The Topeka state journal., 1916-11-30
EVENING STORY
Giving Thanks Together.
(By Catherine Crammer.

Its a shame not to snare InlS SoOo
dinner with some one,'' said Lydia,
who had loved to cook from the days
when she baked mud pies in the sun
until the nights when she made fudge
in a chatting dish. 1t was partly be-
cause of her taste for cooking and
partly because of her distaste for
boarding house life that she gladly
availed herself of a suite in the frSt
one-tenant apartment house erected
in her city. Her living room with its
tiny fireplace was flanked on one end
by bathroom and a bed closet, ahd
on the other by complete and CON-
pact kitchenette.
On Thanksgiving day Lydia fitted
from room to room singing gay
snatches of song. Her trim little fig
ure was lost in the looseness of a long
sleeved white apron with which her
former landlady had endowed her
when she set out on this housekeep-
ing venture. Her auburn hair WdS
soft about her flushed face and her
blue eyes were bright with enthusiasm
as she concocted tempting dlsheS Ior
her Thanksgiving dinner.
The plump chicken browning in the
tiny oven was small, and the qulVer-
ing mold of cranberry jelly just turn
ed out was small, yet there was much
more of each than Lydia alone could
eat healthy and hungry as she was
This thought came to her as she was
arranging pi~ ces CT toast for aspara-
gus and with the thought came a hos
pitable longing to share her good din
ner with some one else who was
healthy and hungry. The girls VINO
were her co-workerS in the puDnc IL
brary either had homes in the city
or had gone to their homes outslde
the city for the Thanksgiving hohoay.
and besides them she had made few
acuuaintances in the city, so she cou.d
think of no one to invite.
She reflected that there must be
many lonely people in that city VINO
would gladly share with her the dainty
meal that was now almost ready 70
serve. Then she thought of the young
man who lived alone in the suite
across the hall from hers and OF whom
she had caught occasional gimpSeS
thru his open door as he bent spec
tacled ewes low over a drawing board
She found herself wondering, as she
had several times before wondered,
whether her studious neighbor was an
artist. She thought he looked too bus
inesslike and practical for that.
Lydia smiled and blushed as she re-
called the episode the evening before
when her spilled cranberries mao
crunched under the goOd-SiZed feet OF
this young man, who had come strid-
ing from his apartment while she was
STOPPING in the narrow corridor to re-
place the scattered berries in the pa
per bag that had turned turtle
when she inserted her latchkey- There
mad been stammered apologies from
both, and altho the young man had
helped to recover the berries, he had
re-entered his apartment so abruptly
that Lydia was puzzled to know
whether he was displeased or embar-
rassed by the incident.
Just when Lydia's chicken reached
tho right decree of provinces the
young man in the suite across the hall
completed the linking of the last lines
in the plans he was to enter in the
prize competition for a design for
new public building. His deep sigh
of satisfied relief at the finished task
was followed almost Immediately by
the thought that he was very hungry.
He, too, had a fancy for cooking and
had taken the apartment that he
might have, in addition to uninter-
ruDted opportunity for study, the
privilege of preparing coffee and eggs
just to suit his breakfast taste.
A cold, drizzling rain made the out
doors so uninviting that the young
man decided to have a broiled bacon
sandwich and coffee and cheese at
home instead of going out for lone
dinner in a cafe. He opened the door
of the ice-box and shut it with slam,
for he found that he had no cream,
and he liked a lot of cream in his cof-
fee. Now a lonely man or a hungry
man will frequently go far from con-
ventionality. John Parker was both
lonely and hungry, his supply of
cream was exhausted and the grocery
stores were closed for the holidays.
Besides, rain was pouring outside and
the girl across the hall let tantalizing g
odors escape her doorway Suddenly
he determined to ask her for cream to
go in his coffee.
AS he went swinging thru his door,
way he almost collided with Lydia,
who stood just outside blushingly Of
fering him a tray containing a gener-
Gus share of her good dinner.
Bread cast upon the waters she
said, smilingly. land the cranberries
you cast back into the bag have re-
turned to you. I just couldn't bear
not to share my Thanksgiving dinner
with some ONE there was a trembling
catch in her voice. "And you seemed