The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-10-18
EVENING STORY
The Little Gray House.
(By HiIda motifs. }


quiet place to read and dream.
Mildred was teacher and she had |
come to spend her long summer vaca-
ton at Willow Lake Hotel. She was !
slim girl, pale and pretty, with a !
soft charm that needed only rest and |
fresh air to make it bloom into real |
bea uty. She was tired, however, des- |
perately tired and lonely. The hotel |
promised to be less pleasant than she
had expected There were no young
people, only old ladies who sat on the
verandas with their knitting and en-
nroldery; discussing ills and opera
tons. Mildred wanted youth and jol-
ity, or, failing that, at least solitude
for dreams. So armed with plenty of
| books and magazines. she left the no
tel every morning directly after
/ breakfast
The little gray house looked like
haven peaceful enough for anyone.
1t was shaded by huge oak tree, and
the patch of lawn before it was
green and smooth as velvet. large
| For Rent" sign decorated its front
window.
Mildred climbed the steps and
peered in at the window. She saw
cIean-swept room with painted white
woodwork and an old white wooden
mantel. There was a glimpse of a
! olue-walled kitchen on beyond
OH" the girl exclaimed to her
| SER, I do want to see the rest of it.
She turned the knob softly and
found that the door was UNLOCKED so
| she explored the quaint interior
| growing more enamored of the place
at every step. 1t was an old house
| and its worn door Sills seemed to
| speak of years of comforta BILE family
| life. The whole house was in immacu-
| late order, as tho just swept and gar
nished for homecoming. 1t was the
most peaceful house that Mildred had
ever been in, it fitted her mood ex-
81 "a n fiY-r,, ID
| termination to rent it.
1t was not hard to find the man who
had charge of it-he lived a half a
mile farther down the road.
That's the Gordons' house." he eX-
planned. They're all dead now ex-
cept one young Teller that's moved to
the city. He wants it took good care
of, and he'll rent it cheap to anybody'll
do that
'-Oh, I will take good care of it,"
Mildred assured him, smiling. IN
even paper some of the walls"
So she got the house for the absurd
rental of 81 a month-less than half
the sum she paid for her stuffy room
in the hotel.
Mildred had little furniture. from
the wreck of her own dead and gone
| home, in storage in the city. She sent
for this, and set about the process of
! redecorating the sunny rooms.
First she papered them with the
help of boy from the village. For the
living room with its white Fireplace
she chose an old-fashioned pape~ with
a Ohm pattern of creamy gray. and the
two bedrooms she made into cosy
nests of rose and blue. She reprinted
the blue kitchen walls, stained the
floors, and moved in her old furni-
ture.
By the time the living room was
! complete, with it's chintz curtains.
braided rugs and gate-legged table. it
t oil ftll a
man could wish. Mildred sang over
her work, growing prettier and hap
pier each day At night she sat on
the Veranda watching the fireflies and
/ drinking in the silent beauty of the
place, or, if it was cool, she built fire
| in the fireplace and saw pictures in
| the embers. She tried to imagine
how it would feel to live there with
family about her. to have other things
| than dremas for company. But she
was quite contented as she was, and
the country air was putting fresh col
! or in her cheeks. rounding the delicate
contour of her face. SO she no longer
looked like a frail and very tired
teacher.
There came a gusty August da2
with a hint of thunder and rain in
the air. There came also a letter.
a most unwelcoTne letter to Mildred in
her little house. 1t was from the prin-
cipal of the private school where sh s
was a teacher. 1t said that she was
expected to return to her post on the
18th of September. Mildred had been
trying to forget about the school; the
thought of leaving her little home was
most depressing. She planned to keep
it thru the winter and come here for
vacations, but vacations were so few,
And she was tired of eaching, any
way, and September Is was only three
weeks off
She lit a fret was really cool for
August and she was always ready to
light fire at the slightest excuse
because it looked so cozy That was
one reason she longed to spend the
winter there-She did not have omen
fires in her furnished room at Mrs
Green's boarding house
Mildred sat before the fire trying
her very best to think of some plan
by which she could escape her year At
the school If only she could paint
or write. or do some clever thing 10
earn a living at home, Or if she only
had q rich uncle or a father or a hus-
band. She blushed at this last
thought. and rose to pull dSwn the
windows. The threat of rain had be-
come a reality. 1t began to fall in
sudden torrents AS Mildred stood at
the window she saw man come down
the road, running. He turned sud
denly, and sought shelter under the
big oak tree before her house At
that moment a glimmer of lightning
flashed out. Mildred rushed to the
door.
please come in" she called. You
might be struck under that tree. Z
| isn't safe"
+-An right he called back in a
pleasant voice, and in two or three
bounds he was on the versnda, shak-
ing himself like a big Newfoundland.
I'm pretty wet" he smiled. Il
hope
But Mildred interrupted him with a
sudden exclamation
David Gordon," she cried. How
| ever did you come to be here"
q came to see my house" he re-
| Piled land you. Didn't you know
Mildred, that was your landlord? ~
MOI she said. Il didn't. What
ever do you live at Mrs. Green's for