The Ekalaka eagle. [volume] (Ekalaka, Mont.) 1909-1920, 1909-04-23
THE BROKEN
VASE
~ ENlNCOTT.


view cf life and had a reSCuing II
OF bnnlcr. When she left Mt. Hope.
Arkansas. 10 take the place Of Latin
tearhsr in One Of the questionable
New York schools everybody had
shought her a lucky girl. She bore
tie fatal reputation Of being clever
and artistic-that is to say. she had
the ability to appreciate things that
IN the natural curse of events h
would never have the opportunity to
enjoy. Wherever she went she Gre
atsd that sympathetic atmosphere en-
.E1snrasing to the peoples vanity. which
aided her even in crudely sociable Mt.
Hope.
She had always lived with her aunt
and cousins, and she sent the nasal
voiced old lady. whom she tenderly
loved, a monthly remittance from her
,EayEings.
Ever since she could remember. with
he exception of a single year. she had
sesI the d%eadening life of Mt. Hope.
When she was a flower of a girl, is or
%~hsIeabOuts, she spent a year in New
York and abroad as companion to an
old aristocrat. who realized the girls
inhoyn sentility, and loved her.
Her mother had been a Boston wom-
IN, her father a rich mine owner who
sosr his fortune at a single venture
and in~considerately died before he had
l chance to retrieve it. The mother
lid no survive long. and Leila, then
4 baby of five, was left destitute. A
saHor relative, her fathers aunt, adopt
ii The orphan, and devoted herself to
ina child.
When Leila returned from Europe
She Brought back with her a gold cross
kat she always wore, a tender letter
81 50. and the memory of a few bliss.
fal hours when her hand had rested in
ais. There was even a rapture, albeit
oToken-hearted, that the finely bred
New Yorker had cared for her in a
s'sEli2ent, summer fashion, and in I'm.
@Darded moments had said impetuous
Kings.
She mad been thankful since her
stay in New York that she had never
cnanced upon her former lover. She
moderately happy in her work,
Mgr sense Of fulfilled duty, and her ia
1EEe talent for absorbing what was
in character and comforting in
EEszure and circumstance. She finished
zach day with the same thanksgiving
1cr the happiness of the past, and the
same prayer for the man, alive or
One day, one dark afternoon, when
she was at the LenoX library taking
fsogss for her class, she saw him. He
Slightly older looking. the chin
sarer, the bearing more DISTINGUISHED
sfzan formerly, but the sensitive lips
uere unchanged, He had the unmis.
5AEable pOise of a man secure alike of
his grandfather and his investments.
FKo unrivaled means of confidence
she had not heard of the man since
his marriage, when she sent his fancee
4 orooch, a crown of pearls, as a wed.
gift. HEAVIER knows what months
i.ss2 had worked on articles for the
-NG- Hope Courier to pay the jeweler.
The faded neckties she had worn
the hats retrimmed three seasons
WITH the same dismal perpetual VIC
4sLs: She had written a short note
accompanying her present:
VIII Miss Van Dyck accept a sou.
senir, a very small souvenir, from me-
I have the pleasure of knowing Mr..
and wish to offer some gift
-@ show how pleasantly | recall his
etc.,"-a thoroughly no]ite
Nate expressed with impersonal for
sNiality, as If pearl crowns were an
occurrence; as if she were
aor writing with her hearts blood.
n man was rather surprised, and
sent il to Helen Van Dyck, his fiancee,
-sne wore it several times and later
4Sa gave it to her French maid-Hen.
RITA did her hair SO cleverly, and
=ha had a fable" for pearls.
Markham strolled into the library as
Asihs was leaving. She attempted to
Walk away unobserved, but his eyes
a1ssened on her Questioningly, then
I.i9esred with recognition.
On! he had recognized her, was com.
toward her! His step, which she
had not heard for II years, seemed to
tread on her heart. She stopped, try
sssg to assume a genial air-if possible.
nc make him forget that her hair was
her skin colorless, her face
chin. She thanked God for the dim
ZigIit in the hall.
This Is indeed Fortunate" said his
voice, with well-bred interest.
wont you tell me the pleasant things
you have been doing since We last saw
each other?"
She wished to evince a quiet pleas.
.axa at seeing him amin and chn unc