Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1909-01-15
Short Stories For Evening Hours
LONGING OF MISS PAULINE

AS usual, Miss Pauline coughed dis
tressingly. And then she smiled, be-
cause beautiful thought that was
like a dream with white wings passed
through her busy brain. Somehow
she felt as If that great thing which
she had longed for and prayed over
for years was on the verge of becom-
ing true. She could hear the rustic
of Hopes garments. hour by hour,
and down In the noise-ridden city,
where men fight and plunge and sell
their souls for bread, she heard the
sound, too-always the rustic of
Promise.
That longing of Miss Pauline was
a secret which she had entrusted on
ly to Il few. II had come to her
shortly after the serious accident and
subsequent fever which laid her low
in the springtime of her life and its
happiness. And all through the
strange years that had followed she
chung to the longing with the hope
that 1t must be fulfilled II she were
patient and good enough.
At first when she came out of the
haze of that numblng illness the
world seemed a strange. unreal place
it was like living among shadows.
But in time she grew used to II. and
forgot the meaning Of her friends
saddened looks and fearful shakings
of the head. She was satished--sat-
isfied with shadows.
Then the great longing came to
dog her steps, and Love, which had
once looked in on her, fed. Miss
Pauline seemed to need but one thing
and Love, who was young and ignor-
ant. and who would not be second In
anybody's heart, forsook her.
After all the great longing was a
foolish one-the only sort that could
have bothered a little body like Miss
Pauline. She merely wanted to be
tall. You see, she was only four
something, and she wanted to be FIVE.
wanted It so that the
yearning became a tragedy. The fe-
yer had left her with this greatest OF
all foolish ambitions.
To be sure there was no hope for
her---none at all. She was poor and
little and old. Besides she had been
taught that no one by taking
thought could add one cubic to his
stature. She knew that II was wick
ed for her to long for something that
could never be-so wicked, wicked
yet she seemed to lie driven on In
that way like drifting. rudderless
boat in u high wind.
Always when she had thought Il
out to the wicked" stage she paused
to say bit of a prayer-until the
prayer became n daily habit.
Good and Merciful," the suppl
cation ran unvaryingly, 81 want just
the one thing II Thou wilt give it
the one grace. | ask not. and seel
not beauty of face nor of figure
but, oh, Thou Good and Merciful.
| would be tall--a little taller. Yet
not my will-not my will-but Thy
will be done. Amen--and for Jesus
sake. But II Thou woudst, Great ant
Good-Good and Merciful-"
A good many years OF praying hat
made no difference. Each night tn,
yardstick on the door casing marked
the same old four-something ant
lately It had seemed to take the leas
bit of tiptoeing to fetch the figure
with n sigh Miss Pauline would hav,
to turn away to her bed and continu,
her applications all unsatisfed
And now the prim freshness of thu
gentle face faded, leaving only goo,
brown eyes that looked out uncer
tainly through the encroaching shad
ows.
There came n day, however, wheI
Miss Pauline awoke to great happi
ness. She had left her noisy thor
oughfares behind upon the moment
Gus occasion of her monthly shopping
visit into the heart of the city, an,
| "ohhNii hb upoh ihc ltoo-tiuNtIt'
streets came upon Il crowd of peopl
gathered about a wagon. In the vel
low-wheeled vehicle stood a man VIII,
promised the most lovely and impos
sible things to all who would pay 70
them.
Ladies and gentmen," he an
nounced, II have here the most pow
erful remedial agent known sine
the days of Esculapius. the father q
medicine. One dose, ladies and gent
men, will open up new vista; on
bottle will create new life: on
dozen bottles will make n poor ma
rich and a short man tall"
Miss Pauline heard nothing say
the last sentence as the crowd sweT
her on. But that one sentence wa
enough to set her wild with joy. Pee
pie could be made to grow taller!
Back she fought her way to tn
wagon and reached her hand up
attract attention. When she ha
stated her question the crowd gay
back and laughed good-humoredl
With his shining smile the fine gel
tleman in the wagon leaned on