The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1914-01-21

been very happy one, 1t was Sunday,
and Warren had been with her all day,
and he had been unusually compan-
ionable. In the morning he had read
the papers, while she sat happily with
her mending basket. In some ways
Helen was quite a little heather. She
could never see why it was worse to
sew or mend on Sunday than to do
anything else. And she was never hap
pier than when on Sunday morning
Warren would read to her while she
sat sewing in a low chair beside him.
In the afternoon they had gone for
long walk, and came homo just in time
, to dress and get over to the Stevens,
i with whom they had promised to dine.
Heler's mood seemed infectious.
Mr.. Stevens told some very clever stO-
ries And even Warren, who rarely told
stories. but when he did, told them
with inimitahln hum0r. now related
some incidents of hs Western trip.
! TELLS OF HER KITTEN.
Then Helen found herself telling of
! Pussy Purrmew's antics. How she al
| ways nOsed her way into every box,
} and how she had eruirm9d into De
! lia's box on the top of her new Easter
/ bonnet without knocking off the lid,
and hCW frightened and angry Della
had been when she found her there.
! The Story itself was very trivial, but
! it was the way she told it that gave
| it a charm.
81 say. Helen give up that Imitation
Of the woman at the sufragette meet
ing" demanded Warren.
ooh. no, no" flushing. Il couldn't
do that"
"Why "Why not, of course you
can Then turning to Mrs. Stevens
"She went to suffrage meeting the
! other day and came back and took off
one of tho speakers. Jove it was out
of sight, Give it TO us, Kitten' Let's
have it
At any other time Helen could not
have been persuaded to do this before
any one but Warren. but now she
yielded to their insistence. She even
stood up to better give the effect If
she had done we'll before, she surpass-
ed herself now. She gave as much of
the speech as she could remember,
and then made up a great deal more.
All in the same shrill rantin@ tone of
the suffrage who was making her
first speech in public, and who felt
that it was only necessary to make
many Vigorous gestures and use many
high sounding phrases about "wOman's
| IlSHtS anu NOlllttil lINt tptilutlibt,
and ''down-trOdden wOmankind."
Helen had a natural talent for MIN
icry. She could come home from the
theatre and initiate the actors with an
irresistible drollery all her own.
And now while they We're still con-
vulsed with laughter at the suffragette e
impersonation, Warren insisted that
she take off the star of play they
had just seen. 1t happened that Mr..
and Mrs Stevens had also seen the
play, and they all shouted at the clev-
er mimicry.
Flushed with excitement and urged
only by roars of laughter, Helen gave
one imitation after another until she
finally sang breathless into her chair.
Bravo, Kitten, Bravo, exclaimed
Warren. well have you in vaudeville
yet"
why, dear, You're wonderful" and
Mrs. Stevens leaned forward in genu-
me admiration. why didn't you let
any OF us know you could do this?"
That's what l want to know" de-
manded Mr. Stevens. Think of wha-
J we've been missing.
"Oh, itss a diffident little Kitten,
and 1t doesn't often show off in pub
lic." laughed Warren.
But in spite of the lightness of his
tone there was an unmistakeable note
of pride in his voice that set Helen's S
heart a fluttering.
She was intoxicated with it all. with
the sense of her own success and with
the praise and admiration they had
showered upon her, and above all with
, the realization that Warren was
proud of her.
She was conscious. too, that she was
looking unusually well. Every now and
then she caught her reflection in the
mirror of the sideboard opposite. The
dainty pale blue chiffon gown, that