Smyrna times., 1905-05-31
A Mood
By KEITH GORDON
Copyright, 1905. by T. C. Mcclure

ko&OR TOTOTOTOTON
aAnd no man can foretell what the
,u+ure has in store for him."
Nature herself, to judge from appear
,nces had the dumps. A despairing
skv looked gloomily down on a de-
,nondent earth through an atmosphere
.o damp and chilling as a wet blanket
With little shiver of discomfort at the
osnect of things, Katherine laid the |
hook face downward on her lap in the |
uay that one should not and, picking |
m the poker, gave the fire a thrust or
20 as rider spurs his horse to greater
effort
ugh! What a dayv' her thoughts
ran. "One would think Joy were dead.
Fire won't burn, sun won't shine, even
the sparrows huddle together lumpish-
" without energy enough to scrap"
She picked up the book again and re-
read the last sentence, "And no man
ran foretell what the future has in
store for him." This time she closed
the book and placed it on the table be-
side her. Decidedly she was in no
mood for reading, and with hands
clasped idly in her lap she sat staring
into the fire. But that last sentence
dogged her thoughts. The past, with it's
smiles and tears, was left behind. The
present seemed momentarily thing to
be endured as one might. But the fu-
ture!
At this point her eyes turned from
the crate and fixed themselves upon
the ring that she wore upon the third
finger of her left hand. 1t was beau
tiful ring-a pink pearl that reminded
one of tender dawns fianked by two
diamonds-her engagement ring, Ordi-
narily she could not look at it without
a kindling of the heart, a thrill Of
warmth and happiness. Today she eyed
it with languid, restless interest
That, then, represented her future.
II was as fixed and irrevocable as the
mast itself. How we'll she knew what
it would be like. Had she not seen
dozens of her friends marry, bubble
blissfully for a brief year or so and
then subside into the stale beer of do
nestle existence? If she had ever
thought that with Jack and her it
would be different the illusion had van
ished in the bleak light of this all re-
vealing day, which brought out every
sordid detail of existence with bitter
emphasis.
Different? OF course they would not
be different. There would be the brief
dazzling happiness of the honeymoon
the glamour of new possessions, and
both end
denly tire of the play and see each 9th
er for the first time plainly. JACK
would squint his eyes critically ant
discover that she was not the mos
beautiful woman IN the world after al
Though, of course, he would be to-
we'll bred to say anything. He woulC
simply be q trife bored at the let-dowl
and plunge into business to forget, kiss
ing her absently in the morning AM
evening as q mere form-a matter o
habit.
And she? Well, she would rub he
eyes about the same time and see t
her amazement that he was just
plain, ordinary, average man, withoU
a single godlike attribute and with
painful and unmistakable tendency
grow bald and stout But she, to-
would be politely reticent and hold
her face for that perfunctory kiss an
try to forget 1t all in a feverish el
thusiasm over house and gowns. An
they would grow more and more
lent toward each other, conversin
mostly in monosyllables Never wou
they duarrel-her lips closed a trit
more firmly at the mere thought-b'
each would withdraw farther and ia
ther into his own little world, and th'
would communicate with each 9th
through small wickets, as the tick
sellers at the theaters do with the pu
lie.
The details of this gloomy pictu
were as clearly visible to her mind
though she saw them with her ey'
and she laughed ruefully. Was IL
sort of thing necessary? How did S
know that Jack was the man? Mig
not the real person still be imbedd
in the future like fly in amber?
At the thought she caught her bres
and, leaning forward, dropped her IL
upon her hands and gazed into the
with a new intensity. 1t was I
mendous thought, but what guaran
had she that ne was her Ideal!
seemed so, perhaps, merely because
approached it more nearly than O
man she had yet met, but no one CO.
tell what the future had In store
him. There was the rub.
She proceeded to develop the thou
with applications Enthusiastically re
nine. Like an index finger her m
pointed backward to the day when
sleeves had seemed the most entra
ingiy becoming things woman CO
wear. Then inexorably 1t pointed ag
this time to the sleeves she was I
wearing, tight above the elbow,
with great pouches sagging below
these were now chic, and the on
impossible. The poor old fashions