The midland journal., 1910-08-26

August Ia London Is synpnykno1e
with discomfort, even to those DWELL
ing in palaces; how much more so.
then, to the poor whose homes are in
dingys sQualid courts and lanes. Mrs.
Lawson's tiny, ill-yentilated house
was in a turning on one OF the side
streets in Oxford street, and Enid up
in her attic suffered both in body and
mind.
Each morning she was up by dawn
and hard at work, placing her easel
beneath the skylight to get all the
benefit of the window she could, but
her hopes and ambitions were soon
depressed, for she had spent her first
| day in town in trailing weariiy
through the hot streets, with a few
paintings held carefully beneath her
| arm, to every color shop and artists
| emporium she could find round about,
! and in one and all she had been re-
ceived the same-the pictures were
| viewed in half-contemptuous, half
| plying manner, and she was told
/ there was no opening for such things,
/ Su6L uO VAC OOuSAt PoAAtAAGcf @@Ns'e-
| days, and that the market was over
stocked. With disheartened shiver
of fatigue Enid had wended her way
home, and put the small paintings
in their corner again. 1t was the
| proverbial story of an artists i'll for-s
tune; but Enid was endowed with
/ plenty of moral, courage and common
sense. She determined. If the pic
lures were no good, she must do
4 something else. and even went so far
as to ask Mrs. Lawson to give her
some ironing to do; but the laundress
shook her head
You can never do this. miss, she
declared; "your back 'ud break and
you'd die Of the eat. The 'eat is
somethink awful"
We'll, must do something" Enid
answered, with a forced laugh, and
she turned out-of-doors again, with a
mist before her eyes.
! How hard life was! How different
her lot from that of Dorothy's! One
had all that made existence happy,
and the other nothing butsdespair and
disappointment.
She went along very slowly, her
face looking pure and pathetic, her
eyes veritable stars Of beauty under
the brim of her cheap black hat, and
her profusion of hair that shone like
red gold in the sun, coiled behind her
small head in picturesque knot.
Her dress of black cotton was made
as simply as possible; her gloves and
shoes were shabby, though neat.
4 She put up her umbrella to shield
her head from the broiling rays of the
sun, and walked slowly on and on
TILL iunconsciously, she found herself
near Regents Park, and with a sigh
of fatigue she turned in and sank
wearily on one of the benches placed
/ beneath the trees. Few people were
! about, and of those the majority were
nurse-maids and children; but all at
once Ends attention was riveted on
/ man who was crawling along the
path in her direction. He had his
arm in sling, and slipper on one
j foot that dragged little when he
| walked; his head was bent like an old
j mans, but as he drew nearer she saw
i that the feebleness came from ill
4 health, not from age, and that the
4 pale face, under his straw hat, was
| strangely familiar to her.
/, She knit her brows, and tried to
think where she had seen him before,
when suddenly he lifted his head,
and like lightning her memory fed
back to the day of the garden party
at Bromley, Manor, and to the errand
Dorothy had made her perform, and
she recognized the singularly beau
tiful, yet brutal face that had almost
fascinated her. AS the recognition
/ dawned in her eyes, SO it came to the
4 man also
He stopped in his weary walk and
gazed at Enid till the color mounted
to her cheeks.
so this is how you get paid for
| doing Dorothy Knebwell's dirty work,
is it?" he said with coarse sneer.
You've, learned what she is, ave you,
eh?"
Ends answer was to rise hurried
| ly; there was tone in his voice she
did not like, but he put his stick out
! sullenly.
"Don'tsbe frightened, l amt going
to hurt you. miss, he observed, with
faint smile that disfigured the
statuesque beauty of his face; and
can't run after you. you see.4
Ends quick compassion was
| reused.
"You are ILL., she said. in her soft.
low voice. II am sorry
He gave her a sharp glance from
his deep blue eyes, and then turned
his head away
| You're made of different stuff
from her" he answered. enigmatical-
ly; then suddenly: Where is she
| now?" M