The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-08-14
EVENING STORY
Waiting for watrous.


a sense of barrenness about it all
-Watrous went there for his midday
meal because it was ineXpensive-an
attraction for Watrous. He didn't hev"
much money and had scarcely hope
| OF ever having any. He was the type,
that blessed, happy-go-lucky type,
that finds happiness in the moon. the
flowers and in the very fact that God
has given us life. -
His position was an indefinite sort
of clerkship in a department store in
the neighborhood In the evening he
wandered over to one of the bohemian
restaurants, his violin under his AN
guild arm, and there played while ar
fists, actors. futurists-what not--ate
i heterogeneous mixtures of food.
Watrous enjoyed this part of his
daily toll. He found huge interest in
the animated or languorous or silent
ly melancholy beings who styled Thorn
selves temperamental souls. He al
ways longed for a third hand that he
might sketch them as he was wont to
sketch each day the inmates of The
his fingers busy with bow and fidlle.
| he could only imagine their quaint
attitudes on paper.
So Watrous went his way, making
rather a wonderful, if assorted, collec-
ton of friends as he drifted along the
| bubbling bohemian current.
| In the cheap little restaurant he
| usually sketched attitudes while he
absently swallowed whatever his wait
ress had considered nourishing and
had placed on the polished surface
| before him.
Had Watrous been observing he
would have known that he was, per-
haps the best cared-for patron in the
place. Molly Carey, who waited or.
| him, always saw to that while she
waited wistfully for the day when he
would turn his eyes in her direction.
She had that motherly tender look in
haf hot o. ur-ff eff<.
| the eyes of his life partner-and sell
| dom chooses. II Watrous was con-
scious of this attention no one knew
it but Watrous. He sketched on the
menu card whatever came within his
vision and tossed the quaint little
sketches aside when finished just as
he cast aside his serviette when the
| final mouthful of coffee had passed
| his lips.
He always left a dime on the table.
| Molly Carey saved all those dimes.
| What her dreams were or what inten-
| ton she had wound about them was
her own secret. She preserved them
no less systematically than she saved
every sketch that Watrous made on
| the menu cards.
The sketches were far more clever
| than she realized-portraits of patrons
| In various characteristic attitudes. The
very tone, or, perhaps. lack of tone, of
the cheap little restaurant was wildly
| drawn.
| The only sketch he had made which
| Watrous did not leave in the restaur-
ant was one of Molly. Something
about her wistfulness, her entire lack
of self-consciousness, had dragged a
| hasty likeness of her from his pencil
He had it in his room on his shaving
stand. Dreamy, semi-conscious ap-
probation had prompted him to put 1t
there.
Watrous was never definite about
lunching anywhere. There were days
| when the last quarter had gone some
where in the world of spent money"
However. his lunches had been regu-
| lar since he had the bohemian res
| taurant to play in. That brought him
| a decent check each Saturday, which,
with his salary for clerkship, provided
| Watrous with regular nourishment.
But because he never quite knew
| whether his coat was on or not, nor
| remembered having purchased cloth
ing at odd optimistic moments, Molly
Carey supposed him to be desperately
poor and most unhappy. 1t was diff
| cult, however, for her to reconcile
misery with the sunny blue rays that
filtered always from Watrous's eyes.
Molly never craved temperament.
| She only wanted to be human and
| make other people comfortable, but
she had a thrill of the ultra tempera-
mental upon the day when she took
| the sketches Watrous had made to an
art dealer. The artist on lower Fifth
avenue offered her so wonderful a
price for them that for the moment
she floated high up in a bubbling
| cloud of emotionalism. She plunged
quickly back to solid ground and
treated the art dealer to her radiant
smile.
81 want to see them framed first, y
she said shyly; perhaps then 1 will
consider disposing of them
Back in her room that night Molly
kpondered on her right to sell the
sketches before consulting Watrous.
She 1onged to slip a big cheque under
his plate at lunch and waLch his sur
prise. She also thought that if the
sketches were to be solds she should
| give the manager of the restaurant
the first choice. She felt that, plebeian
tho he was. he would like The sketches.
Acting on her own counsel Molly
] left twelve with the art dealer and
brought back twelve tastefully framed
to the restaurant. The manager was
! delighted. His round face beamed
and he gave Molly a good-5ized check
for the possession of the drawings.
In the evening when the days work
was over Molly stayed at the restaur-
ant and helped hang the drawings. An
artistic, quaint atmosphere took hold
| of the room. Fascination that most
mysterious of all powers. reached out
! and claimed the mind. The small res
taurant became honey. while at lunch
con next day animated groups of pa
/ irons stood gazing at themse Ives vivid
~ drawn in those characteristic poses.
They brought friends and friends
\ brought more friends. the cooking
improved, the managers smile broad
ened and the tiny restaurant became
a delightful meeting place for it's pa
| irons.
! Watrous, when he had discovered
the mountainous check fitting his
/ plate, cast a swift glance at the draw
ings on the walls and a deep flush
rushed over his brow. He wanted to
! hide under the minute se-viette. He
rammed the check into his pocket and
/ tried to look unconcerned