The Wreck of the South Pole and Other Strange Tales — page 156: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

What Shall She Do? 149 “Now comes that story in the Capital. I knew it at once. ‘The picture of the old house is perfect, and the story is quite like John. He never could be solemn for any length of time, but was always running off into some extravagance. But under all the lightness there is a sad strain, the sketch of his life and mine before we were separated. And do you know, Paul, I believe that he wrote that story for me, so that if I should read it, I should at least know that he loved me all these years. I wonder what he looks like now?” And then I told her all about John Warrington’s visit and his appearance. | And so the fantastic tale I had resurrected from my old desk in the branch office was the story of my little mother’s love. And she was not happy! These two thoughts clung to me with persistence as I went my daily rounds. That there was a pain in them for me I cannot deny, but perhaps my story has been so poorly told al- ready that there is no need of the confession. What was best for me to do? The question bothered me for days, and then I wrote to John Warrington. It was not a week until he called upon me—at evening, when I always had the office to myself, and that night he, as had my little mother, told me the story of his life and hers. Years before, when he was young, he had loved her, but they had separated. He was given an appointment the other side of the world, and although he wrote fre- CONNIE OOOLKS (CO)