Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1903-05-22
An LILY JAMES head was full

snt WAS engaged III the unSentlinenld
occupation of washing dishes. The
contrast between what she was doing
and thinking struck her In some
what amusing light, and she couldn't
help laughing over 1t little. 1t did
seem absurd to be sentimental al
such a time. She felt as If the mood
she was in ought to invest her occupa.
ton with kind of poetical glamor
1t would have done so in stories; but
somehow 1t failed To do so In real
life. In her case, at any rate. and Mil
ly Jane began to have misglvings
about herself, because of 1t, the more
she thought about it. Perhaps there
isn't enough sentiment In her make
up; perhaps her Ideas about love
weren't what they ought to be. Any
way, she couldn't get rid of the idea
that dish-washing was destructive of
sentiment, or that sentiment wasn't
strong enough to invest the daily task
with a romantic halo.
Milly James semi sentimental
thoughts were about their boarder
who was a young artist from the city.
He had come to the country to make
studies Of pretty bits of scenery among
the Berkshire hills, from which to
work up pictures which he hoped
would bring him fame as well as
money, he told Milly Jane, in that
oh n ,tt,fr Iantial inl
straight to girls heart when it comes
from some one whom she considers her
social superior. She had an innate
love of the beautiful, he knew. He
could read 1t in her face. She could
tell him where to find material for the
sketches he was to make. He should
expect her to show him all the points
of interest about the neighborhood,
and help him with suggestions which
he knew she was able to make, not
withstanding she was as ignorant as
she professed to be about art in the
professional sense of the word. "a
person may be an artist at heart with
out knowing the first thing about
painting" he told her. And you are
one, | feel sure" he added, and he
said 1t in such genuine way that
Milly Jane couldn't help believing that
he meant 1t, and straightway began
to feel her ideas of the beautiful ex-
pand, and to wish she might live In a
more congenial atmosphere, by and by,
IL these Ideas kept on expanding.
Il never dreamed l had so much
sentiment in me until Max Fielding
discovered it, and told me about it."
Mily Jane said to herself, as she
washed the milkpans, and washed
them well, too. let me do her the credit
of saying. 1t wasn't her way to shirk
be a trife distasteful. She was too
honest and womanly to let sentiment
make her neglectful of her daily du-
ties, as many girls would be under
similar circumstances,
II used to think could be perfect
ly happy with John Clarke" Milly
Jane said to herself, as she scrubbed
the milkpan till it shone like silver.
"But now don't feel quite so sure of
It. Johns one Of the best fellows in
the world. He's too good for me, in
lots Of ways, but he hasn't that-that
well, | don't know what to call 1t,
but, anyway. he isn't like Max Field
ing. | don't think l could be happy
with him after knowing a man with
a soul of an artist end the mind of a
poet"
Milly Jane wasn't responsible for
this winding up OF her sentence. 1t
was quotation from Fielding.
Now, Milly Jane, notwithstanding
her recently discovered vein of senti-
ment, had vein Of practical common
sense in her which cropped OUT
every now and then, and the idea
came close on the heels of the one
Just recorded that perhaps John
Clarke's good sense and practical
ideas about matters and things might
"wear better" after all, and prove
more satisfactory In the long run, than
the more sentimental and poetic ones
of the artist. But | don't know as |
ought to think of things in that way"
said Milly Jane. There's such a
thing as being too matter-of-fact. One
may starve the mind and cripple the
soul in that way" This was another
quotation from Fielding.
Milly Jane heard whistle just
then, out In the road, and it brought
a fresh glow to her cheeks. 1t was
John Clarkes whistle, and there was
q blithe and CHEEKY ring In 1t that she
had always liked to listen TO. She
hadn't heard 1t very much since Field
ing came to board with them. The
fact was. she had almost, If not quite,
snubbed her old lover since the advent
of the artist, whom she was coming to
consider as new lover very rapidly.
She felt little disappointed because
John did not seem to take her conduct