The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-10-13
ASORROWFUL INTRUSION.
IFrom the Record-HeraId.l


When it became noised abroad that
Miss Whately, the arfstocratic, stately,
accomplished Miss Whately. had ac-
cepted a position" as salesWOman in q
leading music store there was cOnsid-
era bic excitement in certain circles of
the Back Bay. For the Whatelys had
been an old and exclusive family in the
neighbOrhOOd. and. though in reduced
circumstances, it was never suspected
that the daughter of the house would
have been brought to such straits. As Il
matter of fact there was no special
necessity for the young woman to earn
her living. Her brothers, though young
er than she, were doing we'll and would
have been glad to have her always at
home. But she was a girl of spirit as
everyone knew, and she offered no fur
Their note of explanation than that she
preferred to be independent" Besides,
she was no longer a girl, but woman
Set in her ways. mentally and physically
sedate, phenOmenally reasonable, Who'll
" passionless, and therefore a person
age utterly superior and remote in the
minds OF such young men as might have
v-0oed and welded a less perfect crea-
ture.
One of her brothers. who had argued
In vain against her going to work. I'm
ally lost his temper and accused her of
seeking to excite cOTnrnfserating atten-
ton, but she only smiled patiently at
his outbreak and went stately and de
nberat ely to the store. And she was a
model SaleSWOman. as she had been a
model daughter. a model sister model
character in all things. She dressed 50
well, though yet in mourning for her
father, who had died many years since:
she spoke so deliberate so correctly
so demurely. Old maids who taught in
the Sunday school with her, prim moth
ers of wild sons who knew how good
she was, homely girls who hadn't half
the chances she had, all wondered wav
1t was that no enterprising young man
made bold to carry off so rare a prize
among women.
But there was one man. Horace
Gorse, who had thought" Of Miss
Whately in a matrimonial sense. He
was a well-Dreserved man of so and
bachelor OF manners and habits so ire
proacSable that every mother with g
marriagea bic daughter who had the
good fortune to know him hoped that
he would notice her girls and he did
notice them He noticed everyone and
everything, hut particularly, in his own
mind, he noticed Miss W,,ately. MI
GOrse was a self-made man. who was
proud OF his performance and deter
mined that nothing should occur to mar
the perfect SYMMETRY of his own han
diWork So far as known, he had never
made a mistake He had begun to save
as an Office boy. and now he was the
owner OF q small steamship line a fine
home, and cOnsidera Bile income prop
erty-" He looked healthy, but nobody
had ever suspected or accused him of
HdAiHS hdQ dtiS EuIdtSlEllenIS. Fl9
dressed with perfect judgment. Some
people call it taste" but with Gorse it
was judgment. He was a vestrymar
In the same church in which Miss What
ely taught a Sunday school class. and
In the eyes Of many of the congregation
they were horn for one anOtl-erf'
Miss Whately'S acceptance Of a posi-
ton pleased Mr.. Gorse. To his extreme
~ practical mind 1t proved that she was
woman of sense and spirit that she
had a notion OF the value Of money.
that she was superior to mere a1~e7r-
ances and unhampered with any false
pride To mark his approval Of her
course, he walled home with her from
church the very first Sunday after he,
appearance as salesworrlan. T1ver.1--
body noticed how dignihed and correc.
they both seemed. how sensible. how
well matched how thoughtful. as the
walked down the avenue toward har
house. She had alwavs been so rnucb
more seeate- so much wiser. better
poised. calmer than other young women.
that ii seemed meet and proper. this
evident Partially for a man 7erflars
twenty years older than she
And so nobody was surprised when the
engagement was announced. or when Mis-
Whately quit her place in the store. or
when the quiet but eminently correct we'd.
ding took place, or when they went . bore
Housekeeping in a busincsslike thorourh-
going way in his splendid mansion in th-
Back Bay drive There was no dancing al
the reception or after Il. No wines were
served. and, take it all in all it was the
most perfectly ordered ifthe least excitine
wedding that had occurred within the rle,,
cry OF anyone present. The fact that No
children came to enliven their splendid
home only seemed to intensity the decor.
Gus devotion of this model couple. AL
though he was OBLIGED to make freguer;
and unexpected visits to New York. she
often accompanied him. but when tbev
were at home neither was ever seen arart
from the other. Every Sunday at exactly
the same hour they could he seen fault
lessly attired, slowly pacing their way t.
the morning service. They never missed
an afternoon drive through the parks ex-
cept when the weather was nasty: thej1
entertainments. always of an intellectual
sort, were the admiration and the envy o-
their acquaintances. They never co--Irlit-
ted the coarse mistake Of giving the
world any ocular demonstration of then
mutual affection, but everyone knew that
they never quarreled, and that life within
their home was the contamination of al
domestic peace, order and harmony
But one day il came to pass that Mr.