The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-07-21
EVENING STORY
Just a Peek.

could see cool aiSleS 1neQ Win PIC
lures Undecided, she swayed a moi
ment, then feeling again the terrify-
ing rush of faintness that had come
over her increasingly during the past
week, she went unsteadily to the en-
trance.
The doorman looked at her kindly,
his grave eyes noting the darkness
under the long lashes, the droop of
the oval cheeks, and in reply to her
question, told her there was no fee
charged for viewing the pictures.
The cool aisles opened for her, and
she sat down with a long sigh of re-
lief Here and there students and
lovers of art were moving about or
seated, studying the pictures. Her
the illness that had compelled her to
give up fine position and that had
Slapped her savings until she was
about penniless.
Her eyes wandered unseeing to the
picture opposite, and then remained
fixed. Her breath caught in her
throat, and she leaned forward. I'M
believing, yet forced to belief. Before
her was a picture of a farmhouse,
lying snugly beneath great elms.
painted with a sympathetic touch that
put into the picture more than skill.
1T is! 1t surely is-home!" she
whispered
rushing, the memory of the quiet
young artist who had spent that week
at her fathers house-the week in
which he had learned to love her and
she-almost to love him. She recalled
the hurt in his eyes when she told
him that he was not the type of man
she could really love-a dabster with
paints in a world where men of ac-
ton are needed. He had gone as
quietly as he came. She had taken
the position offered by a friend in
the world of action she admired; her
father had died and the farm had
gone into the hands of the bank
which held the mortgage; and she
she had learned that the worker with
the stuff of dreams and beauty is as
much needed as the man of action.
She wondered where he was; his
name was on the card-"Wolcott
Sundley." She could not find out
from-no. she knew she could not
after what was between them.
Two men stopped near the picture,
and she heard them discuss the picture
and refer to Sundley's success.
She leaned back. rush of emotion
overwhelming her. The old home,
where she had spent her girlhood,
where her mother had died and her
his life Suddenly a dim wish took
form in her mind to grow into an
overwhelming desire to see the old
place once more.
Somebody has it. but can see it,
just take a peek at it, anyway" she
thought to herself wistfuIly. II don't
care what happens after that. 1 must
see it must
She counted the cash in her pocket
book; there was enough to get her
there and no more. She could stay
with some girlhood friend. was her
ha
memory of her proud departure No
-she could not let them know of her
circumstances; her pride could not
bend to that.
The doorman saw a light, graceful
girl leave the galleries. her cheeks
flushed with an unnatural rose, her
dark, tired eyes, alight with some in
ner emotion; but he little guessed she
was hurrying out into the noisy, rest
less street in search of an old mem
DRY.
1t was the work of a few hours to
reach her boarding house, pack her
few belongings, and leave for the great
city station. Her kind landIady urged
her not to go until she was better; but
Della simply smiled in answer; she
would not turn back from her adven-
ture in search of that memory that
the picture had awakened.
Only when she reached the great
station. and found herself a lonely lit
tie figure in the hurrying crowds, did
she hesitate. Her sense of constant
weakness and loneliness depressed her
and lowered her courage; for a mo-
ment she was tempted to go to Wolcott
to see again the kind. grave eyes
with their PARKWAY whimsical twinkle;
but again she remembered with hot
cheeks her cool and cutting rejection
of him.
When the northern express drew
IL =
her, a dropping. pathetic form with
vacant eyes, a small mouth curving
wistfully. often glanced at by passen-
gers thru the car but never glancing
back in return.
The morning drew on to noon and
the sun passed its old time milestones
in the sky; the car wheels hummed
the song they have sung thru the years
to those who go to joy and to those
who go to regret.
Late in the afternoon, the familiar
and friendly hills came into view; and
Della stirred from her quiet. She
looked out with eager eyes, and the
scenes refreshed her weary spirit; but
with the new pleasantness came the
sudden question-what should she do,
now that the time was at hand?
The whistle sounded far away.
They were nearing the little station.
The farmhouse was miles from the
station-how could she ever get there =?
The questions aroused her to anxious
thought; then she sank back-she
didn't care. She would walk to the
old home, and after that it didn't mat
teri
When she stood at last on the worn
wooden platform, she looked about
with a quick breath. How familiar it
all seemedl A few strange faces were
near. but the station had not changed.
She walked to the edge of the plat
form, and started to step down, when
a pleasant voice said:
Going up the road? That's my
way, and I'll give you a lift.'
She looked up into the face of a
middle-aged woman who was smiling
down to her, and she accepted the in
vttation eagerly.
The ride was not eventful The wo-
man was stranger to her, but she
chatted pleasantly of small matters
without seeming to expect replies.
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