The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-08-31
THE EVENING STORY
The House of Dreams.
(By Annie Hinrichsen. }

ploded. A shower of torpedoes fol-
lowed the first one. A dozen young
men and women pushed through the
crowd at the curb to hurl their noisy
missiles at the elephant. The great
animal, the star attraction of the cir
Gus parade, logged his way along the
street undisturbed by the lombard
| ment
The girl who had thrown the fiji ST
| torpedo was leading the bombarders
| Tho crowd on the sidewalk was laugh
| ing and cheering. The prankS of the
residents of the summer colony OF
Lakemoore were the chief joy of the
| permanent inhabitants of the village.
| The leader of the torpedo throwers
ran down the street crashing her
| plant. A torpedo flew from her hand.
1t missed the elephant and exploded
| at the feet of a man standing at the
| edge of the sidewalk.
| The girl turned to see where her
torpedo had struck. The man was
looking at her with amusement and
| curiosity. Her merry face sobered.
The box of torpedoes in her hand
dropped to the ground. One of the
men in her party picked it up and
handed it to her. But she shook her
head, turned from the bombarded
| elephant and the man watching her
| from the sidewalk and disappeared
| in the crowd.
At one of the summer cottages
Grace Audrey met Ralph Norman .
1--WE have seen each other before"
Norman remarked.
'Tndeed?" Miss Audrey's brows
were elevated. There was a super
cilious note in her voice.
81 saw you circus day at the pa
rade"
rs it possible? Pr she asked, indif
ferently.
Two weeks later Ralph Norman was
still in Lakemoore at the summer
hotel.
All morning he and Grace Audrey
had been sailing in her boat. Nor
man, who had been sitting in the
stern of the boat, left his seat to ad-
just the sail. A sudden puff OF Wind
struck the sail. The boat tipped far
over and Norman was in the water.
Grace pulled down the sail and the
boat stopped. But Norman was not
swimming. Once he rose to the sur
face. Then he sank again. Grace
caught up the oars and rowed the
light boat toward him As he rose
second time she saw that his eyes
were closed.
She Jumped into the water, caught
him by the collar of his coat and
drew him to the boat With one
hand she held his head above water,
with the other she chung to the boat
People on the shore had seen the &C
cident, and several boats were com
ing toward them.
An hour later Grace and Norman sat
on the beach at Lakemoore: Ihey
wore dry clothes, and Norman's head,
which had been struck as he fell from
the boat, was bandaged.
You will have to marry me-, Nor
man said decidedly. "You saved my
life. When woman saves man
life she always marries him. I've
loved Won since the first time l saw
YOU. You were throwing torpedoes at
an elephant and
''And you loved me because L was
girls face was white; her hands were
cIenched. ST shall never marry you.
Plea se-pIease don't speak to me again
Of YOUR love for me. 1 can't stand it.
I won't listen"
That afternoon Grace Audrey walk
ed through the streets OF summer
homes, past the villages and out into
the country. A mile from the village
she came to a house which stood back
from the road. 1t was large, ram
bling house, with wide verandas. Vines
grew over the verandas and roses
climbed to the windows. Majestic old
trees spread their great branches over
the house and made a thick shade on
the green lawn. There was no sign OF
human life about the place.
Grace sat down on an old bench IN
a correr of a veranda. Long, golden
!ances thrown by the setting sun lay
across the lawn Occasionally oird's
bedtime chirP broke Se,5 the S So9 here p?
Ralph Norman stood beside the YER
anda. !
This house is empty NO one hveS
here. 1 come here because-be-
He drew himself over the railing
and sat down near her Tell me,
Grace. why you are mere. Give me Tic
real reason"
ct came here" she said slowly. "be--
cause this is my house OF dreams 1
nave never known real nome;
Wit Guardian.
His family cares nothing for home life |
We all have plenty of money: We
travel, live in hotels, stay in the big |
house in the city for few months |
snend a few weeks at his cottage here. |
az have always wanted quiet, do |
nestle life and a home built on the old :
ideals and faiths. This house
seemed to me perfect place for a
home. 1t is a house in which I think
people have been happy, where women /
have been real homemakers, where men ;
have found love and sympathy and |
peace. 1 do not know who lived here
or who owns it now. ! come here
sometimes because of the dreams I /
have dreamed here OF what real
home could be.
"The kind of home you would ex-
pect me to make for you is not the
home of my dreams. You fell in love
I seemed to you a
tornboy. a happy hoyden. 1 cared for
Won the first time I saw you. You
had the fine, strong jaw of a worth
while man, and the eyes of a very /
kind one. I was ashamed to appear
10 Won as a hoyden. 1 thought you
we're the man to love a different sort
of woman, the true, womanly kind
that I wanted to be. 1 want to be
a woman that a man will love for her
gomanliness, in whom he will find
the best attributes of Il sweet heart
wife and homemaker. You love a su-
oerficial, frivolous person. You would
expect her to remain what she is now |
When 1 pulled you out of the water
his morning you added gratitude 20
the small amount of love Won had