The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-03-28
THE EVENING STORY
Their Little House.
INV Temple RafleyO

10y 4emQl0 6dIlcysJ
Lucille came slowly down the long
walk. Her heart was full of bitterness
Why did some people have all the
good fortune? Behind her was the
great mansion where Marguerite lived
with her rich husband. Marguerite
and Lucille had gone to school together,
and after their school days they had
danced their way through life until
the time when Marguerite met the
man who had built the big house.
Marguerita's husband was the one
rich man in the village. 1t had been
a real love match, however, Tor the
big man adored his little wife, ano
Marguerite thought there was no one
in the world es perfect as her success
full husband.
Lucille had not envied her friend,
for she had lover Of her own. q bet
ter man, perhaps, If not as rich as
the one who had chosen Marguerite.
Today. however. Lucille had come
away from Marguerita's home with a
with it's exquisite furnishing, its serv-
ants, its air of luxury. had made her
feel the contrast of her own future.
Lucille was TO live in a little house.
ned the cottage residence with much
"We'Il make up for all the littleness
and lack of luxury" he said, "by the
amount of love that we will have for
each other
Lucille reflected that in Marguerita's
home there was also love, and she
longed intensely for the pretty clothes,
the ease, the softness of her friends
existence.
At this moment of her greatest re-
bellion she met the nan she was to
marry. Philip" she said. as he join
ed her, 'I have been up to Mar
gueritas. She has the loveliest home
her HUSBAND gives her everything"
He laughed. mo home could be
lovelier than our little house." he said.
To- not CO
sure" she told him, "that love in a
Philip
He turned and stared at her. HAS
your visit to Marguerite" he asked,
made you think that?"
She shook her head. "I don't know,
only 1T does not seem quite fair that
Marguerite should have so much, does
it, Philip"
"she hasn't anv more than you
have" he said stoutly. Both of you
have love. and beauty and home;
that your home is to be smaller and
less luxurious ought not to weigh
greatly. Lucille"
His tone was so confident that 1t
grated on her. Did he value her so
little that he could see her beauty
buried in his small house. while Mar
guerita's was to shine like a jewel in
its gorgeous Getting?
She turned to her lover, her eyes
flashing 81 don't think want to live
in the little house. Philip" she said
She did not really mean it; it was
only a mood of the mind, but his con-
fdeDt bearing, his masculine denseness
irritated her.
He started at her unbelievingly.
Surely you don't mean that, Lucille,
he said. "Surely you don't mean that
you have let me build and dream only
to have that dream unfulfilled?'
They had come to the gate that OPP
ened the way to the little house II
,lxx1,x hot there
on afternoons together to see what had
been done. Every stone that had been
laid, every room that had been hnlshed
every bit of furniture that had been
bought had been the result of their
careful planning. Today they entered
ii in silence. Lucile's glance Seeemd to
take it in critically. She wondered how
she could have been so enthusiastic.
The simple prints on the walls, the in
expensive furniture in the living room,
the muslin hangings. all looked so
cheap after the magnihcence OF Mar
guerita's home.
She turned to him and flung out her
hands. ST just can't live here, Philip"
she said despairingly.
At first he would not believe her.
She was so knit into his life that he
refused to think of a future without
her But. with wild feeling that she
was tied to poverty if she married him
she demanded her freedom and, after
he had used every argument in the long
walk nome. at last ne gave IL Win "a
look of pain that hurt her, and kept
her awake in the watches of the night
Indeed she got no sleep. She Won
dered what evil spirit possessed her
that she should thus sell her birth
She rose and paced the floor, and
at last she sank down by the window,
looking out in the starlight night.
But there was something more than
the stars that lighted the night. On
the hill that stood between her own
home and that of Marguerita's there
was dull glow.
Lucille watched 1t in fascinated Won
der. Something was burning barn,
perhaps. She wondered whose barn
it could be. In the distance she
heard the bells that would bring out
the only fire engine in the town. Phil
in was a member of the hre brigade.
She knew just how strong and active
he would be in trying to save the
property of their neighbors. People
began to hurry by the house, ana
scraps of their talk floated up to her
through the open window.
1'It's Philip Arnold's cottage" some
one said, and Lucile's hand went to
her heart It was their cottage-hers
and Philip's-that was burning the
home that was to have been hers, that
she had planned from the beginning.
She flung on her clothes, soDDlng q
little under her breath. 1t seemed
to her that if that cottage burned all
| n her happiness would burn with 1t.
She ran out into the street and fol-
| lowed the crowd. The people who
saw her whispered among themselves.
sSha was to marry him and live in
the cottage At last she came to the
gate through which she had passed
that day with Philip. There was a
dense crowd i nthe yard. trampling
tba tender grass, crushing the life
ont of the crocuses and tulips that
she and Philip had planted in the
garden beds. For moment sne smut