The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-05-31
The Euening Story
An Architects Foresight.
(By Ernestine Cobb

(By Ernestine Cobb
..Ah. this is the life.' Anne's tone
and infection expressed complete
satisfaction, which was the result OF
her being settled in a brand new
three-room apartment. The wicker
| furniture, cretonne hangings, woven
| cotton rugs, and fragile teacups were
the things Anne had not found in her
varied experience in boarding houses
| though they were the things Tor
which her soul and body, too, had
yearned.
What do 1 care if I did do without
new suit this winter and did miss
the grand opera and occasional
luncheons at the Palatia? Just see
what I've gained" She turned her
eyes lovingly from one object to an
other all about the cheerful living
room. The cup of tea she had just
| finished had banished the fatigue of
her days work at school. She let the
empty cup rest on the arm of her
| chair, and nibbled absentmindedly on
| crisp wafer.
Suddenly her serenity gave way to
| puzzled expression. She bent her
head listening to a song that seemed
to come from the adjoining apartment
and seemed to contain something
about somebody of the name of Anne.
The voice suggested baritone poten-
tialities and the tone suggested medi-
tative happiness. AS the song was re-
peated at irregular intervale, Anne
made out the following words:
How old is Anne? Don't ask me. man;
| But, be she five or fifty,
| I'm sure with me you will agree
| That Anne is rather nifty
| -Of all the nervei" thought Anne,
as she first caught the words. Then
she laughed a bit sheepishly she
reflected that the singer did not know
of her existence, much less of her
name. She had been in the apart
ment but week, and knew as little
of her many neighbors as they knew
of her.
Once again the doggerel was softly
the singer. Who was he, and why
did he sing halungly half way
through, and sometimes pause in the
| middle of a measure, and sometimes
hurry it to a conclusion? He must be
engaged in some occupation which alb
sorbed his mind to the point of MAX
| ing him unconscious of the song on
his lips. Then Anne REDEEMED at lind
| ing herself curious about her neigh
bors, to whom she had resolved TO re-
main entirely Indifferent, whatever
their status.
She stepped into the kitchenette,
placed her teacup in the sink, and put
|
| box Returning to the living room,
she seated herself at the piano, which
was her chief luxury and companion
Just as she was about to lay her hands
upon the keys to play the old-time
melodies for which her present mood
called. once more there came to her
that insistent singers unframed bari
| tone mumbling the doggerel about
Anne.
AS she sat listening to the now IA
niliar air, she began unconsciousiy to
play a soft accompaniment to it. Not
until an abrupt silence followed the
closing words of the stanZa did she
fully realize what she had done. She
sat tensely listening for a sound from
the next apartment but none came.
She wondered whether the young
man were listening. too. Then she
wondered why she thought of him as
a young man, but finally deciding that
neither his age nor his identity were of
| interest to her she tossed her head in
differently and began to improvise
music suited to her mood. Consterna-
| ton overcame her a moment later
when she found herself playing that
| chugging accompaniment in a spirited
way, and realized that the singer had
boldly taken up the words and was
singing Saily to her accompaniment
She stopped short in the midst of it
and broke into a Dvorak "Humor-
esque.'
Anne was to be a dinner guest that
evening of her Cousin Emily Mason
famous as giver of delightful little
spreads at which interesting people
! were brought together at a perfectly
appointed and supplied board. Mrs.
Mason had telephoned Anne the night
| before to look her prettlest as the
/ guests would include a charming
bachelor architect and a rising young
lawyer. while Anne would be the
youngest and prettiest girl present
Anne smiled as she remembered her
cousins bantering words, and she went
from the piano to the closet and took
I out her only two evening gowns One
was a soft, pale green charmeuse and
the other fluffy black net. She
| viewed each critically. She decided
to wear the pale green gown, but its
gold trimming lacked life, so she deft-
| ly added some touches of black vel
vet at girdle and blouse front
/ There. That gives chic" she
gest springtime! I'll have to have
about three punches of those butterfly
sweet peas. shaded from pale pink to
deep rose color
| Five minutes later. she was on her
way to the florists shop around the
corner, and an hour afterward she
was at the door of the Masons
You're a dream, Anne" whispered
her cousin. as the long black coat was
removed and the dainty sweet peas
were placed against the pale green
gown. IF you don't set the lawyer
or the architect to dreaming of you,
/ I'm no prophet
John Moore. the architect. proved to
be fat, florid and forty. Edgar
Worth, the lawyer, was slender and
strong, possibly thirty, but with the
twinkle of a boy of twenty in his
brown eyes Edgar Worth took Anne
I
seated on her other hand. The din
liner started off with light conversation