Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-08-26


Theresa made a great mess of 1t"
That's true. 1 hear that she and
the signor have been seen lately here
in town. In poverty. of course. He
hadn't even as much go in him as the
ordinary singing master"
] suppose ] should have hurried away
and left this barbed arrow to rankle
where it fell. But ] could not. l had
never learned a word of Theresa's fate
and that word poverty. proving that
she was alive and suffering. held me
to my place to hear what more they
might say OF her who for years had
been for me an indistinct figure bathed
in cruel moonlight.
II have never approved of Peter
Stranges conduct at that time. one of
the voices now went on He didn't
handle her right. She had a lovely dis
position and would have listened to
him had he been more gentle with her.
But IL isn't in him. | hope this one
l didn't hear the end of that. / had
no interest in anything they might say
about myself. 1t was of her l wanted
to hear. of her. Weren't they going to
say anything more about my poor sis
ter? Yes: it was a topic which inter
ested both, and presently / heard:
He'll never do anything for her. no
matter what happens; I've heard him
say And Laura has vowed the
same" daura is our auntD Besides.
Theresa has pride of her quite
equal to her fathers. She wouldn't take
anything from him now. Shed rather
II.
how true it is-that she's working in a
department store. of the 9Th ave
nue. ones. Oh. there's Mrs. Vandegraff.
Don't you want to speak to her.
They moved off. leaving me still gaz-
ing with unseeing eyes at the picture
before which stood planted. and saying
over and over in monotonous iteration,
Zone Of the department stores in 9Th
avenue. One of the department stores
in 9Th avenue
Which department store
! meant to find out
! do not know whether up till then
possessing what is called the detective
instinct. But. at the prospect Of this
quest. so much like that of the proven
bal needle in havstack. as ! did not
something within me forbade my asking
1t. l experienced an odd sense of citation
followed by a certainty of success which
in FIVE minutes changed me from an ir-
responsible girl to woman with a de-
liberate purpose in life.
! am not going to write down here
all the details Of that search. Some
day I may relate them to you. but not
now. looked first for a beautiful
quisi:e creature I remembered. / did
not find her. Then / tried another
course. Her figure might have changed
in the ten years which had elapsed; so
might her expression. | would look
for a woman with beautiful dark eyes:
time could not have altered them. |
had forgotten the effect of constant
weeping. And / saw many eyes. but
not hers: not the ones ] had seen smil
: ing upon me as lay in my crib be-
fore the days l was lifted to the dig
nifty of the little brass bed. So / gave
that up too. and listened to the inner
voice. which said. You must wait FIR
her to recognize you. You can never
following this plan that I found her.
I had arranged to have my name
spoken aloud at every counter where
l bargained: and, oh. the bargains
sought. and the garments I had tried
on, But I made little progress until
one day. after my name had been ut
tered little louder than usual l saw
a woman turn from rearranging gowns
on a hanger and give me one look.
I uttered a low cry and sprang i'm
petuously forward. Instantly she
turned her back and went on hanging.
or trying to hang up. gowns on the
rack before her. Had l been mistaken?
She was not the sister of my dreams.
but there was something fine in her
outline: something distinguished in the
way she carried her head which
Next minute my last doubt fed, She
had fallen her length on the floor and
in a dead faint.
Oh. Roger, Roger. Roger, I had that
dear head on my breast in moment
/ talked to her. / whispered prayers in
her unconscious ear. / did everything
l should have done till they all thought
me demented. When she came to, as
she did under other ministrations
than mine. 1 was for carrying her OFF
in my limousine. But she shook her
head with a gesture of such disap-
prevail that / realized I could not do
that. The limousine was my fathers
and nothing of his was ever to be used
for her again. l would call a cab; but
she told me that she had not the money
to pay for it and she would not take
mine. Carfare she had: 5 cents would
take her home. / need not worry.
She smiled as she said this and for
an instant I saw my dream sister again
in this weary, half-disheartened wom-
an But the smile was a fleeing one
store; she had no talent as a sales
woman and was merely working out
her week.
1 felt my heart sink heavily at this
for the evidences of poverty were plain
" to be seen in her clothes and the
thinness of her face and figure How
could I help? What could do? 1
took her to restaurant for food and
talk, and before she would order she
looked into her purse. with the result
x,,ara for avcaes of