Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-27

legs stretched De1ore IIiiI, ms "0
rest AGAINST the chair. his hands Ioiueu
over his stomach. his eyes tight cioseo'
his mouth wide open, his hps mo'ihs'
and every once in a while MS tongue
quickly tapping his upper lip. Jahhy
looked away and out of the WINDOWS u
the meadows that rolled UP into the mis-,
like big gray waves; this was the ac' Vi
composition, she knew, and too sacrei
even for her, his humber half. TO pehoiu'
But the misty uplands suggested over
much of that unnamable something. winch
when she looked at her nuspano maoe
her wish to shut her eyes, Tor might sue
not. fanny reasoned. see more than she
ought to see of the divine spiri, 'ha'
moved behind those hills and behind the
lips Of Ariel Jenkins. so her thoushl
slipped back into the living room of Ty
Mawr while her eyes avoided the inspired
contents of the armchair. She had been
a bride and the envied mistress of ~
NIawr Just two weeks: however she was
thirty and matrimony was late for her,
and Ariel Jenkins being forty-five it was
none too early for him. fanny felt her
responsibilities keenIy. Was she living
mn Tn them She was at the mercantile
center OF the village, her better half was
not only a merchant, but also crowned
poet, her house the most important IN
Glaslyn. And Glaslyn expected changes;
Mrs Parry Wynn. the baker. said so.
Mrs Conner Roberts, the tnman, had
prophesed and Mrs. Jeezer Morris. the
minister. had whispered to BeNo Grifiths,
who had told fanny of these expectations.
that she supposed--nay, she hoped-Arlei
jenkins home with woman in 1t WOULD
soon look like God-fearing place ana
receive some improvements. fanny S
glance roved through the sitting room.
I@ IONS. hut nr1la
how i'm the half light of dusk they seemed
rs nothing. What was the moving or re-
plenishing of taper-holder. fresh case
for ArierS, harp a new cover FOR the tapie
or the addition of few pieasa nt-taceo
China cats to a regimental mantelpiece-
indeed, she sadly asked herself what were
these changes i'm comparison with the
unappointed something she was expected
10 accomplish as Mrs. Ariel Jenkins, the
shop? She was a stranger in Glaslyn. an
Instruder from a great outside world. ana
now she felt bewildered. lonely. Her eyes
lifted 20 Ariei's face for comfort
"Dearie.
There was no answer.
is IL comm. Ariel dear?
Aye. he snapped.
fanny WINGED: she had never lived With
genius. and somehow she thought 1t would
be different. Her deep-blue eyes had
still look in them that suggested not
only - long habit of self-repression. but
also perplcxity. and sadness. too; there
was appeal in every feature of her
face--an appeal made the more pathetlc.
perhaps by the childlike lines of pale
gold curling hair about her forehead and
tired eyes. and the delicate hclioWS De
meath her cheek bones and the fragile
sweetness of her mouth. 1t was lace
in its soft bloom and delicacy forever
young and yet Unfofgettably weary. she
Strengthened out her kirtle and again
her glance roved the room. There must
be clean hearth brush. new muslin cur
Saf1 for ha
landing where it turned by the front
windows, looked even i'm the twilight
shabby with the wear and tear CT heaNliy
booted feet and clogs. the light from the
orieI window above the landing shining
through with bald ugliness upon the
stairs As she looked at the light Janny's
eyes dilated. her face flushed. and she
leaned forward. gazing intently at the
window. For the minute she had FOR
gotten Ariel but he. puff. puff. puff, with
many signs and yawns, and much stretch
ing of his long legs. was coming out OF
his inspired coma. His awakening look
fell upon fanny there where she sat. her
hands cIasped I'm her lap. her shoulders
tipped forward. her chin tilted upward.
a circle of quiet light about her hair,
her eyes intent upon the stairway win
dow.
fanny. dear. what is it: What are
We lookin' att"
"Oh. na-aye. lad. =
We'll. we'll. Jannyp'
Arlel, j was tHlnkln.
Ave, an We were plannln. too.
He was thoroughly aroused now from
his inspiration. and studying that object,
woman. which through some Twenty-Five
years he had sung and praised. Ariels
eyes searched her. Stanza. meter, rhyme,
theme. were all forgotten. for he saw
that fanny possessed thought she had
no intention of parting with to him. lie
glanced from her to the window upon
which she had been looking so rap
turousIy when he surprised her gaze.
So far as he could il was like
any other stairway light in Giaslyn, eX-
cept that il was oval instead of rectangu-
lar. and perhaps a little deeper than
some. but otherwise precisely like scores
he had seen. Then he called imagination
70 his aid-that imaginaftsD which had
been the means of begettng Sh'llings
over the counters of his shop. which had
won for him a comfortable income, conf
meIciaI success a. well as made him the
foremost bard i'm his country. He peered
through the window: what he behold
was a bit Of dusky sky with a shadowy
star seemingly behind it. He dismissed
Imagination and returned to the study of
his bride ii was Il whim probably;
perhaps one of those unshaped thoughts.
elemental. unSpoken. to which women
listen in their idle moments: indeed. it
might even be some dreaming about
him of which fanny in the shyness OF
their relation. still new, was too sei,si-
tive 10 speak Gradually Ariel forgot
charm OF fanny with her deep-blue eyes,
her childlike pale-gold hair. the delicate
lines of her fragile face. so different from
the Welsh women of their village. Under
his scrutiny fanny sat serenely with
a more than wonted air of self-posses-
sion. She interrupted him.
ariel, we've been to sea, DEAR
Aye. when ! was a lad
Mas it for long,?
Not long, two years sailin with car
goes between our coast and Ireland.
Did We learn much of the ways OF
sailor folk
AYE. much.
''Runnin' up and down the ropes?'
Aye, that, an more. too
Did We learn tattooin', DEAR?
AYE: the marks we've seen on my
arms an old salt taught me to do. The
sailors were clever with the needle.
sketchin' as Well SEWN
do We think We could sketch star
now, Ariel. or have We forgotten?
Ariel laughed. partly with pleasure at
this talk by the fire, partly from joy in
the companionshp.
AYE. I'm thinkin' l could. little lamb.
He drew his chair closer to hers and
eaw her face brighten; ii rested her so
10 have him near her. and her thoughts
sped back through all the years of lone
Illness and hunger for the things she could
not have: she had new CONSCIOUSNESS of
life and OF being useful: j: was not merely
Ariel: IL was the house. too. and what
she could do TO make it-well, the word
escaped her: anyway il was the house as
we'll as Ariel and it was lovely to think
OF what she could do for il while he made