Evening star., 1914-03-02
THE EVENING STORY.
OLIViA'S EDUCATION.
Copyright. 1914. by ". wcruer)

Olivia Locke was reading Spencer S
Synthetic Philosophy" and reading II
hard. She had no interest in synthetic
philosophy, or, in truth. in any philoso-
ply at all. She read it merely because
she deemed it good for her soul and
discipline to her brain.
All her life Olivia had been setting
herself mental tasks of this kind. In
consequence she was reputed to lie an
intellectual woman, and she gloried in It,
In the town library there WIS niche Of
books which probably nobody except
Olivia had read. and though she never
had Il chance to talk about them she
knew that she could if occasion offered
Intellectually Olivia felt very much
above her ucishburs. In Il town where
everybody played auction bridge and Sos-
siped mildly she felt herself and hcr'in-
mense aggregation of learning peculiarly
out of place. Her attitude had become
scornful and most people let her alone.
Olivia lived alone. She had no people
near enough tn lay claim to. Shr had
enough money to keep her from to'i; Sh"
had her books aud her cat. Ahto"lhns
What more did she need
1t was a nippy sprinG afternoon some
body ran up the steps. knocked at the
door and opened it bcfor" OlNia could
stir from her chair.
Hello, there said "a. rich voice And
In came Mrs. Holcorn
.. If there was a creature living that
Olivia loathed more than another II was
Myrtle Holcomh. Her house was on the
other side Of O.ivia's and she ran in
whenever she chose. She was :; large,
full-busted woman. with = deep color
and handsome alter TIL" manner of q
tiger lily or peony. She dresSeu weii
and had plenty to dress with. Now.
when she stepped into Olivis$ meager
best room she scented to fill il and cX
clude everything else.
"We,It' she exclaimed, bucyantly.
"Howve you kept Yourself since I've
been gone? ! thought I'd look In un YOU
before | took off my things. The cab
just this minute dropped me at my door.
Hi. there Kit! She tweaked Antoninus'
ear He glared ut her and put n. pro-
hibitory paw over the offended ear.
Olivia felt us resentful of such conduct
as did Anroninus himself ''sit down.
won't you?' she invited. coldly.
Myrtle sat down. She looked AT Olivia
and smiled. Its good to be home
again. she said, but I've had a splen-
did time. If I'd got here AN hour carrier
I'd have gone over to Mrs. Putnam
auction bridge. She asked me before
went away, but. of course, | couldn
stay home for that Say. I've been on
the go every minute. | went to the
SWEETEST luncheon-SN courses. favorS and
chyrsanthemums to beat the band.
never see such d layout i'll my life. We
ct two hours. What you reading now?
Mis- Locke? Say, I prescribed to a masa-
zine while I was away-Lady's Delight.
You can have ii to read, II you want.
It's got a dandy annual running in II.
Olivia suurmed. Mrs. Ilolcomb's aim
less chatter always set her on edge. Oc-
casional,y she made Il comment, vague,
inadequate, yet necessary, for Olivia
never forgot heL- manners. Mrs. Hol-
comb oblivious of any GOODNESS, ran
gayly the whole ssInut of her expert
ences in the city. She had heard IA
nous "urchcster' play, she had tran
sccuded somebody spinal staircase.
ST." had gone to the ''theayter,' she had
heard the pale fachty opery' sung by
a noted "prinl doiiar''-oh she had had
the time of her life. and she wished her
friend TO enjoy 1t with her, if only in
Imagination.
But Olivia had no imagination. Nei-
thcr had she any sense of humor- What
she heard she found only baneful. She
felt that Spencer as being desecrated,
her own lofty self outraged. She grew
colder and colder until her frigidity, ac-
tually congealing, formed barrier even
to Myrtlc's effervescence. Myrtle stared
a little and departed, chilled but not
killed. BY tomorrow at the latest she
would be back again with her mouth as
fun AS ever, Olivia knew.
She had, however. left Olivia out of
tune. She felt almost i'll. Il wish that
woman would never enter my house
again., she thought, bitterly.
When ) o'clock camo she made herself
some tea, but she could not swallow D.
mouthful. She felt getting worse and
believed she had taken cold. "I'll go to
bed and sleep it off, she thought.
The night that followed was frightful.
Olivia, stupidity awake now and then,
was conscious that her body either
burned or chilled Her head ached. Her
mouth tasted worse and worse. She