Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1904-03-25
THE ENCHANT-
ED CALENDAR

/ bracket above Addison Winkiehorst1
desk was q beautiful woman with
Little calendar in one corner OF thl
card. It is what might be called
haunting face that beamed down upoi
Mr. Winklehorst as he sat there look
Ing over his mail He could not, fo
some reason. keep from glancing NJ
every little while and drawing a deel
sigh.
] Presently he noticed that the iadl
Of the calendar was bending forward
toward him and assuming ilfelike pro
portions. One Of her dainty feet pro
truded over the edge Of the card ane
q faint, delicious perfume emanatet
from her rich attire. Just how sh,
got down to the door he did not know
but he suddenly found that she wal
sitting beside him and looking gladl,
into his eyes.
4 can never hope to show you how
/ grateful / am" she said in soft. en-
chanting tones, FOR releasing me"
For releasing youT he asked
How did release your"
why" she answered with wondsr
In her deep splendid eyes don't yor
know2 / was under spell | had
foolishly sold myself to a great soap
maker You see these fine clothes
am wearing? They got me into al
my trouble"
Tell me about IT," he urged.
She drew a long, deep sigh and
said:
Il was only a poor girl. working as
stenographer in his office. Every
year he got up a splendid calendar as
an advertisement He hired great
artists to paint pictures Of beautiful
women, and used to think | would
be so happy If one of them would
paint me, richly dressed, so that nv
picture would be hung up in thou
sands Of places for men to admire.
cone day as fingered before a win.
dow looking in and thinking how hap
py the women must be who could
wear such things as l saw there, the
rich soap man came along and point
Ing to one Of the finest costumes, ask
ed me how / would like to have It.
How my heart leaped at his wordsl
told him | would be the happiest girl
In the world If that dress could be
mine.
You shall have IT,, he said. q
viii buy 1t for you-on one condition
II you viii consent to be painted in
1t and let me use your picture for a
calendar the dress shall be yours.
"Imagine how joyful l was. The
dress was bought for me and posed
in 1t for the artist. am sure l was
the happiest girl in the world. and
the proudest But one day as the fin.
ishing touches were being given to
the picture, | noticed that the artist
had turned into a horrible old woman.
with a wrinkled face, with one long
yellow, fang-like tooth, and with
hands that looked like claws. was
filed with fear and tried to run away,
but couldn't couldn't make a
noise when / tried to call for help. |
was pressed backward against some.
thing and then l found that | was
the picture for the soap calendar
"The horrible old woman grinned
at me and said
You see what love for fine clothes
has brought you to. You were willing
to give your soul for that dress-you
know it. SO you deserve just as much
punishment as If you had really done
what you were willing to do for the
sake Of being dressed in inery. You
will be nothing more than a picture
on calendar after this, unless some
man some time falls in love with you
just as he would with a living per-
son. When that happens you VIII be
released from your enchantment.'
For some reason Mr.. Winklehorst's
heart sank. He didn't like TO have
her sitting there talking that way to
him. It may have been because a
man isn't likely to be in love very
long with the girl who is too easily
won. And then there was that dis.
agreeable thought OF the soap caleu.
dar. He could easily imagine what
his friends would say when they
found out about it. He would be a
publlc lduBhluS STOCK.
As IL she had read his thoughts. the
girl began to shrink away from him.
This caused Mr.. Winklehorsts love
for her to reassert itself. He forgot
everything but her wonderful beauty
and the splendor Of her figure. The
delicate perfume from her rich gar.
ments seemed to intoxicate him, and
he was determined to possess her.
Don't leave me- he begged. I'm
glad 1t fell to me to release you from
the spell you were under. Stay with
me. ! love yod. You are mine. I
will not let you 60"
NO" she sadly replied, you had
doubts You are not the right man
after all. I must go back to the soap
calendar again"
He tried to reach out and catch her
but there was a rustling Of skirts
and Miss Darlington, the pretty steno-
grapher touched him slightly upon the
arm, which he had flung out, saying.
az he sat up with a sudden jerk:
III you are ready now, Mr.. Winkle.
horst I-will take the notes for that
letter to Peabody, Binks & Co.'S.
e. Kiser, In Chicago Record Her.