Evening star., 1925-11-01

|
| manner of man 1t was who had won
the Knickerbocker cup race, and was
! thereafter carried to his room to be
! put to bed by veteran of the pits
and a youngster who had yet to learn
the full drama of the game.
= x 4 x
HIDDEN in blue grass valley that
resembles nothing so much as
"old Kentuck'," and only 80 miles
from San Francisco as the crow flies,
the little town of Calora drowsed in
the sunlight and meditated on the
past.
Once, Calora had known the glory
of rare prosperity. That was in the
heyday of California S "silver spend
thrifts," half century ago, when fair
women and fast horses formed the
toast of millionaireS.
The quaint charm of this secluded
village was discovered by first one
wealthy sportsman and then another.
| HaCiendaS We're established on the
hills, and presently these looked down
upon a race track owned and operated
by men whose names We're known ma
uonaily, and to whom money meant
but little.
But these things passed with the
generation that was responsible for
them. Calora had been the toy OF
rich men, and in an age of CONNER
cialism such toys were shelved.
A great water corporation spread
its tentaCles over the valley, throttling
all efforts at development. Rural ii
was, and rural it remained, a study in
still life-the only community in Cali
fornia that had not grown In 40 years.
Calora was off the beaten paths.
those broad macadam highways along
which the States development has
taken place. Nor could Calora, of its
own resources, build the necessary
concrete roads to connect up with a
system by which her more fortunate
sister communities profited.
Calora lapsed into a Sleepy Hollow
state OF eXlStence-a quaint village SO
utterly unlike any other in the Golden
State that one motion-picture director
shot it as My Old Kentucky Home"
And the only way of improving the
picture would have been to use
Diana Davis in the lead. For Diana
was as different from other girls as
Calora was unlike other towns.
No doubt the bard was right, and
there is nothing in a name Never
theless, to young Tom Meredith. who
was born and reared in Calora, Diana
Davis suggested the mystic beauty of
the moonlight-calm,s serene, virginia..
yet potent with a charm that soothed
his restless soul.
She was the daughter of the village
minister, and he the son of the town
drunkard, and. of course, they were
in love-deepiy in love,
Young Meredith's sins were all
prompted by the restlessness that be
set his soul. His father had been a
nd
of fast horses, one of the small group
of millionaireS who Squandered their
wealth on Calora in the early days.
He was the only one who stayed
stayed until he had drunk himself
into a pauper's grave and had been
pointed to for years as the towns
horrible example.
Small wonder that Calora looked
with suspicion on this mans son, and
that Tom Meredith in turn looked
forward to the day when he could
escape from his native town and never
return.
There was only one who seemed to
understand him better than he under
stood himself. and on moonlight
nights he crept to their rendezvous,
the SWeet-scented magnolia tree that
marked the entrance to Diana'S home.
There he worshiped as reverently as
lilOdSi iit Wei SldlltlllIS dI ii SllIlnt.
In the daytime he hated the ugly
little town where nothing ever hap
pened. But at night, when the
shadows brought their veil of illusion,
strange eXaltation came to him.
The time came when the wild obses-
sion to run beyond the limits of a
country road became too strong to
resist. All of a tremble, he sought
his sweetheart one night, and pleaded
passionately that she embark with
him upon the Great Adventure.
And Diana kissed him on the fore
head and regarded him with tear
filled. comprehending eyes. the while
she shook her head and bade him go
forth alone.
Not that I don't love you, dear"
she told him. Il do, and oh, so we'll,
But this would be foolish and wrong,
very wrong. For one thing. it would
kill my father; and for another, 1 am
afraid-afraid for both of us
Why" he demanded.
Diana shook her head. plucking
thoughtfully at the leaves of a mag