Monroe City Democrat. (Monroe City, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1914-10-08
The THREE RUNAWAYS
BY CARRIE LOUISA SHAW.
'ssssssseosssseseossoss

Covertly pulling back the window
shade, Mrs. Carson watched Lila pass
out of the gate and down the street,
swinging her books She could not
deny herself what might be a last
glimpse of the little blue checked fig
ure.
Slowly she turned and walked to
a desk that stood in the room. 1t was
the one at which she sat each morn
ing to write the household accounts.
Today it seemed to her the property
of another. Every inanimate thing
appeared to stand coldly aloof. She
sat down and wrote, her hand trem-
bling slightly:
Jim Dear:
Three months is not a great length of
time, but it has been long enough to con-
vince me that 1 am a failure.
The children will never accept a blum
dering old maid as their mother. That Is
why l am leaving today for the West.
Oh If l could only have made them care
for me-that was my greatest dream.
but they will be happier without me.
have looked truth squarely in the face
and know they want no substitute for
that real mother, poor little things.
After you have considered all things
very carefully, you will see my view
point and realize that have acted
wisely.
She folded the note, and addressed
it to her husband.
Three months of the only real hap
piness she had ever known, and her
stronger self said this must be the
end. 1t would be hard to leave them
all, and the white, clean little house;
but the futility of staying had come
to her quite suddenly that morning.
Lila-ten, dark eyed, and reserved
had prefaced a request with moth
err" To Mrs. Carson mamma" had
somehow always seemed a sweeter,
more intimate term.
Don't you think the word mother
a bit formal, dear?" she had ventured,
with fast-beating heart.
: Lila looked up quickly.
I'll call you Mrs. Carson, them"
she announced briefly.
ITS no use-no use!" voice in
her mind kept crying. "They may
even come to dislike you"
/ There were two ,others-Fred, sew
en-, and Alice, the baby.
She kissed the baby, but shyness
withheld her from caressing the two
impregnable little strangers who very
plainly did not wish to be caressed.
All her patient life she had longed
for domesticity and little ones, but for
years perverse necessity had kept her
in the schoolhouse of a middle West
town.
Some time after the sisters we'd
ding she met Jim Carson, a widower,
and after a brief but sincere wooing
he brought her East as his bride-a
girl no longer, but full of the inno-
cence and illusions of youth.
The train she must take left at two.
She placed the note in the center Of
the round table. ard entered the bed
room-her bedroom and Jim's.
Carefully she took her clothes from
the closet and piled them on the bed.
They were new, neat things that were
her trousseau.
In opening the top bureau drawer,
small package and sealed envelope
met her gaze. Both were addressed
in very round, precise letters to Mrs.
Margaret Carson"
The writing was vaguely familiar
She tore open the letter first. 1t read:
Dear Mrs. Carson:
take my pen in hand to tell you that
/ am going to run away today. II my
brother, Frederick Carson, will go, will
take him, too. You can keep the baby
because you love her, l know you do. be-
cause you kiss her and call her my little
darling, Here is your herthday presunt.
| sowed on it every day after school so
I could get it done by May 18th twefth)
but 1t is not done yet If you will kindly
Embroidery the big green leef it will be
done. 1 am sorry YOU did not like for me
TO call you mother.
Lila Carson
p. 81 know you won't care because
you don't love me. You never kissed me
goodnight in your life.
Mrs. Margaret Carson" drew a long
breath, then almoet reverently united
the package.
A large cushiontop, embroidered in
bright red and green, unrolled to view
There must have been hundreds anG
hundreds Of the crude little stitches
and the goods had puckered woefully;
but to the recipient it was a glorious
thing,
And then, because she was woman
she cried.
Soon small feet came patCerinl
through the house, and in a minute
Fred stood in the doorway.
kin l have doughnut?" he asked
Eyes, dear, yes. Did your sistel
come home with your" she queries
on parlv