Indiana University - Arbutus Yearbook (Bloomington, IN)

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TMEr XOT3 J T 13iTJ rXJyS riicy ciiKTiiitl ir iin ilic depot. Kifurc iluin mii- a (l .cn f lcaniin , ilaii.L;iii,i;. i)kl»can trc«.-i l■ar . amnii-; iIkiii the- snlmrlian iu ' to lur lioinc. ' Lall a taxi! (ilihly. she i|U(itcd it, and laiij licd. W Iiy 111 cniirsc. if — if ymi say so. lie i|uictly at;rci l. Ik- leaned hack on the stiff, hini|)y cusliious and tried to feel contfoitahle. l ' o-. ildy to drown the hixiirious hum of the motor, and tlie imaijinary chck of the meter measurini; out the miles — and tiie ilollars. he hej;an : ■. ure yi u haven ' t fallen for the inevitahle and irresistahle Stetson, red liandana. wooly chaps, and the Coylt.iy ' s Lament? ' She laughed in nej ation. lie i)eercd steadily out of tiie little window, at llu- imrollini; jianorama of brilliant, jiarish city streets. ■■( )r to some old codj er of a stockman, the kind lliat linL;s his lie.irt and ranch at every school teacher? His voice was so low she had to lean forward to hear. Well, how on earth did you learn — . she liei an ; tiien. reali ini; slie had ■;iven herself away — Of course I was jjoint; to tell yoii. It ' too funny, too killin;, ' to keej). Oh, the simple old idiot ! I ' razy old ( rip. ' She lau},died— the same lauj h. ISeltcr hc ' in at the lirst. urs.;e l I h.nlie niieily. Hi- f.icc wa-- covered by the shadow of the corner. eNcei t now and tiieii when the yleam from a corner arc or the whiter dare from a passim; machine shifted across and limed it out in the darkness. .She continued to lean forward directly l efore the j lass of the door — Just to let folks know I have returned. she explained. Well, it be an just as soon as I jjot down to that miserable old hole. Vou remember how home-sick I was, especially after all the fun I had planned when I i;ot away from home — and — a — . — . nd from me. He (Hiiclly finished it for her. Ves. and from you. She laui hed .li .iin : perh.ips -he .lidn ' i know what else to do. Well, he was the mdy man in -i.L;lit if y n conid i;ill lifly ye.•lr of h.iy- seed. with bow legs that weren ' t even mates— a man. (1, thai iu that h •ne nii ncT the sch.iol an.l that I Ihei i . to inii np I le met me at the train, ere twenty-two pupiN. lavlor ' s. ( )f c.purse 1 IIN I IA CA ' CJl aT P»I2. S ITY

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TI Eir r E .A.lEd.:B XJ ' ZJ S him. A few cast such cases are li work is usually some men mereh ecu known where men fell m Love wi • marriaL;es — very rare. The Love, tl inie men achie e Love, nthers sur -ive Love D. C. Well Browned SI 1 L laughed, a high-keyed, wa ering laugh that would have drawn every eye and ear in the car on her — if they had not been there already. And you won ' t ever forget it — or me? she whispered back to him over her shoulder; and every one in the car heard that, too. The man ' s eyes fol- lowed her down the aisle. At the door she turned with a flash of smile, waved, and Avas gone. Hello, Ethel Girl, came a cheery, welcoming call from the black half- circle of figures below her on the platform. One hand came up to seize the suitcase at her side, the other to clasp her extended one. ' ith the same smile she greeted him, Hello, Charlie. Then followed the same laugh. He drew her out of the crowd and to the side of the ]: latform. And don ' t I get anything better than this after all these mimths of wait- ing — for this ? ' The man inside heard the tender question. He saw the man draw the girl to him; he heard his broken, passionate interjections, soft as they were; the expected Don ' t Charlie dear, you ' re so rough! the same laugh, a little nervous now. The} ' were directly under his window. He couldn ' t have helped it. There was a smile of a different kind on his lips. The usual thing. Just another one — one of the thousands. And he doesn ' t know. He hasn ' t wakened — yet, poor devil! he whispered to him- self. That was all he said. His eyes followed the couple, the protecting bulk of the man, cur -ed over the trusting, nestling figure of the girl — as they jammed through the crowd, across the gleaming rails, and were lost in the black nf the depot entrance. Poor devil! he repeated softly. it i ijvin:a. x:jrsri E i3. s iT «-

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TI-IiEr m %M ' j -s : xs xj s ■iiin s t( ' , 111 need i.l;, nasal nmi; alonL; ■k. ' and nf started riylit in to make a hit— and I i uess I did it all- result ! ■ ' He commenced right away dropping in political and agricultural, with old man Taylnr. Xext he began c; accidentally — and driving me to and from schonl. And a girl something to amuse her, doesn ' t she? She asked it petulantly. Charlie said nothing. There was her waiting for a reply; such a (|uesti(in has hui one answer. . on, occasionally stopping for a clever interixilation of the dra speech of the old rancher. And after an afternodii df i.ld ' Crip ' s ' ranihling, with his en about ' how much he had just cleared from that ' er ten-acre tr ' how this here atmosphere was sure a mile ahead a ' }(iur nV cit - smoke ' — whv I could go before the glass, rehearse a couple of times and have the whole performance down — clear to the hobble. Even in the dimness Charlie could see the hump of daint ■ slmulders, the squint of e} ' e, and the long drawn chin wrinkles that completed her perfect mimicry. It makes the greatest comedy scream e er — and just wait for the cli- max, ft came close after Christmas, when, after several months of ' warmin ' up, ' I suppose he called it, he drove around with his stiff old grey mare one afternoon and announced he had something to show me. We pulled up at a big, square, squatty sort of house, just linished; Crip hobbled out and limped to the door, with me following. When we had covered every corner of the house, with a half-hour exploration of the kitchen, ])antry, laundr • — and all that useless sort of thing, he asked me how I liked it. ' Xot a bit, ' I answered. ■ Then I wasted another half hour showing him how the front should be enlarged for a drawing room; part of the kitchen and the linen closet — big enough for a hotel — cut otT t(] make a conscr ator ' ; a [xirch run all the way across, with a porte-cochere entrance; and a thousand little changes. Well, things went along about the same for a couple of weeks more. Then he drove me out again — and what do you think that old fool had gone and done ! He must have had a dozen men working steady on that house, iTsri iJ Tsr.A. SSSISZS SSJ