Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1925-10-08
peaches y and
Wanderlust

Ely ROSCOE c. scoTT


g 1926. Western Newspaper Union-l
CALLlE WAINCOTT came up to
~ Washington first.
That was just after the wartime
crush At the Capitol. Now, after her
boss had been transferred from the
Veterans bureau to field work, Sallie
lldn't remain. Nobody else. she
dSlared understood her lazy South
ern drawl; nobody else would be so
patient with her blunders.
= The wanderust was upon her. She
TAINTED to move about and her eight
cen hundred had meant yearly saw
ing of five of it.
After two months of office work in
Detroit she took the night boat for
Buffalo. This Capitol of Eastern
New York" extended placid welcome.
Peaches loved Buffalo from the
start But she did not go to work. 1t
was too much fun to play-with
mammoth lake right in ones front
yard
One night the landlady's son came
TO visit. Peaches hated him at once.
He was New Yorker One gathered
from casual remarks he made at the
boarding table that he knew every
xdy who ready counted and had had
zen everything worth whitehall is
on Broadway. He knew the fellow
Anderson-who produced it. He called
Miss Pennington Ann She was to
star.
{ Peaches fnicyed the fanciful little
Wing; she really liked the way she
was treated to taxi rides instead of
the lowly street car; she liked the
coy little hour afterWard in the cafe
and the manner of ease which her es-
cort used. But she hated her escort.
He was so-well, one must hurry back
to her one word-"taeky."
The next day she sought job.
Why, nobody could have guessed. Ger
tainly not Peaches. She was gone all
day and got home to find note I'M
Gliding her for her rank behavior in
leaving him so utterly alone. The
next day she left before breakfast
1k You and ] know that Peaches had
allen in love, and we know with
whom. But Peaches did not know,
And she took a job-at twelve dollars
a week for start-when she had
commanded nearly forty In fact she
stuck to it nobly until Sunday.
. Sunday she arose very early. al
tIough her Sunday sleep had always
been her real luxury She mus get
away somewhere, anywhere lest she
should see him. do something really
rude like box his ears or call him
"tacky."
She followed the crowd by impulse
and the street cars carried her to
Niagara. In early afternoon she
came back. Luckily everybody else
was away.
Down below her whirred the uuto-
mobiles Nearly every other machine
carried persons in the front seat.
Their merry laughter told the tale all
too publicly.
She must get away from the sight
lfof those machines. She had been
weeks ON the Trail of the Honey
Nmooners. They all made her i'll. They
were too giddily, unreasonably happy.
Mush!
She started for a long walk-oh,
anywhere away from the path of the
giddy lovers.
The landladys son blocked her at
the outer doorway.
mo good Miss oh, you know
your name You're going 10 sit here
and talk to me You are going to
know what little there is to know
about me. You are going to tell me
all about yourself and how they came
to call you Peaches. You are going
to tell me how wen you ike His Buff
falo and why you came and"
She fiared.
You are no Southern gentleman or
you would not insult me this way.
You think | am impressed by your
New York swagger an you all-you
all are nothing but-but tacky"
With the blow she finished crimson
of face.
But his audacity was not over. He
moved closer to her. He even dared
ITO take hold of her two pretty shout
ders.
"By gosh, now like you better than
any time beforel l loved your drawl
and your evident good-breeding-a
oh. my word but you have a temper.
I've always said I'd never marry ex-
cept | found somewhere a"
She broke away from him.
You're plain tackyl" she almost
screamed.
But he gently brought her back to
Mace beside him on the davenport.
"Well, you win, Peaches. Just as well
start calling you that now as later.
You win To tell the whole truth,
rye been sort of loafer. Never got
right down and made much of myself.
Probably because | was as you said
"tacky" Mother wrote me that she
knew somebody who could steady me,