The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1915-01-14


HIT 3Ml. BILE mentions" in
IL IlRl that corner, and
lf~- later she was able
III l!pH3 Y to add one draw.
wv ~ ing with Z blue
ribbon ON its
edge: but when she opened her nat
purse he was inside that, 40 grim 40
ever. y. X. Nd s =
To make Il worse, Q career was not
ill she would leave behind when she
had spent al her money-all Of II,
that 10. except the price Of . ticket
to her home In Q certain New Eng.
land village. Even to herself she
would not admit It, but there would
be another wrench when she saw the
last Of q certain wearer Of corduroy
breeches, who. for all the air of him.
might never have worn anything near.
or creased trousers In his life. He
was a Westerner. and the critics said
that he painted "freer and bolder''
than any student in the big school.
Tom Graham and she had a paint
ingroom acquaintance which extend.
ed to lunch-time, when they usually
nodded shortly to each other from OPP
posite ends Of the same soda fountain.
He lunched on egg connections. with
hot chocolate and crackers to boot;
she, on matted milk.
There had been q time when Ann
used to have a sustaining egg put in
her thin drink; but that was in the
days of her fathers remittances-
prodigal days, when she spent az
much as twenty cents in carfare, on
Sunday, to fill her lungs with Gods
fresh air as It blew across the Hud.
son. When the remittances ceased,
instead Of eggs and car rides, she
bought baked beans and fresh paint
tubes. In fact. she kept reducing her
food outlay. nickel by nickel, until
sometimes she weakly wondered II
after all courage doesn't depend on
diet. She ought to have been told
that tumbler of matted milk isn't
enough to keep the blood in your
cheeks at noon, when your breakfast
has been two cold squares of choco-
late. following 15.cent dinner the
night before.
Then something strange happened.
Everybody noticed that Ann perked
up-especially the "mixologist" before
the fountain, who had often slipped
a little more than a fair ten-cents'
worth into her tumbler. But this was
different; for now an egg appeared
daily. and sometimes two, while the
check she paid was the same.
|. Ann hated taking charity, even while
she swallowed It. She hated 1t only
while she was before the counter, how.
ever. She forgot everything she want.
ed to forget in the resulting power. It
leaked from her fingerends to the
canvas for hours, on the day when
she had two eggs. About this time
she sold a drawing to a magazine.
and in came another prize for her
work in oils.
One fall day, however, the keen
wind that raked Broadway helped Ann
through the door bodily. The mixol.
ogist looked her coat up and down,
then caught 1t between his fingers to
feel how thin it was.
Pretty sharp breeze, miss" he said.
''You need a fur coat-one O. them
new dog-skins, now"
He stopped in the face of Tom Ora,
ham, who had come in for his lunch.
Ann, sensitive about her shabbiness,
choked over her egg and got out
quickly.
Later-an hour after Tom Graham
had left the COUNTRYSIDE came back
with 20 nickels in her humpy, frayed
black purse. It was nearly all the
money she had. She talked to the
mixologist with red face.
"Here is the money for the eggs.
OF course expected to pay it as soon
as could. Very, very much obliged.
I know there were just 20, for I kept
track"
The mixer turned away.
II didn't mean any offense about
that coat" he said over his shoulder.
"Of course not. 1t is getting cold"
= We'll, and I wasn't responsible for
those eggs, either. It was the man
with the velveteen pants. He paid
me for EN-"
AIMS finances were in that critical
state when the loss of dollar makes
the whole difference; so she closed
honorable mentions" blue ribbons.
and wrecked hopes into q home.
bound trunk that evening, and thought
out note to Tom Graham meanwhile.
She lacked the nerve to 60 and thank
him.
When she opened the door to Q
mans humping, late in the evening.
she even lacked the nerve-or the
food-to stand up. Tom Graham was
breathless after a climb Of three
flights, but he caught her to save Q
fall, and then, to save an explanation,
he told her he loved her.
II was enough for Ann when he said
passionately that he couldn't see her
grow pinched for food any longer IL
he had tried, for women Of your sort
don't 90 hungry where came from
Then he drew haSty sketches OF the