The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-02-25
The EVENING STORY
The Real Article.
LBy Louise olney. j

hai FnilupS hung to- his strap in the
fates he was stationed. where he could
study her back hair and the soft curve
OF her cheek. It was now March and
all winter he had been watching the
girl with a persistence hitherto ali I'M
rewarded. She had not even seemed
TO see him. He reflected discontented- |
~ that she might safely glance at him /
some day. but she never .had4-so far as \
nc could tell So he continued to see I
ner every morning, to wonder who she
was, and to think how lonely he was }
there in the midwest trying to make |
good in the law.
This girl. he said to himself. was the |
real article. and he had a captious |
taste. Her soft brown hair, coiffed de- |
mureiy with we1-bred ignoring Of sRe |
hamboyant fashion. was lnanifestly all |
her own; her dainty color came and
Went; her 1.-the figure swayed softly as
she walked. and her manner was per- ,
feet. In three months he had been
unable to decide what she did-she
would not classify. She could not be
stenographer. nor n clerk; surely not
a professional wcAlan-she was too
young. too sheltered looking. She left
the car some blocks before he did, so
he could not see where she went.
This morning as they -neared her
usual stopping place he looked up from
| his contemplation Of her profile to meet
| the grin of Smith. who was hanging to
a strap a bit farther on. Phillips nod
| ded and frowned-Smith was such an
Cbservant wretch. He hoped he had
not seen his interest in the girl. Just
| then the car stopped with jerk. and
| Phillips. off his guard. swayed just in
| time to strike the girls shoulder as
| she rose, and to loosen by the shock
her hold on her immense handbag.
| Furious at his awkwardness, he re-
| stored the bag, apologized as best he
! could in the three smiling seconds she
gave him, and touched his hat as she
| got off. Then he watched Smith, who
| had an Office in the same building with
| his. The idiot was still grinning-he
/ would ignore the grin.
Getting off at their corner, the young
men started for the building and en-
| tered the elevator in silence, but Phil
| lips, meeting his own stern blue eye in
| the mirror, frowned at himself in dis
| gust. He had seen Smith lift his hat to
| the girl, and was wondering why he,
Phillips, was such confoundedly self
conscious donkey that he could not
carelessly ask who she was, as another
man would have done. Why not2 But
| he couldnt-she had. somehow, become
too personal to him to allow any ques-
fore, he mentioned the weather to
Smith, who rose to the occasion and
predicted a storm. Then they parted.
Once in his office, Henry Phillips read
his mail-advertisements offering sets
of law books on the inStallnent plan !:
propositions for connections with not
too reputable firms in greater cities; his
mothers loving, anxious letter. with its
accustomed questions about his health,
his clothing and lodging. his friends, his
success. Then finally, letter from
Linda, his lifelong neighbor and friend.
Nice girl, Linda, he reflected, as he fin
ished the balanced. cheerful. epistle
with its unfeigned interest in his do
ings. For the first time he wondered
why on earth he and Linda had never
come to care for each other. Come to
think of it, there was no girl quite like
Linda! He decided that when he went
home in the summer he would see a
| great. deal Of her, and he remembered
that her hair was much like that of the
| girl in the car. Who was the girl, any
way
| He took the code and began working
on the case he was soon to try, but his
thought was confused. Why had he
not met her? He had met many good
people in the four months he had been
in Blairton, which was not big enough
to preclude the possibility of his meet
ing most Of the desirable folk therein.
He had come we'll armed with intro
auctions. He knew himself to be well
bred, We'll looking. But the only girl
he wanted to know, never came in his
way, and never even seemed to see him.
Manifestly, he could not follow her to
wherever she worked-but he did not
believe she worked. And he could not
ask her. Once he had seen her at the
theater in box with Mrs. Weston and
i a fine looking man, a stranger, and
much her elder. He had seen her no.
| where else-except ON the car.
With a wrench, he brought his
thoughts back to the law with such
success that he forgot his lunch and
went out for a sandwich an hour past
his usual time. And by chance, he
perched upon a stool in the lunch room
rext to Smith. who welcomed him jo-
| vially.
|
Phillips. help me out! I'm hidden by
; my cousin. Mrs Best, you know, to go
out into the hedges and byways and
find presentable man to bring to din
rser-Solle one failed her at the elev-
enth hour. You're neither MANNED nor
halt-though I won't say you're not
blind, the way you knock against peo-
pie in-cars, Cor instance He grinned
naliciously as he continued. But
you'll 10. I've intended for long time
past to ask you to call there with me,
but haven't got round to it, Will you
go tonight
Phillips accepted. courteously. but not
too eagerly. He felt cross and unfit for
society-a sure sign that he needed to
mix more with his fellows. Smith went
on talking.
you're to take out Constance Nor
ton, TOO, lucky dogi Guess you've not
heen introduced to her." He gave Phil
lips a sly look. ''She came here from
New Hampshire-not so far from our
sacred Boston. You ought to know her.
She's not been cut much because she's
Il busy with the Fairlie family portraits
has her studio in wellington. Great
stuff, to be successful artist at rarely
;, 20! Well. you'll see for yourself I'll
call for you about 6. So long!'
At $50, groomed within an inch of
his life, glad to get away from him
self and to be civilized for an evening,
and hoping to get the girl out of his
mind, Mr.. Henry Phillips entered the
URIC fho% Gvr1if
did not grin so much. but others seem
ed not to mind. Mrs. Best was hospi-
tally itself. and her three pretty daugh-
tiers welcomed him with interest. But
all this was nothing, for after mo-
ment his hostess led him to a group
j near the firenlace. and his head began