Evening journal., 1892-11-05

distant. Anita meets Gray Van Nanut' VINO
was once IN love with her lie Is cousin
and represents the ,pected eastern visitors
and Anita returns home with hlm.
1t was inexpressibly pleasant. with her
sore and fretted heart, to have this old
comrade beside her, to feel that his re-
sentful wrath at her had been swept
away. that she might lean again upon
his steadfast affection. There was no
time for gloomy thought in their lively
conversation, continually starting anew
with, "Of course you remember this
or "You cannot have forgotten that.
And Anita discovered that she had room
for two distinct trains of reflection in
her mind at once-the one full of remi-
niscent jollity and laughter, the other
full of bitterness unspeakable. With
Gray beside her, dipping into the past,
laughing at his jokes and odd slang,
trouble must be kept in abeyance but it
was with her none the less, to share her
pillow when at last she was at home
again. mocking her in the darkness until
it seemed she must cover her head with
the sheet to stihe her moans.
Another day had come, laughing in
the joy Of Colorado's lavish sunshine.
Gray was lazily rocking in the sitting
room hammock, while Anita, near by.
sat working at a bit Of embroidery. The
strong morning light fell tryingly on her
pale, weary face.
"Do you know, nina mia" he said Il
think l must emulate your delightful
franlness, and remark that you look just
wee bit the worse for wear? You too
are thin and pale"
"But you must remember that | am
always well, hastily, with her brightest
smile "It has its disadvantages too. you
must know, to be so monotonously sound
in health in a country where the even
ness Of the temperature leaves so little to
be said about the weather. One suffers
from such a paucity Of conversational
natter
"Yes:' smiling perfunctorily, while
still with keen eyes studying her face.
Il hope there is no powder on my
nose" she irreleyantly exclaimed, quiz
zically meeting his searching glance.
"Worse than that, Nita," he said
gravely. Something is wrong with you.
know you too well to be deceived
wish you would tell me all about it,
"Well, if you insist upon it-though
am afraid you will only make light of
my sufferings when tell you" drawing
a long face, 'the fact is that my new
homeland | sent to New York for it.
is a perfect failure am racking my
brains as to whether shall send it back
and have row about it, or give my
vanity the discipline of wearing it a:
it is.
"Vanitas vanitatum," with a queer
smile Did she think TO take him in
with any such stuff as thisl
Il have to make the most Of my op
portunities to indulge in vanities. dom
you know? have to mako up for sucl
a lot of lost time Do you remember my
chronic condition of nothing to wear il
the days of old2 1t was pihful."
Nobody ever looked so well dressed
as you, always" protested Gray warmly
And the worry and trouble used t
have To appear even decent" she weni
on musingly "Tho ripping up Of old
drcsses--the braid around the bottom i.
the worst Of an old dress you can have
no conception Of the nastiness and dusi
it can hold
81 suppose not, with languid amuse
ment
And the plotting and cUntriving &
make old look new-to induce skimp,
draperies to seem abundant--and witha
to be- grateful Aunt Martha thought !
she gave me a home it was but fair tina
the rest should contribute my clothes
and each was continually limiting to thl
others that the burden of my expense
WAS not fairly distributed. Isabel
Aunt Annie would say, why don't yol
.,ivc that old brown silk to Anita? 1t j
tho most hideous shade imaginable, ant
vnu have worn il nearly TO tatters.
does SEEN about time that you did a Iii
DE something to help the rest Of us on
with the child. There never was tn
slightest delicacy about allowing me t.
hear what "a load they regarded me-
what a set of old cats they arei
frankly commented the nephew Of ta
eolse. But ] had no idea it was S
had as all that. You never told Inc.
"Why should /? But it was almos
,nbcarable. One good purpose it az
,o,nplished. though | shall always b
SHARED the usual sentimental yearning
for INV lost youth. Bad as the preseu
may be. still would not go back"
GRAY looked up with swift intelli
geHce Anita's strange emotion at sigh
of him the aay before, her pallor an
lassitude. the little constraint that fe.
upon her when her hucband's nam
was mentioned. all together had file
his mind with vague theories as I
which this seemed the tacit admission.