The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-11-04
EVENING STORY
In Rainy Weather.
(By Elizabeth Shields

iOWA PCIS4SlcHlly.
Great guns" inelegantly piped
Eulalie. Here's that creature again!'
The creature referred to was a forlorn
little woman in cheap black who slip
ped into the hotel lobby and. sitting
on the edge of the most uncomfortable
chair in the place, timidly surveyed
the bored assemblage. shes simply
weird" Eulalie hated timidity and
cheap black, SO she crossed over to
a chair and turned her back SQuarely
on the woman.
Then mother fluttered over Mother
always reminds people of terribly
serious minded and busy hen, plump
and white and excited, you know.
Jane, run over to father and inter
rupt him." she begged of me. Its per-
fectly dfsgraceful the way he neglects
his daughters
Poor father had been having a de-
,ightful time during the whole three
smoked and smoked and talked war
and finance to the-well, really. the
stunningest man 1 ever saw! Every
woman at the hotel was furious with
father. But the handsome stranger
was deeply interested in him. He
seemed perfectly comfortable and sat
isfied. Did you ever see any one so
distinguished? gushed mother.
Just then the stranger looked about
and, after giving me a mere passing
glance, his eyes rested on the face of
the woman in black The kindest ex-
preston came into his eyes-the y-ay
one looks at helpless, pretty babies
His eyes wandered on to Eulalie. The
little woman had flushed and her eye
lids modestly covered her big brown
eyes.
Not so Eulalie. She had been wait
ing three full days to roll her eyes in
his direction. And leave it to our
mother to, follow up the slightest
chance where her daughters are con-
cerned. She actually bounced on the
mani Father was startled and got
fused. Eu1alie trailed languidly into
the same armchair father had occu-
pied and soon father disappeared.
made up the fourth in the party.
I'll confess that altho Eulalie and
I did our very prettiest, to say moth
ing of mothers amiability, every one
watching knew the man simply could
not keep his eyes off that shrinking
figure in rusty black.
I always want to be fair, so I
looked the little person over careful
ly. Her appearance indicated middle
age, but her profile was IS. I mutely
signaled Eulalie just to take a peep
at the creatures eyes. I don't know
much about poetry, but even 1 could
see the beautiful soul peeping out of
her glorious eyes. When one got a
really good look at her face the beau
ty of our family and all the other
families at the hotel just faded. She
had been there three days and no one
had noticed her beauty till father S
distinguished friend looked her way
His name, we found, was Donald
Slater, and his stay at the mountain
resort was uncertain. His desire to
keep his eyes on the perfectly lovely
dampened even Eulalie's irrepressible
vivacity.
I'd been trained to be the tactful
one of our family, being the palmer
of the girls. So, remembering about
it in time, I gracefully approached
the woman, taking a chair directly in
front of her. She had forgotten to
clean her pink-tipped finger nails for
several days and her very, very pretty
rounded neck was thickly coated with
powder, beginning with the layer from
the week before last. Inwardly I
gloated. That's the way with man
imperfections must be pointed out to
him. I quickly decided to make her
one of the party Immediately
"Beastly weather. 1 began, smiling
| at her kindly
! Would you believe. it-she opened
her lips to answer and they stayed that
way. Tears filled her eyes and drip
ped over, running down her cheeks
! l moved instantly. Life's unpleasant
1t on people like that. 1 heartily wish
| ed I hadn't been moved by sympathy
to go to her. For it spoiled everything!
He saw the tears.
| The girl looked about, in a patheti-
cally confused way, then rushed to
the veranda door, She tried to open
it but couldn't. The wind held it.
The rain splashed the glass of the door
and the terrific wind ratified and bang
ed the shutters But the girl persisted
in trying to wrench it open and, with
! the assistance of a tremendous gust
it opened, laying her flat on-the floor
! She acted like a wild thing trying tc
escape either from the women or the
/ frank attention of the man.
From his seat on the big divan, sur
grounded by pillows and Sister Eulalie
the Slater man leaped to the middle
of the lobby, stopped over the little
figure and picked her up in his arms
I decided then and there would cease
activities in the way of tact. OF course
| he never noticed her finger nails and
! neck
81 want to go away from here" the
| little thing moaned. He Gained hel
he pushed back the wisps of her black
hair. Eulalie was furious, $but she
pretended to be chatting gay1y with
| Mrs. Hopper.
/ What did you say to the poor little
thing demanded mother, accusingly
in my astonished ear. I was too indig-
nant to reply Mother always f1ops
over to the enemy in good time With
| Donald Slater's arm supporting her
the woman sobbed her way up the
stairs.
Then for two hours every one sa
about staring at her neighbors- Slate