Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-12-30

t.IAPIf.:. Ill.
l.:- ,Ailt~ lv between the oflic; Of
Tn Cl'iz,u and the tlio f ROOMS Anne
Ill :.tnd and furnished! duriu;; tn, six
weeks f E,r residence III New York.
Thy wcr" IL :. low. rcd brick hoJ>. di-
yld' Il from the street by patch 81
"a, and j.. :. ialings, TIL noighhor
J, 4 had Washington s@....re f,r it,
ln:.'r"-. tine oily l-.t of tl.a :u-utr
'-:!Ii!-; tow! lr,:,:', NJ the messy t';:!n
ST.; kHic t.:irri..: days. where coca
>irH". loW G."r,tops AID ! indie legged
.lst;i> keep the cu,l.l:.cs and mai
,..:> q; the century ! infancy clear i'll
IT, memory.
Anne loved the queer street, the ven
,rablc church opposite. with its unfash-
Inahlc rarishicncr and sweet tongued
leN. the amethyst light stealing across
the landscape Of roofs, the fret Of trains
H~-hing past i'll aerial Passage not far
III and leaving plume Of vapor be-
hind, the passing Of many people along
the pavements reaching into smoky per
spective.
These impressions were 4 1ipening
contact. helping 10 wake her to newer
perceptions Of life, making her rca':..u
that She stood unsupported i'll a crowded,
struggling place.
Shi had the exhil:,ratiug sensations
Of "a daring and capable swimmer who
plunscs into deep water where only his
own skill can keep him afloat.
Her eyes were shining, her color
high. as she hurried up tie narrow
stairway and entered the sitting room.
-tn old man vas standing by one of the
windows and turned expec:antly as she
came i'll. 1t was Dr.. Ericsson. He look
ed at her with cool, friendly scrutiny.
I've been waiting for you again.
There's something witching about you,
Anne" he said helplessly. You've
quite spoiled me for solitude. Every
dinner I have away from you is like
sawdust.
Anne laid her arm lightly around his
shoulder. She was little the taller
There was something charmingly auda-
c:ous i'll her young face and protecting
attitude contrasted with his gray hair
and sixty odd years. She had the i'm
petuosity and assurance Of fresh run.
ner who fears nothing ON the long, mys-
tericus race just begun. He had the half
defeated expression of one approaching
with tagging steps the end and who
thinks little even Of the winning of that
race which nevertheless must be run in
one fashion or another.
never knew u man SO eager for
&c - c,, co.l hor II
ing in playful scorn. "Shall fib and
say every meal is lonely without you?
Not a bit of it. come home so hungry,
uncle, dear, and the man at the corner
sends in such good chops I put Oh a
blouse and dream over my coffee, while
Nora in the kitchen sings Irish melo.
dies in an adorable voice and with a
creamlike brogue."
She laid her finger under his chin
and looked into his eyes.
"But when you do come, you dear,
cynical creature, shelve dreams gladly
and don't care a pin for Morals songs.
Satisfed:'
She hurried away to change her gown,
and DR.. Ericsson was left alone in the
dusk. He listened in dreamy way to
the maid crossing and recrossing the rug
covered floor, his arms hung by his
sides, his eyes were fastened on trail
Of smoke diminishing in the sunset
Thirty years before, then young
Swede newly arrived in America for a
bout with fortune. he had married the
sister of Anne's mother. They had set
tied in New York, and by degrees he
became successful and rich. His wife
was beauty, his children's future
bright, and life went well. But trouble
came. His children. with the exception
of Olga, the youngest, died during
schooldays, his fortune intrusted to
false friends went to help their specu-
lations and was lost. Now, in old age,
he was physician Of reputation, bat
poor. possessing a fashionably inclined
wife, whose weekly letters from Paris,
where she had elected to live when o.
gas schooldays in Switzerland were
over, were wearying longings for the
vanished wealth. His daughter was al
most a stranger to him. She had gone
away child, she was now a woman Of
20. What sort Of woman, evolved by
her mothers worldliness and q false
system OF education, he hesitated to
consider. His life was spent iu the de-
pleted family mansion ON Waverly
place with one old servant. amid furni-
ture masked in gray holland and por-
traits of his lost children blinking
through gauze sheetings. Only his pa
tients and friends had prevented him
from becoming like the piano in the
corner, which had almost forgotten how
to vibrate.
But he knew what home might he
since anne came to New York. He was
deeply fond of her, wholly in sympathy
with her. His gaze wandered to a
shadowy pastel Oh the wall before him
where her deep eyes were touched by
the sunsets fire. 1t seemed to tell him
much. Hers had been stern, starved
girlhood up to the present year. After
college days and between the ages of 20
and % she had been chained to the bed
side of an invalid father, her life a
strain when it was not stagnation, I'M
used energy fretting her heart, what
should have been the sunniest period of
her life drifting by in shadow.
When her father died, she had found
herself wholly orphaned and free to
plan her future according to her tastes.
She had small income, thorough ed
ucation and the talent of being able to
write with splendor and force of what
ever she felt deeply. The controlled
yearnings for freedom had grown into
one desire, and she had gratilied it.
The old home was rented, and like a
young David entering the camp of the
Philistines she had come to New York.
Three things she had determined on
to live alone. work, fill her days with
impressions Of life, fling away books
and study men and women.
When the maid appeared with can
dies, Anne followed her, bowl of roses
in her hands The newspaper woman in
severe, collared gown was gone, and in
her place was an exquisite creature akin
to the flowers and the starry lights. Her