Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-03

she never thought of it as one after the
she had had with that sort of thing. But
tie on nays .ncu Il cn
most anything in this world save happi-
| ness. And certainly Rex paid enough.
The tiny brass knocker on her ooor
tappsd vice. ne vi action OIL a
| moment. Come In she said.
| An irreproachably capped and aproned
maid entered, placed a huge florists box
| on a table, glanced at Phyllis for an
order. and, receiving none, withdrew.
7 Phyllis opened the box. Within snug
ged a great mass of roses. A card sa d
Many happy returns of this beautiful
| day. Rex He had not, then forgot
| ten that it was her birthday, though no
! Mor concerning 1t hau iasseu ueIwe...
| them.
She stood looking down at the roses
seriously. They We're very lovely. but
she had had nine years of them. She
wondered If they had not become some
| thing of a habit with Rex. Her mind
went back to all the other birthdays she
| had had with him. and they had begun
| like this one; then his return to dinner
| and the evening passed at the theater.
| OF verify birthdays were monotonous.
| She filled a vase with water and crowd
ed the roses into it. Il suppose l must
| do something. l shall have no appetite
| for luncheon else" she thought.
| Suddenly the room and its contents
| palled on her. She felt she could not
endure it. She donned hat and coat.
| AS she was leaving she turned back and
got one of Rex's roses.
Her manner In the street was the aim
less one of woman who has no need to
hurry and no place to go. There was
nothing new to see; she had been over
! the ground SO many times. People even
did not interest. She tried to find fresh
enjoyment presently in the shop win
dows. There seems to be nothing new
, under the SUM-" she sighed.
Phyllis wandered out of the shopping
districts into quiet little square where
there were benches and green grass and
trees. She had walked far enough to
feel a little tired and selected a bench
and sat down.
A woman had trundled an old baby
| and was resting on the handle bars. She
was the veriest scrap of an old, young
woman, so shabby, SO faded, SO obviously
fretted, that Phyllis frowned as at the
sight of something unpleasant.
| In the carriage sat child that was
not a baby-a child whose head was
! growing up, but whose body never would.
| He lad haunting eyes and n beautiful
mouth and his whole expression seemed
concentrated upon Phyllis. She felt an
she was and started to trundle on, but
/ the front wheels Of the old carriage were
stopped by some obstacle that took her
a moment to overcome All the time
spot on Phyllis bosom. By the time
the carriage was going again she real
lied what the attraction was. She had.
in fact, quite forgotten Rex's rose
| Since she was a little child Phyllis
never had to do anything that she did
not wish to do, and she never wished
to do anything that did not somehow
add to her own comfort and pleasure.
She was aware that there was trouble
and disease and deprivation some
~ I.<
Of it If she could help it, and she never
saw it. She supposed Rex saw it. but
he did not tell her. He did not tell her
! anything that was disagreeable. This
child was intensely disagreeable and yet
she snatched the rose from her coat
and tossed it into the carriage. The
thin, blue hands caught it. the tired face
cleared in a smile And then, for the
first time in her life, Phyllis knew what
it was to be rewarded for a good deed.
The mother seemed as pleased as the
child after she saw that Phyllis was ac-
companying her gift by smile.
THANK you. miss" she said. That's
the first posy he's had this summer.
and he's wild over flowers"
Phyllis got up and went to the car
rage. The child's eyes drew her.
"How old Is he?" she asked.
He's six and half. miss. But he
grows slow"
II see," Phyllis said. She was waking
up to a great wonder that one rose
should mean so much to any person
living.
'tHe's my only one" said the woman.
Its a pity he should be so. especial
as his pa amt living. He got killed and
Bobby and I are fighting it out alone. ]
scrub and clean and I get mostly all /
can do. turned out a big job this morn
ing and then l thought To lay off a spell
and give Bobby an airing. It's his birth
day"
Phyllis started. His birthday! It's
mine. too" she said
"Weli, now, that's a coincidence" said
the woman. But Phyllis did not smile at
the funny INSTRUMENTATION. The woman
looked at her earnestly. ''You-you
wouldn't have little scrubbing or clean
ing for me to do, would your" she in
quired, timidly. You see, it's kind of a
out OF town and"
"I don't keep house." Phyllis said.
"Well, IL you ever do" said the woman,