The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1919-03-29
Souvenir
d'Arnour
-
By MONA cowIEs


lCopyvixhk 01A ~ the AcCturo NeWooop |
pr syudicAts)
TIA new sales girl IN the little pee-
tune shop on Maine street had brokea
= bottle 81 French perfume Just -
tie clock pointed to twelve O'clock.
and - It happened that shoppers and
s6lcs workers, idless aad persons bsnt
% busiasas % they walked aloog ths
busy section q Main sereet hat 4:
about lsacA time were Impressed
other plsasurabiy or Otherwise By ths
penetzating odof Of one II ~ msse
Dilurins q perfumes For the psefume
bad bsea spilled on the Aosr e ~
shop nsar ths dooe, which was spsa H.
Det h the Arst warm spring sunlight
and Il had been carried forth q ~
fresh cir I'LL It suffused the atmos.
phers for Q hundred feet Or moro.
Some who passed looked about q 4
70 behold 1 tree In blossom n ths
vicinity; but whoever scented Il felt
curiosity, for there was that IN tho
extract that called up indeflnabls and
tantalixing recollections.
Susan Beverly. as she alighted from
her little electric that she drove her.
self and put foot on the curbstone,
Arst shifted vigorously and then looked
about. To her the perfume had po-
tent associations that seemed ofpos-
sess her Imagination before she could
put into form the nature Of them. She
whitfield again. looked around and then
heard one Of the girls who worked In
the perfume shop say to another. as
they stepped out Of the shop on their
way to luncheon:
"Too bad she happened to break
that bottle" with an emphasis on the
that. "It's the most expensive per
fums In the shop-souvenir d'a-
mour' "-only she pronounced It $500
venire damoor." "Sells for twelve dol
lars bottle"
Eyes, It was too bad. and the madam
says she'll take it out of her wages"
"It's q shame to spill twelve dollarA
all at once. But It makes an elegant
smell"
And the other girl agreed that II
was swell"
Long after Susan had passed out Of
the radius Of the aroma Of the spilled
souvenir glamour her mind was occu.
pied with the train Of associations II
had called up. At first vague and III
defined, they gradually shaped them
selves. BY the time she reached hel
} home on the outskirts Of the city she
was deep In recollection but her recol
/ lections were by no means melancholy
, The detail Of the little experience q
I the spilled perfume that assumed thu
largest proportions In her thought
| was that the bottle had cost twelve
| dollars. Twelve dollars was a goot
| deal for anyone to spend for a gift
| She reflected that people did not spen
that much-especially when they wer'
not especially well oft--on persons TO
| whom they had little regard. 1t scenes
! to her then that II she had Away
! known that souvenir d'amour cos
twelve dollars a bottle It might hav
made a difference. She had thought
If she had thought about the cost OF
at all--that 1t cost not more than
dollar bottle.
But though her thoughts were thu
mercenary to begin with. eventual
the seductive influence Of the perfum
had its effect and, though she was ia
- out of the radius Of the sweet odor. !
her imagination she smelled 1t ye
It haunted her like a vision that woul
not down-or a sweet. haunting melod
that runs through the mind--only tn
was q vision or melody Of the sense
smell and, they say, this sense Is
the Eve the most persistent In Its pow
er of association. So from being quit
- cheerful about the recollections that
r aroused, she became truly pensive.
: Susan was thirty and she had so Q
Z ten told herself that splnster Of tn
I age has grown too old and too sensib
z for romantic recollections or SEM
: ments that she believed 1t. 1t was ju
"a little disconcerting then when,
! the afternoon wore on, she found ne
" self In the mood Of love-struck q
Of twenty. She had planned to spei
Z the afternoon on the golf links gettil
In trim for the weekend tournamel
I but for o'clock found her reclining
wicker long chair under the trees
! the garden, shielded by the lilac he'd
. with an assortment Of once favor
poets for diversion. This was not
all like the thirty-year-old Susan
really did seem as IL drop Of the p
fume must have spattered on Susa
frock 30 persistent were the memor
1t had recalled. Eventually she n
from her chair, walked along the IL
row, retraced her steps, counted
the seventh lilac bush from the I
and then stood gazing down at
earth beneath the bush. She went
to the gardeners hut and returned W
trowel, then she fell to work digg
with the intensity OF one sure Of
earthlng Captain Kids treasure Ii
certain spot. Once the old garde
came along and asked her whether
- might help her. She said someth