The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-05-11

no." he said. There shall be no self
flshness in my love for you. l will wait n
year from tonight, and then If London Is
no go, you know, there will always be
me. You can't expect me to pray for your
success, can your"
Eva, placed on her mettlc, looked him
in the faccs
i am bound TO succeed, she said and
turrcd to go. The waltz had ceased in
the room below and rustic of skirts and
u ripple of tongues had taken its place
"Eva-oncc-the last time perhaps"
She turned again, laughing
"QuickV' she said, "Somc one will
conc"
A woman may forget many things, but
no woman forgcts the first time lovers
arm was around her waist and lovers
lips upon her own. And rs Eva sat in the
corner of Il third class carriage in the Lon
don train next morning looking forward
to the career before her, the remembrance
of the support of Allan's arm persisted in
obtruding itself. Having got what she
had wanted, she already began to doubt If
she wanted what she had got, for career,
after all, is rather lonesome sort of thing.
Such small success as may come to the
inexperienced girl upon her first incursion
.
ingly, worked hard and never made the
mistake of refusing invitations on the
ground Of work. She staid up little
later or got up little earlier instead. a
weekly column on Health and Beauty,
placed at her disposal by the youthful edi-
| tor of a new woman's paper, who had met
| her at the Writers club and thought her
pretty, paid her weekly bill mt the board
ing house. Her stories found frequent ac-
ceptance and occasional welcome in the
minor periodicals, and happy meeting
with an editor at n dinner party paved the
way to her appearance in widely read
magazine BY the end of the year Eva
Norrington had got so far toward the real
ization of her ambition that when people
heard her name mentioned they wrinkled
their brows and tried to remember where
they had heard it before. At home, oil
course, her fame was great. The papers
in which she wrote circulated freely in the
! town, her stories were discussed at after
noon teas, and townsfolk were glad to
think that they participated to some ex-
tent in the literary movement of the cen
tury
And all this time Eva was horribly lone
| ly. She knew plenty of people, and liked
them. They were kind to her, some of
them because they liked her for herself,
others because they saw that she was
marked for ultimate success. Having ad-
vanced a certain distance along the road
she had longed to travel she could judge
better whittier it would lead her. 1t would
lead her to a place in the newspaper para
graphs, to place on the bookstalls, to n
place in the photographers windows and
to place at Bayswater or South Kensing
ton. This then, must be the end of the
struggle and the turmoil of the fight. And
how she hated the fight! A fight wherein
victory would bring her no nearer to the
actualties of life, for she had come to
learn in the years struggle that our social
system by no means places women on an
equality with men, and that whereas men
can buy the fruit of the tree of knowledge
of good and evil by the pottle, women
must buy the tree outright, and pay cash.
1t was terribly unfair. And the most I'M
fair thing about the whole business was
that, while success was almost within
her grasp, success was not what she want
. cd There is no fun in living your own
life when that is precisely the life you dc
not want to lead.
1t was not us though Allan Craig had
never kissed Eva Norrington.
She opened the letter, cutting the envel-
tinction must be made between your first
love letter and your bootmaker's bill She
felt as one who has held his breath to feel
what suffocation is like The letter was
long. Eva read quickly at first then
slowly, knitting her brows as she turned
the pages and came at last to the sigma
ture, Ever your FRIEND Allan Craig. +"
The letter lay for some minutes in Eva s
lap, while she looked vaguely round her
room.
"He is afraid of spelling my career-my
success has put an insuperable barrier
between us, - she murmured. The phrases
of the letter had burned themselves into
her brain. "Oh, Allanl wish l could
tell you--or do you want to hearY"
When the dinner bell rang an hour aft
erward Eva rose YEARLY from her writ
ing table, where she had been toiling oven
her half finished manuscript. She had not
burned it. i4
Five years PASSED before she saw Allan
Craig again, and then the meeting was
unexpected at the exit of the thcater width
er Eva had gone to see the hundredth per
Torrance of her play. Allan was obvious
ly proud of knowing her, and introduced
his wife, to whom she gave graceful recog
milton. 1t was raining, and Allan Offered
. to see Eva to a cab. They stood for mo
ment on the steps to the entrance
Eyes" said Allan In answer to Eva'i
polite question, ''all is going well. WI
have a little aughter-Eva-my wife,
name, curiously enough" He stood b,
the hanson as she entered, guarding her
dress from the wheel. AS she turned t.
give the address he said
II ought to congratulate you on YOU
success. 1t is very sweet to Inc. You know
-you-you owe it all to me. Are you
GRATEFUL
"Yes. owe it to you," she said lean
ing forward as the apron closed upon her
and the attendant constable grew impa
tient. "Come and see me-Tuesdays.
~ can't think why should be so silly,
, said Eva to herself as she stuffed her hand
kerchief back into her pocket and felt fo
her latchkey, when the cab drew up befor
the hall door of her fiat in Kensington. =
, London Black and White.