The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-12-14
The EVENING STORY
At the Sign of the Blue Teapot.
(By Jane Osborn, !

10y Jane OSBORNE
seats ahead." called the brakeman
as the Philadelphia express was draw
.ng out of the New York terminal and
| Ransom Pratt made his wav nast the
projecting bundles of his Christmas
ahead 'ne ga
The waving feather on Lucy,s small
LICK nat, bobbing to keep time to her
energetic tongue, struck Ransom for
/ an instant as something uncanny, for
he had been thinking o. her only
moment before.
DIS old schoolboy familiarity as he
>eized her outstretc1led hand
Lucy, with the ill-concealed embar-
lbs, ansH 1e at the meeting, introduced
1im 70 her amt, Miss Citing.
I'VE were, this very minute. sneak
| ING or you," she exclaimed, as she
crowded past Lucy into the aisle.
mere Is room ahead" she explained,
with Lucy. s.
Lucy looked entreatingly at her
aunt with look in her eyes that made
Ransom uncomfortable Please don't
CO." she said, but it was too late. Ran
place.
IT'S a treat seeing you in this part
CT the country he said, beamfng
With old time enthusiasm. "And the
innny part of it is that I was just going
J 10 write to you"
iou re Always Just going to do
hlngs, RANSOM interrupted Lucy.
We'll. I truly was this time, and I'll
teu you why. have a few days off
al 1ha christmas. and thought I'd spend
Why didn't you tell me sooner 90
lucy asked with shade of disappoint-
nent, before had made other plans"
| thought you'd like it better if it
anne s surprise" said Ransom sim
Fly But it's all the better now. be-
cause won't have to waste time 90
! irg West to you, and we can spend it
togetner here" he added with the air
Oh Oh, having settled question. Tell me
what brought you East and all about
everything you've been DOING
II am here with my aunt" explained
, ucy, put we aren't going to be here
eng; that is, not very long" Lucy
stopped abruptly
But come" Ransom urged her. "I
nave told you why 1 was thinking of
you, now it's your turn to tell me why
/ you We're talking about me-
| Il suppose it was because we were
rear Philadelphia and we knew that
you were living there. You are still
there, aren't your" she asked with
| sudden eagerness.
ITO be sure he answered, "iust
cen in New York on business. You
WI surely stop off with me, you and
your aunt. You weren't going through
without letting me know?'
Lucy shook her head in the mega
Lets have your address. Perhaps
can persuade you if I write'
Lucy opened her handbag and took
caned over the seat ahead. Aunt
] ouise,'' she said, twill YOU give me a
card, please" And while her aunt was
prooucing It she had a whispered con-
You understand, don't you? Thank
you SO much," Ransom heard her say.
Sne TOOK the card and, crossing off the
miss Louise Elting,'' wrote Miss l.
Preston" Then she hesitated a sec
ohd and gave her address in Chicago,
IN care of another aunt. "My mail will
D. forwarded from there,
further argument being useless
Ransom gave himself up to such, i'm
personal conversation as happened TO
come into his head, and when he left
Inc two at Philadelphia. he thought
Re saw a look of regret come into
1ucy's eyes, and then, just for a mo-
| trent, something seemed to Iinger on
her lips. trying to be said. "Good-
by" he said, 'I'll write soon.''
FOR the next two days Ransom was
in a state of great perplexity "Per-
maps I've offended her." he Thought.
a: he recalled how often during the
last year in the East her letters had
gone unanswered for weeks aBut
surely" he added. ''she knows how I
dislike letter writing. Anyway" he
concluded, "if she is offended she
cares little, and if she cares little
SIle might care more
| With this optimistic conclusion
| Ransom sat down to one of the hardest
| tasks he had ever undertaken. Writing
| vas burden at best and any conven-
onal expression of devotion that he
| could think of seemed to him exceed
.ngly cheap. At last, by dint of much
self-control, he wrote a letter SO frank
ana open in its declaration that even
| .Ee doubling Lucy would have to be
| convinced of his sincerity.
l. The letter written Ransom, cor,oI,f
tne little card that Lucy had given
hlm, Tor the necessary address. FtShe
ought to get this in three or four
ago, and if she wires me I can be
With her on Christmas, after all'' AS
Ransom made these observations, he
fumbled the card in contemplation.
| "HeHo!" he said aloud as his eyes
caught the reverse side of the card
1t looks as if Lucy's aunt had given
away memorandum" He read the
notes on the back, written in a deli
cate feminine hand. .aThe Sign of
the Blue Teapot, 1879 HemIock street.
| I luncheon 11-2. Tea 3-6. Fancy arti-
rles. Homemade delicacies. Special
list of Christmas pies and puddings''
During the next four days Ransom
| was in a mood of expectancy and per-
feet confidence as to the outcome of
his proposal; but when Christmas eve
arrived with no telegram he began to
| nave misgivings. Suddenly it dawned
upon him that he would have to spend
christmas alone; and then with a dis
| met impression as to what sort of
Christmas dinner the French cook at
the club would probably produce, he
recalled the notes on the back of Miss
Fittings card.
"I'll get some homemade things and
have them sent over" he thought as
| ne walked toward the new tearoom in
Hemlock street late that afternoon.
Ransom never had been in a tea
room before, and he felt singularly out
| nf place in the Sign of the Blue Tea
pot. The feminine, would-be japanese
atmosphere of the place. the hanging
aper Wistarial. the slight bamboo
chairs and tables, the cheap japanese
Prints and pottery and the inappro-