The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-02-04
EVENING STORY
Tag Day
BY VINCENT G. PERRY.

his face, for the day was the one on
which he was to have an opportunity
to make a good resolution, and if there
was one thing Ralph enjoyed more
than making resolution it was keep
ing one. He would show them at the
bank that public opinion could not
down his convictions They had laugh
ed at him when he had condemned tag
days as fruitless nuisances, and had
dared him to let one pass without be-
ing tagged. The dare had made him
resolve never to buy another tag; not
that he begrudged the small coin do
cardboard, but it was the principle of
it he did not like.
81 always make contributions to the
Red Cross and other patriotic funds IN
lump sums" he had told them at the
office; and I'm not going to be pes
tered at every street corner on every
Saturday of the year to buy a tag.
call it next thing to begging, and think
the taggers could do far more good at
home, knitting q
to agree with him, but this only
strengthened him in his resolve to re-
fuse tags from that day on.
He had walked well into the heart OF
the business section of the city before
he was accosted by one of the taggers,
Buy a Jag! buy d td6t WoS eiAS -
he heard, and he saw a box showed in
vitingly in front of him. He looked
into the face of the young woman be-
fore him, refusal on his lips, out II
to an exclamation of surprise.
Peggy Wensley!" he cried What
ever are you doing here 2"
'Ralph-Ralph Cooke!" Her sur
prise was as great as his, and she al
most embraced him with JOY. TO
think that 1 should meet you way out
for ff,IIy
years"
Five" he corrected. "It is five
years since I was transferred from the
bank at home. I am accountant now,
and am getting on splendidly. How
has the world been using you? Very
we'll if appearances are anything to
go by
They talked for nearly half an hour.
She told him she was living in the
city and gave him her address. with
an invitation to call the next evening.
This was more than he had expected,
for altho they had been close friends
more than friends-they had parted
on unfriendly terms. Why? Neither
could remember. AS he was leaving
she remembered the mission she was
fulfilling that day.
i You haven't bought a tag" she
smiled as she tied one on the lapel
of his coat.
st was so delighted to meet you I
DIDN'T think of it," he said, as he
slipped coin-the largest piece of
silver he had-in her box.
AS he hurried to the bank his
thoughts were ON the girl he had just
left. She was smore beautiful than
when he had last seen her. and al
tho he had only spoken to her for
that brief time, he wondered how he
could have forgotten her SO easily.
She was different from other girls
the only girl for him, after all, e-
= He entered the bank fifteen minutes
late. The others had been waiting in
the expectation of some fun, and when
he arrived they were not disappointed.
Sure enough he'had bought a tag, and
for once his resolution had been in
vain. By the time the news had been
passed from one desk to another an
audible litter swept the office, and it
did not escape Ralph. He realized the
cause of their merriment and tried to
pass it off, but finally had to acknowl-
edge that the joke was on him
Il meant it when L said 1 wouldn't
buy another tag, and 1 wouldn't have
bought this one today if a girl from
my home town hadn't been the one to
tag me. 1 hadn't seen her for five
years, and l couldn't very well re-
fuse, for she has invited me to call
on her." he explained.
"a romance-e!" laughed one of
the boys.
NO, Sle s married., announced one
of the stenographers. To-day was
Married Ladies' tag day"
''She is not married" Ralph contra
dicted "She wasn't when / knew her
last. Who said today was Married
Ladies' tag day."
Its in the morning paper the girl
said. I'll read it to YOU" She Sc
cured the paper and read: 1.-THE Mar
ried Ladies' Red Cross club will do
the tagging today. The matrons an
nounce their intention of surprising
the work of the single sisters, who
usually conduct tag day
Ralph was silent for some time. He
had not thought of Peggy as married;
but of course she must be-that was
why she had come to live here. 1t
was odd, tho, her inviting him to call;
but it was only because he was an old
friend. She had forgotten him, as he
had thought he had forgotten her.
What an idiot he had been not to
have written bert 1t was his own
fault that another man had married
her; he couldn't/blame the other man.
He wondered if she was happy, and
hundred other things about her
all day.
Sunday. Her face never left him,
and the thought that he had lost her
made him uneasy. He hated the
thought of calling on her in the eve
ming for it would only make him feel
worse If she was unhappy. But then
he was anxious to meet the man
whom she had found attractive. He
would be handsome and tall, for
Peggy always had preference for
tall men. and she was such a pretty
grill that none but a handsome man
would dare ask her to marry him. It
was because he was SO homely that
she had found it easy to forget
Shortly after Ralph rang the
doorbell at the address Peggy had
given him. 1t was an early hour, but
a married woman would not mind
that. Peggy answered the door her
self, for which he was thankful, for
he would not have known what to do
if her husband had come
She was the same old Peggy-mar-
ried life had not changed her a bit.
She talked and laughed over old