Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-04-14
TOLD BY THE TWILIGHT.

wordsworth.
TOLD BY THE TWILIGHT.
"You know I'm always doing queer things"
Kate said, ''but last winter fairly outdid
myself
what did you dor This in chorus from
| the group seated around the blazing wood
! fire
| Il stole horse" she replied, with perfect
! gravity.
''Stole horseln echoed the chorus; Itch us
about it, Kate
Very WELL she said. Bring me my knit
/ ting, Jack, will you please? L hate to have
my tongue my only busy member. Can't
! find it2 Well, never mind; come sit down,
/ and I'll find it myself"
/ While Kate is searching for her knitting
viii you not allow the chorus TO be presented
/ to you! We, the chorus, are Hates guests
| at her charming old homestead in Sussex.
! We ara not all sopranos and altos by any
/ means; there are an equal number OF ex-
/ trernely agreeable tenors and baritores. For
/ Kate, the doer of queer things" never dem
/ onstrated her queerness by inviting lot OF
/ try house only to leave them TO languish be
/ fore each others ewes.
/ Nor did she trust to such men as the town
might offer; she imported her own speci-
mems, and whatsoever received an invitation
/ to ''Morningside" could rely upon the choice
ness of the specimens. This had been so in
/ the days when Kate was entirely fancy
/ free" and lived at "Morningside" with a
: IL -
( and now that the grand old place had q mas
/ ter as well as a mistress, the same rule Of
/ agreeable pairing off was still adhered to.
/ Which proves, does it not, that Kate was a
/ glorious exception to the rule of average
young married women, who, being quite
/ content with their own life cavalier, dream
not that other maidens may sigh for other
/ companionship than his?
! This was our first October at Morningside
/ since Hates marriage, and, on the particular
evening whereof write, we were seated in
I semicircle around the blazing logs, Kate in
the middle, and Jack, her husband, very near
/ her. When she announced her last escapade
/ a smile might have been seen lowering about
/ his lips, amused at first then melting grad
ually into one Of extreme tenderness, which
said quite as plainly as words that Hates
story was one of interest to him.
do you believe in the depravity of mani
mate objectsE' Kate inquired when she
joined US again.
II do | am willing to swear that left
this knitting on yonder table. found it in
the library under chair, where it had de-
liberately hidden itself away from me"
1T must be feminine" said Berry. casting
areproachful glance at Laura. and therefore
bound to be as aggravating as possible
Il knew very well you would chase it,
+ Kate said Laura, calmly
Imagine its disappointment if you hadn't,
/ Kate" said Jack, smiling saucily at Laura
/ My dear" said Kate. don't you know
they never run away except they are morally
certain Of being chasedf'
Is knitting Theyf" asked Jack, gravely.
"No, but women are. You know what
mean
But the story" said Laura, who did not
fancy the turn the conversation had taken.
''Of course, the story" we exclaimed to-
gether
''Wel,n said Kate, settling herself com
fOrtably in her chair. ''You know | spent
winter before last in Boston, and being
thoroughly tired of hotel life, and not caring
to take house of my own, | went to large
boarding house l need not describe it: YOU
know that by some mysterious ruling of the
unseen fates boarding house is nothing
more nor less than rallying ground for
widows, and mine was no exception to this
rule. There We're widows in every stage of
bereavement and every stage of mourning;
from the indisputable hue of real grief to the
delicate tint of questionable sorrow. Some
were natural widows who had really lost real
husbands, Others of that variety called grass
because they spring up everywhere, just
as grass does, l suppose. But all called them
selves widows. OF one only shall speak,
Mrs. Otis, From my arrival TO nv depart
ure Mrs. Otis was constantly on the watch
for me to do queer things And l did my
best TO crafty her desire; l never disap-
pointed her, if l could help it! When failed
to furnish her with weekly morsel 20 roll
under her tongue she was positively offended
and looked upon 1t as personal effrOnt.
Yet IN spite of my genuine efforts to be useful
to her as a moral wherewith TO adorn her
many tales OF feminine idiosyncrasies, she
never appeared specially grateful to me- In
fact, we were so mutually antagonistic that,
although no open warfare existed between us,
1t was evident enough that we were not
friends. One Of the bright young girls in the
house spoke of Mrs. Otis always as my par
ticular enemy But enough of that She
has since married, and had | longed for re-
venge | couldn't have had sweeter." And
Kate laughed unsteady.
"WhyF' we clamored.
Because she married the man she didn't
want. But no more of her now. You know
no one can live in Boston without becoming
tainted with literary and intellectual a1nbi-
tons, and | was no heroic exception to that
rule. That winter Browning was the idol
worshiped- He has ever been my idol, as you
know, and from my enthusiastic study Of his
vigorous poetic philosophy Of life 1 was
deemed fit to conduct Browning class We
met at the house Of a charming woman who
was such sufferer that her couch was liter
ally her home. She lived in one of the lowell
est houses have ever seen, one of the lowell
est lives l have ever been brought in contact
with But there was this disadvantage, 50
far as | was concerned, her home was some
eight miles from the city, and most ideally
remote from the vulgar convenience of a
railroad. Consequently I was obliged to
drive over. One very cold January after
noon l was waiting impatiently for the con-
veyance that was TO take NE to W I
was ready, warmly wrapped in furs and pre-
pared to defy the cold, and / did not relish
being kept waiting by the liveryman- Twas
just getting IL little temper when my pill
grimase TO the window was rewarded by the
sight Of a sleigh drawn up before the door