The Topeka state journal., 1919-11-28
EDening Story
His Good Angel.
MARTHA McCULLoCH-w WILL

fdanciRg. sNotwithstan nding, she was
ttafl and straish an1s slight a lily
stalk Her clingif1g, white gown made
i !. her seem indeed a living lily, near
akin to the white blessQmed ranks
! swagifigi lightly in the sunset breeze.
| She was all ready for the Elbridge
pardy-in a little while the Andersons
would cait for her. It was like a fairy
5tale--thfs going in stateIwhen she
had no more than hoped to creep in
fnodestiyyby by the side door.
! Indeed, at first she had not dared
to thinxs of1going at 81. Aunt Bah.
who had brought her ID. had scrupIes
agaAnsts dancing and Parties in gem
/ eral-5 Then there had been the matter
1 of "a freck. MarceiIa had nothing
save. q skinny blue rag. worn for SO
long5the whole village knew it.
! Then all unaccountably, a far-off
city cousin had sent Aunt Bah a check
with a mote that ran:
"Spend' this for Any's little girl"
] On TOP of5that' the Andersons had
3opened their Summer home a month
isearlier.sS Marcellaf had been kind to
1 their little lad the year before and
they did not forget it. So she was go
ing undefsMfs. Anderson's wing to the
| Elbridges' grand entertainment
| The town had been agog over it
since before the cards were out 1t
marked The home e-coming of Elbridge
Gray. heir, and grandson. The would
| be wise said it would also signalize the
! aiiiAoohSVHiSlt VI HIS betfOtndl 10 SID
ney Cleve.
MarceBa had not gainsafd these
| wise ones, albeit-Eery certain that she
and her heart knew differently,
Back iathe days when Aunty Bah had
keptsa school for the very small chill
dren of Lithgod first families Elbridge
| Gray had been among her worst and
cleverest pupils, unmana geable unless
allowed to sit beside Marce1la and<
study her lessons instead of his own
| an raf h
small Turk. even after he had out
grown Miss Weirs school Indeed.
until he came to the age of; jackets
and shynSss heshad not hesitated to
claim her anywhere and everywhere.
to frown sulkily If she smiled at an
other lad. even to take her to task for
preferring girl friends. Then had
come the Christmas pantomime, in
which he had been fairly bridegroom,
she fairy bride. After the wedding
on the stage everybody had laughed
and teased them so he turned on her
as tho it were her fault and rudely cast
her off -
That had lasted for year-then
her. You know you belong to me
just thess same, but folks mustn't
know he HAD cautioned.e THE idiots
laugh se2and look so sly and-hate-
full. %Of5zcourse I'll marry you when
we anes;gfown up-but don't you tell
1
She had not told. She would never
tell. Efbridge had not written all
thru his tive years absence, but
neither had he forgotten-he had sent
her delicate remembrances at Christ
mas, st. Valentines, Easter and on
her birthday.
/ And when Grandmother Elbridge
paid her yearly call at the cottage she
| never forgot to say: "Efbridge asked
me to- make you two his compliments
EwshenA a saw YOU'D xesa~s. a
\ After thaf she usually launched into
! eloquent accounts of her grandson
| how he was an honor man. or chosen
to the most exclusive secret societies;
| how his classmates all but fought for
| the privilege of entertaining him in
| their fine homes-after a while what
| a figure he cut in the promenades and
i at commencements. Then he had
/ gone abroad and it was the same
| thing-London had welcomed him,
| Paris made him free of fits best
| That was nothing remarkable, she
gave you to understand. OF course,
/ Eibridge himself did not tell all these
| things-it was his friends, and the
! family's, who took pains to let her
I know he was getting the due of his
i name and blood, to say nothing of
his looks and his talents.
/ Grandmother had let Lithgow folk
know of.-Sidney Cleve. HI was at
school with her grandmother at Miss
! Hale'si Elbridge met her In Paris, and
they. are the greatest friends An
heiress?
+ "'Of course. You must have heard
of the great Cleve iron works. A
beauty. too. l hear the artists almost
fight for the chance of painting her
| You will see her5 1alaXbess a little later
,i-this, with a signiftea ut smile. "Of
course. she is: greatly run after, but
/ from all can hear. she does not lack
respect for age, and family, and all
that .i
Marcella had listened with beat
ing heart. yet somehow her faith had
not grown weak. Judge then what
4 caFue to hersef ruth and blackness.
when at last she found herself ia cling
Elbridge With Miss Gleve upon his
arm. and heard him. say: Sidney, 1
want you to know my good angel. But
for Marcella I should have grown up
safage-if my wiekedness had per-
| mltted me to grow up at all" Some
how she had held herself upright.
somehow answered properly-alI she
was conscious of afterward was the
false flute note in Sidney CIeve's voice.
/ She sensed her rivals words rather
/ than heard them; they We're exactly
what they should have been, but be-
reath, and between them, MarceIla
heard hate. The hate puzzled her; by
a sort of sixth sense she had OWNED
| that Sidney CleYe did not love Ell
bridge; it must be his possessions.
But she could give no warning; it
bwould be set down to jealousy. Besides
she had no proof other than her own
/ instinct. Instinct fares badly when
topposed to a womans S alIuring beauty
and a mans love.
i Despair when deep enough is tonic.
Marcella found herself laughing. talk.
ing gayly, dancing like thistledown
with feet that did not tire. She did
not let herself think back nor for
ward; instea6 she concentrated her
self upon the flying. moment.
With a curious dual sense she went
thru her own allotted part, yet took
note of all about her. 1t was thus
that very late she marked Sidney's abb
instant Elbridge came up to her.
"Give me this waltz-no matter
nI,. airlir har.