The Topeka state journal., 1908-05-19
THE EVENING STORY
Nannie's Lesson.
(By Carl williams.l

SoS N1EA VAAtaHtS.y
I.aauVh,art WSn,t ,y you do what's right by my
Mamie shivered at the pathos of the |
plea, and turned to look at the speak |
q. II was odd that he should pick out |
tne platform of the eleyated station |
some chance meeting, and the only |
opportunity the old man had:
ne was happy girl until she met
you, the old man continued. There |
was no better or happier girl in the |
Wnoie city, and now
The voice broke through excess Of |
emotion. and Mamie turned to see |
VINO the man might be. He was
pore the stamp of prosperity. He was
| no trembling, decrepit old man. but
| m1od1e aged and well to do. Still there |
was no mistaking the sincerity of his
| to the young man.
With a little shudderin- sob. she
turned and hurried aboard the train
| which had just pulled in.
| 1t was not the train she wanted, but
she felt she must get away from the
place, for the man to whom the elder
was making his appeal was Jack Lau-
rance, her Jack. He listened to the
other man. largely because Of the re-
straining hand upon his arm. He
could not get ave- and his handsome
face plainly showed the annoyance he
felt, but there was no suggestion of
1
ME shuddered again and twisted the
love, -.:-
With a gesture of despair, she ffnal-
ly drew the ring from her finger and
slipped It into her purse. It had been
the pledge of his love, and he had
proved recreant to an earlier promise.
somewhere a woman mourned her
broken heart and his broken
promises.
At the next station Mamie changed
to train in the opposite direttion,
She had been hurrying downtown to
meet Jack for a matinee with him.
They were to have met at down
town station, because he could not get
away from the office In time to call
for her. What he was doing in the
uptown district, she did not know, and
now she told herself that she did not
care.
Bravely she held out until she
reach ed the house. then she hurried
the bed to food the pillow with her
tears.
4 Less than year had passed since
Jack Laurance had come into her life.
but it had been the most important
lyear of her girlhood.
4 Almost from the first she had been
! attracted to him by his manliness and
the honesty of the deep, brown eyes.
She had been pleased with his atten-
ttons, and when he told his love and
asked her to become his wife 1t SEEM
ed as If her cup Of Joy was filled to
overflowing. She had often felt a
lsuperstitious dread that something
might happen. and now that fear had
been realized.
Several times the telephone bell
rang, but Mamie felt that she could
not speak to Laurance even over the
wire, and the last time she sent a
message to the effect that she would
: write to him.
Before she could finish her letter
| hoI - f. -
apologized for not keeping his ap-
, pointment on time and explaining that
he had run uptown on business. and
J had been delayed by. an unexpected
: whom he had been unable to escape.
} The letter was the last thing need
ed to confirm Mamie in her resolution.
By his own admission Jack had been
. uptown. He might intend to explain
| away his detention by an old friend
!. but Mamie knew what that encounter
had meant, so it was a brief and for
| NAL note that accompanied the ring
, back to the giver.
Jack did not yield easily, but Nan.
/ ME would not read the letters h<
) wrote. imploring her to explain JUS
{ what the trouble had been. He told
her he could not believe that the en-.
gagement was broken because he ha6
been late in keeping an appointment
and he begged her to give him an op.
portunity to explain.
To Mamie the letters mere mean,
r that he feared the old man had soueh,
= her and revealed Laurance's perfidy
!, Doubtless he wished to ascertain Il
/ this was the fact, that he might Offer
some explanation. Perhaps he ever
|, thought that he might be able 70 wir
, her over, bnt no one could have list
. ened to the old mans plea and accept
any explanation from the wrongdoer
, For nearly two months Jack persist
ed in his endeavor to set thing!
y MI
nervous under the strain. Even he,
: father, absorbed in business affairs
saw her distress and in his clumsy way
! sought to help her.
His help took the form of theatel
tickets, and several times she met hin
: downtown on Saturday afternoons anG
! went to matinee with him. One af-
ternoon he regarded her with eyes
1 that twinkled.
Were going to be real frivolous this
afternoon" he declared. II got seats
7 for the variety show. There's a char
on the bill met the other day. He
is something of bore when he wants
: to talk about hdmseh-which is most
OF the time-but otherwise he's a good
sort, and I'd like to see what he does y
Mamie nodded. Her father had Of
ten sacrificed his own inclinations te
take her to serious plays, which She
= liked best. 1t was only fair that he
: should have his afternoon Of vaude-
T vile. Once ensconced in the comfor-
table chairs she found the entertain
ment rather diverting.
The chief attraction was a playlet Of
= fered by Hugh Vassingford, who had
achieved a reputation on the dramatic
! stage, which he was now selling to ad-
: vantage in vaudeville.
: Mamie started at his entrance AL
: lowing for the changed appearance in
{ makeup. it was the man Of the eleva-
: ted platform. The voice. the manner
isms were all the same. and presently
the story of the sketch developed the
tale of a deserted daughter, and, in
the same words that had been scared
{ into Nannie's brain. the old man made
: his plea, but this time to a paid actor
, and not to Laurance.