The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1912-07-04
WEEKLY SHORT STORY
TOBIN PLANS A HOLIDAY.
By A. Howard.

BY A. Howard.
robin Oliver, the artist, lived with
ms mother and little sister Clarissa
~ "a rather nice boarding house: so
10 lhueed, that in order to met the
tH DnI the divers had to tuck
themselves away in two tiny rooms
ON the fourth floor back.
Tobin was a patient. kindly Dar-
son, with hair thinning on his temnIes
ana stoop 60 his shoulders which
made him look very much older than
ne should, for he was still very young
When he was a boy he had had
dreams, even as other young artists
nave Oh painting pictures that would
astound the world; but now that his
Iatner was dead and he had his moth
er ana sister to support, he chiefly
dreamed OF lodging the laundryman,
and spent his idle moments in figuring
now to pay for Clarissa's schooling
Ihese calculations allowed of no
margins for expensive recreation. vet
AoDln was contemplating a piece of
Wild extravaganza. Thus it was par
ucularly disconcerting when Clarissa
deliberately abandoning her pose.
turned her pelading eyes upon him.
Please, Tobin, can't l go to the
circus?''
Clarlssa was an uncomfortable
clever child, with a pretty, eager face.
and frightfully long legs. She was
Tobin's only model, and posed for
everything he did, from fat policeman
ana colored mammios, to fashion
plates and soothing syrup babies. She
was draped over a chair now, with
mirror and powder puff in hand, and
Inhin 4 ron rf.sc h.,
usement for American Belle Beautify-
ing Cream. He had no intention of
taking her to the circus, so he pre-
tended to be very busy with his pic
cure, and assiduously splashed the
PANT on the highly colored cheeks
of the American belle.
But Clarissa was not thus easily
silenced. She squirmed around in her
chair and repeated insistently:
please, Tobin, can't so to the cir
cus?"
Ii the American Belle was 20 be
finished that day Clarissa must be
humored, so Tobin answered dis
creetly: Il don't know whether YOU
can or not. I'll think it over and
see if it can be managed"
That quoted the trusting Clarissa,
but Tobin began to feel shamefully
decetful. He knew that he was not
gong to take Clarissa to the circus,
as he had already planned to take
some one else, the most precious per-
son in the world. For in the front
room of Mrs. Bosey's fourth floor
lived Tobins inspiration, she who
would have been the lady of his
dreams if he had ever had time for /
dreaming. This Diana Garland was
an energetic, happy little woman, with
red hair and snappy eyes, and
though she smiled very often in pub !
lie TObin wisely suspected that she |
cried rather often in private. Teach |
ing music in a third-rate boarding !
school is no5 the ideal existence for |
a girl, and whenever an anxious puck |
er appeared on Diana's white brow,
Tobin knew that she was feeling |
rather forlorn.
There was trouble at the boarding |
school one week and the quicker |
stayed so long on Diana's forehead |
that Tobin feared it was becoming |
permanent. He longed to- comfort |
her, but there was nothing he could !
do until Diana remarked quite casu- |
ally one morning that the circus was !
coming to town and that she would !
like to see the baby giraffe. That |
save Tobin his opportunity. He knew
it was a reckless waste of money |
but what cared he for filthy lucre? |
He was too poor to offer Diana his |
hand and heart, but he could at least |
offer her a glimpse of the baby gi- |
raffe.
One wild act brings on another, |
and having determined to take Diana |
to the circus, Tobin found himself |
still further involved in financial en-
barrassments. The American Belle did |
not bring in as much as he had ex-
pected, and when he went to buy the |
tickets he found that he would have |
to use Clarissa's commission. AS he |
supported Clarissa and willingly sac
riiced his life to hers, there seemed |
no real reason why he should pay /
her for posing, bus it had been his |
invariable custom to give her frag- |
mentary share of all that he made |
on his pictures, In keeping back |
Clarissa's earnings Tobin felt as gull
ty as if he had robbed a bank, even
though he promised himself that he |
would pay her back some day.
However, he bought the tickets, |
bought them early in the week, for
he knew by sad experience that money
has a way OF escaping even when you
have made the best OF plans for the
II