Evening star., 1914-02-18
THE EVENING STORY.
LONESOME.
Copyright. 1911. by ". werner.)

|
| Mur:el did not care SO much about its
being a rainy night as that II was arainy
! night in late October. Moreover. the day
| %as Monday and as Il perfect combination
| or heart sickness Il rainy Monday night
| II late October cannot be surpassed.
At least that was MurieFs belief. She
| had worked in q department store for
two years and five months after coming
to the city with her illusions intact and
au Astounding desire To win fo- herself a
living and an honorable place in the
working world She was full OF energy
and she had 80 people who could take
care Of he-. Pretty. quick OF movement.
and modest sils got place al Il bargain
sale table and then was promoted to the
cloak department. where she had been
nine months She was iuakin= more than
enough to live on. and she wore ciot! Is
that no girl need h, ashamed OF.
CITY life and WoTl; had not spoiled all
OF Muriel,S Illusions. To be sure, she had
learned that all are not innocent who look
so. to Shuu some girls and most men. to
keep ;tw8y from the movies and theaters,
ana. even if Sh" ll:tO pretty tacr uHfi"l
new hat. not L. fancy that every mai"
creature who glanced at her Was Il prince
in disguise or Il possible lover. That her
oNNli particular man world reveal himself
in time she had doUht. but she wanted
him to he clean and handsome, :ud she
did not want him u work at d counter
This had S"InetL!a@ 10 do with Mu.icl
being lonesome. She was shy and re-
served too. and hat. ui3dt. 40 acQlt4is4t-
aAce snG felt to he lasting. Work Wa
her objective, yet all IT." work 11 tn"
world could not Keep her from being lone
some. When her back and knees and feet
stcheti tho hardest she could not forget the
fact that her heart WAS aching, 100. II
she had had apythin. in the world to
love and love her back in turn, even Il
little dog or kitten. she could have en-
dl.red it better. But Il dog o. kitten III a
boarding house was absolutely an impos-
siblity
Still on this rainy Monday evenin. she
grew fairly desperate. Some of the store
T,supls We're going to have dance and
they had asked her to 80. But sh, eould
not dance. and. anyhow. she felt thar she
would be no lonCtier at home than i'll 1t
Stuify room wher" every body else WAS
having 4 good time III a way she could
not understand. And now it was closing
time. For half ar hour both before and
after the close of business Monday III
each week store employees were allowed tu
shop. Ali the girls had not got their fall
coats Vet. Muriel knew that She would
have to wait. Sh. dropped down upon a
seat and sat staring at the long iir,e of
coats on the wire. and il cam" to her
that they had in them the possibility OF
unlimited warmth and co2iness I'd give
anything in tAc world if | had somebody
20 buy one OF those coats for. Muriel
sighed somebody who'd be comfortcd
and warmed by it and who'd feel that
because Id bought it for her ! loved her.
! was cheated out of good deal by not
having q mctiIcr. or at least 4 mot heT
who lived long enough for me to know
what mother love was
She choked. for suddenly her palate
and tongue and an inordiaately big sob
got all mixed UP in her throat. She was
swallowing hard when she turned he
eyes and met the eyes Of a man vino
stood hcsitatingiy or the very edge of
her territory. She had seen him several
times, but She did not know his name.
She only knew that he was a new man
and that he worked in the otiic, and earn
ed more wages than she did. He Was
.atiler- short and not at all uncommon
looking, for his eyes were era5- and grave.
his hair was dark and You never knew
until he smiled that his mouth was his
incest feature. lie smiled now and APP
preached MurieI rose to her feet
Is there anything l can show you?'
She asked.
I'm afraid you're pretty tired = he
said. but it has come off cold rather
suddenly. and this rain tonight made me-
think that somebody needs Il new coat
and I'd better get it
You're lucky 10 have somebody to buy