The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1911-01-27
The Light in the Kitchen
1canzrieht. 1s1o by Aggociated Literary Pressl
By M. J. PHILLIPS

would sit at the telescope, searching
patiently for that vine-clad kitchen
window which seemed to have emerged
from the land o dreams for a nlghq
to torture him with longing, only to
slip back again before his fingers could
close on the vision and prove 1t real.
And then, as capriciously as 1t had
appeared before, the window and the
dear sight behind it came back to
him. 1t was revealed even as the
theater curtain rolls up on an en-
chanted first play.
There was the window, bordered
with its tender greenery, the honey
room, CHEEKY and pleasant under the
gov of the shaded gaslight; the table
and the small boy seated at 1t eating
his supper; the girl in low chair IN
front of him, elbows on knees.
Presently the boy finished his meal
and began a .spirited tale. He meas
ured with his hands, made a motion
as if throwing with them, then lerkeo
on an invisible rod. The gestures
were eloquent; the youngster was tell
ing about fishing.
When he had finished, the girl and
he washed the dishes. She MADE all
tidy with a charming little air OF
housewifery. and turned out the llgnt.
Wiles sighed. He spent the night at
the observatory, determined 10 locate
that kitchen window.
When the mists rolled away early
next morning and the sun began 10
gid the plain to the east, Wiies looked
! into his telescope again. He was over
joyed to find that he could PICK out
the window easily. He studied 1t I'M
til there could be no possibility OF mis-
take. There was a wide, well-shaoeo
street in front of the house to which II
belonged. He followed the street until
a gan in the trees betoken2d an inter
section.
It was an achievement to read the
name On the lamp post at that cor
ner, but he did it, spelling it out
slowly while his eyes blurred with the
strain: Locust. But the name OF the
cross street was effectually hidden.
! After breakfast at his boarding
! house, Wiles plunged into a series OF
abstruse calculations, in which the
height of Tower Hill, the magnitylng
power of his telescope and the dis
lance to Oak Harbor above the sea
level all had a part.
Just before dusk that day, W1les,
ALI dressed up like broken arm,
as he admitted humorously to him
self, strolled down Locust street al
the spot where his calculations indi
Gated his search should begin. Within
half an hour he came to a girl hang
ing over an old-fashioned front gate
and he stopped with amazement and
pleasure.
why, Coralie Fleet!" he cried; u
haven't seen you for years.
The girl, who had dark hair and
| gray eyes, in which the JOY OF living
was alight shook hands warmly
Nor I you," she smiled; land
wouldn't have seen you now, only
I'm waiting for my little brother. He's
| late for supper, as usual. That boy Is
/ crazy about fishing. Won't you come
| up on the porch anu SIT uo"h'
Il WILL" said Hoover Wiles, with sol
emn joy.
That was four years ago. Now, a
bedtime every night Hoover Wiles, Jr,
a chunky boy with his mothers gray
ewes and his fathers sturdy shoul
! ders, waves "By-by" from a nghtee
kitchen window toward Tower Hill
Mrs. Wiles throws kiss, for she
knows her husband is seated at. hi:
telescope, waiting for their messages
But the pretty little custom VII
soon be discontinued. Wiles has ad
vanced; he has just been appointed
chief of the forces at Tower Hill ant
is going to move his family to the
residence adjoining the observatory