The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-08-03
TIE EVENING STORY
Elias Engagement.
by John Osborne Field.)

I
ring in the sunshine. And I hope"
she teased. that you'll come home en-
gagged, too, to some nice city man.
Write and tell US all about it,
Molly laughed as if the idea of
Eliza's becoming engaged were a huge
joke ELIAS uncle, John Robinson,
patted her shoulder with embarrass-
ment and her Aunt Emma Robinson
tried to smile naturally. The station
master whistled with forced cheerful
ness.
THAT Molly Dobsons an awful
mean GIRL he said to himself.
A moment later Eliza jumped
to the city, and before long the little
group of friends at the station was
just blur in the distance.
Eliza was % and she had deter
mined to go to the city for a few
months of excitement. The comfort
able routine of her life at Dayville,
where she had lived with her aunt
and uncle from babyhood, had begun
to pail. Her days were never empty.
There were active hours spent out of
doors planting and pruning flowers
and vegetables and tending her chick
ems and ducks; and other active hours
spent in the pleasant, sunny kitchen
over her savory preserve kettles or
the weeks fragrant baking. There
were long, placid evenings on the vine
covered piazza under the stars or be-
side the glowing sitting room stove,
tering Aunt Emma and purring Tabby
for companions There were occa-
sional excursions=picnics and carryall
drives and once in a while a jaunt
with one of the young men of the viii
lage. But Eliza knew that the years
to come would be identica with the
years that had passed, and she grew
disconnected.
It was this perfectly comfortable
state of affairs but wholly uncomfort-
able state of mind that had induced
Eliza to set forth on the first real adj
venture of her life. She made her
voice an excuse: it was a sweet, light
voice that led all the others in the
village choir, and although Eliza knew
that it was not worth cultivation, il
served as an excuse She wrote for
circulars from singing masters, en-
gagged a room in an inexpensive but
comfortable boarding house in the
city and with her savings in her peck.
ct, started forth to see the world.
But until Molly Dobson's taunting
words were spoken Eliza had not real
ly considered matrimony as a possible
elimination of her city visit. Molly's
words, however, put an idea into her
head. Why not pretend, after a few
weeks away from home. that she was
engaged? It would be fun to write
the letters describing the lucky man,
the things they did together and their
plans for the future. Then, later,
Eliza thought, she could write to say
that the engagement was broken, and
could return home heart-free-
And if she thought I really had
been engaged" though Eliza, 81
shouldn't care how much that silly lit
exactly be lie. I'll pick out some
nice man at the boarding house, and
pretend he's the one"
With this justification for her pro-
posed action, and with the excitement
of her plan flushing her tanned cheeks
and Frightening her soft brown eyes,
Eliza walked into Mrs Benson
Browns rather shabby boarding house
that same evening for dinner.
She looked furtively rom one end
of the long crowded table to the other
to find the chosen man. Three or four
they had spent most of their time gos-
siping over fancy work, their equally
monotonous looking husbands, the
tinnid pale young daughter of one of
the women, who giggled and blushed
whenever anyone spoke TO her, a dap
per young man who cracked Jokes for
the benefit of the whole table, a lame
old man, a near sighted old lady that
reminded Eliza of Mrs. Saunders, and
buxom Mrs. Benson BroWn-these fill
ed the table.
After Eliza had been introduced to
everybody present she sank back into
her chair with a feeling CT disappoint-
ment.
why. he isn't here" she thought.
II couldn't even pretend he was that
silly young man that makes jokes; be-
sides he and the pale little girl seem
quite taken with each other Oh!'
Eliza started. Opposite her was a
vacant chair. A serious looking, tall
young man, with keen gray eyes was
just taking his place there, and Mrs
Benson Brown was saying:
ooh, Miss Morgan. this is Mr.. Will
bur-
How do you do, Miss Morgan
said the man, his face lighting with a
smile of friendliness. sorry I'm late,
Mrs. Brown.
next day she mentioned "a very pleas
ant young man, about Be I should say
whose name is Wilbur . in her let
ter to her aunt and a few days later
she wrote to Molly Dobson of a walk
in the park she had had with Mr..
Wilbur, "the incest man you ever
saw"
The weeks passed quickly with
Eliza. Each letter she wrote home
contained some reference to Mr.. VIII
bur Once he had brought her a. book
she had given him the money for
it and had asked him to get it. but
she did not mention these facts:
again he had brought flowers, and
she shuddered when she wrote this
down, for it was true. There were
brief references to real conversations
between the two, and long accounts of
imaginary talks and excursions togeth-
er. Finally, at the end of three
months, Eliza's friends IN DayviIIe re-
ceived word that she and Mr.. Wilbur
were engaged
''Thsre are still three months to
break it in thought Eliza.
1t was three or four days after
Eliza had announced her engagement.
She had come down stairs to look for
letters on the hall table. and sat in
Mrs. Browns dimly lighted parlor
reading them There were half a doz-