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Show G5 YEARS A HEKM1T. I.ONQ Sr.Cl.USION Of AN INDIANA WOMAN. Itt II. r tt.r ami I rlr rrlrmle tin. l'i.in anl v.,.r Han Tli.m Afaln I il.nllii M.t.f roflli-eomlor. roflli-eomlor. O t llronltTillo llnd) t'orreapondence: At itangi a hermit n rr retired from tho poiiet) of the wnrld to tho celntlon of n narrow inhere of lite, upon whli h no ons tmt mtmbcri of his " her linnirUlnto family were nllowl to intrude It l'hoebe Mk who for a My five yearti haa not atapped out-a out-a ile tho doorway of hor little room on lira aciond floor of a weather-beaten frame houao in the renter of Ihla town rho blirdi on one of the tooma have been tlotcd cter alnro her retirement, and therein the hermit makes her home a-elnn no one but a alitor. In the years of her .luslon the population popula-tion has changed two or Hires times, and today there are but few who know that the hermit exlita, nnd fewer still who ran recall the days when, for pome unexplained reason, she shut herself up In her room and bads n final adieu to the social circles of which aho was admittedly the brightest bright-est ornament 11 was durlnc tho days of canal building In Indiana thnt I lad-ley lad-ley Johnson nnd l'hoebe Mceks met each other and It wis not long till rumor coupled their names together aa loters Doth were children of well-to-do parents and both were rouns nnd nsplrlng After n time their Intimate friends were Informed that they wcro engaged and were to bo married in June This was In 1815 or 1136, and llroolnlllo wns tho most Important ton In the Infant atato. In fact, the Athens of gnycty and fashion, ns gay. ety and fashion had It. In those primitive prim-itive llmea Ono cvsnlng. a few week before Ihe day appointed for tho wedding, wed-ding, llailley Johnson and l'hoebe Mceks and threo other couples wandered wan-dered down to the cnnal bank and spited themsdies near tho basin to waleb. the towboAts as they passed Istlly along All seemed to be In the best of splits when suddenly rising from the rnnnl b-nk. nnd without tittrilng one word In explanation of tho art 511m Mreka turned her. bach upon her lover and friends and walked htirrlidly toward her home Mr John-con John-con railed lo her, but received no re spouse After awhile he followed her home but the house was dark nnd he forb re lo Intrude The next morning ho called to learn what had oirurred to offend tho oung woman but she refused to see him rr to offer any explanation of her strange iondua of the night before Iittert 1 sent to her by the lover were re turned unopened, and ho was finally obllsui to ncc.pt. Urn tuUon- Ik hrxlitcd nnd giro up tho hope of learn- ' Ing why be had become obnoxloua to her. If. Indeed, (hat wn the reason for her ronduct Month after month pasted, but Mlas Meeks remained In her home, and rumor said that sha remained alio In her own room, tho blinds to which were now alwaya kept recurcly closed The people marveled at the strango action, and husybodles went to tho I otisa to lenrn what was the potter They come nwny no wiser than they went, for the other members of tho family refuted to dlscusa the subject tud met rcfercm os to It so coldly that 'even the most Inqulsltlvo wero deterred de-terred from asking questions The father and mother died, but Miss .l'hoebe heard tho funeral discourses '.from an adjoining room, tn which no one but herself was admitted, and she did not even follow thn remains to the Itrare Tho months lengthened Into Qcara. and still tho hermit kept In the old home. The fact of her existence llniost ceased to be known to any sax Ihe older residents. I After severnl ycnrs'of waiting; llnd-ley llnd-ley Johnson went west anil soon became be-came n man of wenlth nnd Inlluenee. Ilo located In Utah territory nnd Infested In-fested In mining When Utah win admitted as n atato and cast Its flrsl fata for presidential electors he wa II the bearer of tho oflclat returns tc Washington On his way home he stopped at llrookvlllo and mado n laxl vffort to Boo his ufllanced of more than (0 years before He was then ad vlnccd In life, hut tho old scenes re vlvcd the fires In his bosom and the learning camo to him ns It lind In years gone by Miss l'hocbo was ob durate, and not only refused to see him but declined to rccelvo any word from him. Her action had gono unexplained un-explained through all tbo years, nnd bo was destined never to know what lad occurred on thnt Juno night to tbsnge her attitude towards him and he world He died about a year ago jnlhlt western home. 'Miss Mecks' only companions In all jiess years have been her youngir iliter and the birds Hundreds of pirrows feud at her window every nornlng, and for a few moments tbo gutters aro opened as she places their bod upon tho window Bill She has mple means upon which to live Sho 1 tald to bo an omnivorous reader All 10I high-priced magazines are taken t Que bouse, alao n dally paper, hough she avoid contact with the ond, she thus keeps In touch with hit U going on around her. |
