. He
can't. I've noticed that myself She
smiled. II haven't seen through you
yet. have IT,
The little father was lost In volume ;
he was standing in n pcering attitude.
candle in hand. at one of the corner
bookcases. He might we'll have been in
Mars as far as any intercourse with
them was concerned. q gave him a
NO, ma'am," he said earnestly,
you're the most comfortable lady l
ever knowed. and common
For an instant Mary was startled.
then translated the term into its correct
Western usuage and glowed.
THANK you Q. like being that
"Yes, ma am. You hnd ought to.
Commonness is awful scarce In Sluy..
penkill. There's folks that are. real
low down and there's an awful lot OF
re finement, but mighty little COM
monness. Say, ain't Mrs. Shoppers
crowd refined, now?''
Yes" Mary twinkled over her sew.
ing, "they are--frightfully. How do
you get to know so many people, Q|'
II don't rightly savvy. ma'am. Jest
by holdin' my tongue, | figure. In
the only human in Sluypenkill thatll
do any listenin'. Folks are clean loco
irwin to get a hearin'. When have
got my edication ain't ngoin' to be half
so popular
what woman was 1t that made the
mistake Of seeing through you?' Mary
asked.
He gave her no direct reply.
Lots of folks" he said, cries for
the moon, but almighty few's willin' to
work for it.
"I have found out somethin' about
an edication, ma am" he went on-and
for the first time she saw the strained
look about his mouth that Heloise
looked at unseeingly so Often that 1t
amt to be had rightly out of books.
You are doing the very best You can,
ma am, but I reckon it's too late for
me. The kind Of edication that count.
atween q man and woman is somethin'
different, and II was to talk az
the history and geography there is and
straight as a dictionary and knowed all
spoked languages and played on the
py.nnny with all ten fingers like that
little fcllcr that let's the ladies call him
poodle -dog''--this mysterious re-
ference was to the curly Pom, who
would have been surprised by TIT
wouldn't rightly help me any. When
you come ri ght down to II, rs got 70 DC
somethin' deeper than that
She saw his hand clcnch and his face
lose its color. There was real anguish
in his eyes. Her heart swelled to her
throat. >.
that deeper thing.
He looked at her as though In the
midst of his apparent composure he had
lost the power of speech.
"You want your education She
asked softly-"fOr that?"
He nodded. and his eyes, after their
strange and beautiful fashion, deepened
and opened inwardly, until she saw his
heart.
"Ah, O." 1t was an exclamation
most pitiful, most understanding. 1t
made him vince. He turned away and
sat looking ahead Of him. She watched
his protile-a bronze bas-relief against
the lighter tint Of the wall. 1t would
not culver, but it seemed to sharpen.
She searched her very soul for com :
fort and encouragement for him. ,
"She-she would have to be blind II
she couldn't love you, O.