The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-05-11
FROM MY WINDOW.

3 A4 ~ -&&- lA " A&Nl4sO
opened my window and leaned far one
and looked down on the misty. damp des-
olation Gray mist was eveRywh ere-gray
mist and thin, soft, silent rain, rain that
did not fall in round drops, but 6oated
through the air and crep0 along the sides
of the houses and through the narrow pas
sages and down the broad streets Rain
and mist everywhere A city OF damp
desolabion below me. The river could
family sae-blaek and cold. could even
hear the sound Of its outgoing WateEs-a
gurging. chuCkIings orunching sound.
They sang a mirthIess, monotonous song.
A barge swept past. One tall, solitary fig
ure was at the helm He stood alone on
the dank Aatboat, motionless, silhouetted
against the gray mist. He too, was part
of the scheme of desOlation.
In the street, beneath my window, q
barrel organ began to play music hall
tune. Two children appeared and COM
meneed dancing. One had a red froGks
but no stockings The other had stock
ings, but no frock-only a Detticoat that
once upon time might have been white.
They danced, and the mud few from under
their feet and ths rain mist wandered
amid their rags. They danced, and the
organ grinder turned the handle Of his or
gan with fascinating regularity.
When he had finished his stock Of tunes
he wheeled his barrel of sound away. No
one had given him anything, but probably
he did not think of that. He went from
street to street day by day, ground forth
his 10 tunes, and if pennies were thrown
him he picked them up, and il pennies
were not thrown him be forgot to expect
to pick them up.
He moved away, and the child with the
stockings followed him. The child with
out the stockings remained standing in
the mud. then threw her a coin. She
looked at it where it fell. Then she looked
up at me. She looked at the coin again
and picked it up and wiped 1t on her dress.
The street was empty. She and the gray
rain mist were alone. She stood in the
mud, the coin in her hand, and gazed up
at me. beckoned her to come to me, but
she did not move, so I went down and
brought her up to my room and placed her
in a chair before the fire.
"Ars you hungry?2
She shook her head.
g You are very wetl'
She shook her head
stAre you fond of dancinRq''
She nodded her head.
ssWhere do you Hvef''
"Anywhere.
''Where's your mother9''
Nowhere -
lit a cigarette She drew nearer the
fire.
Where are you goi2gf"
ITO the pantomime--to darnoe,
s'When9''
8 Termorrer.'
sfWhat are you-a kBfry2''
'sEo-han evil sper@t.'
who was the girl With you just now9"
ssSister.'
Does she dance in She pantomimes''
Eyes"
sfWhat Is she?''
bov how'll -g,onok
"What are you gollg to do when you
grow uy2''
= Darnce.' .
sAIways2''
Yes
She would not tally any more, but she
crouched before the fra, staring at the red
Goals and seeing things there that were
hidden from ms. went to bed ct 1 and
left her before the fire, still gazing into
the burning embers. When I looked for
her IN the morning, she was gone Two
months later I saw her in the pantomime
She was an evil spirit. Three years passed,
and I saw her again, dancing in a large
west end theater.
Four years later I stood looking ont
from my window, and I thought Of the
evening Of seven years ago. Again there
we're the gray rain ni9A and the damp des-
Olation everywhere. a gain there passed
the low, fat barge, with the solitary fig
ure at the helm mott8nless. The waters
sang their mirbhless, monOtOnous song.
The organ grinder ground forth his 10
stock tunes. But the two children did not
dance in the mud. I stood looking down
into the desolate street. And I saw a vvO-
man walking slowly toward the river. She
had q red dress on. She stopped beneath
my window and looked up. I beckoned to
her to come to me. She came.
placed a chair before the fire for her.
It was seven years agoi'1
I" Yes Why do you remember2''
$50 you have dancedP''
Yes, I have danced. =
g You have been successfully
Eyes"
''Then Why
II don't know. I danced, and then I
hurt my ankle and had to give it up, and
then sister died, and them
. Yes, / see, and them
And then But it's finished now
Z" 1t was silly to begin. -
s. Yes, it was silly to 8egin. I came here,
but the windows were shut. So''-
SO What did you come here forg''
II remembered that night"
Whyg'
81 don't know"
She would not talk any more. but sat
and gazed into the red gold fire and saw
things there that were hidden from me.
At IL O'Clock went to bed and left her
still dreaming before the red gold. fire.
And the next morning she was gone. I
opened my window and leaned far out.
The sun was shining, and I heard the
birds singing amid the EN- bankment trees.
And the barge swept up the river, re-
turning from its journey. At the helm I
thought I saw two dgures-but it may
have been only fancy-a man and the
a.