The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-02-26
Euening Story
The S. o. S.
BY CRAWFORD LUTTRELL

comes spring, but it was quite evident,
fafter the first week of her sojourn in
the house of Captain Anstruthers. that
his sister Helen was going to have
sorry time OF it. She was. pretty
enough in her way. but that elusive
something that makes or mars a girls
success with men held no promise for
the captains uneasy wife, Anne.
What was she going to do with her
s.ster-in-law for a whole month?
! Men came, perfunctorily, at her bid
ding. They ate her dinners. nibbled
her cakes and drank her tea, but they
| returned the courtes,es with the air of
men paying just and honest debts
when they could make far happier use
of the money. None of them, on
leaving, fingered a little to grasp her
hand and whisper. shes some little
peach, your visitor, Say a good word
for me- How about dinner with me
tomorrow night, and could You
squeeze in a horseback ride for the
next Afternoon?
Something had to be done and done
quickly.
! Anne thought over the list of pos
sibilties. Her heart gave a little con-
vulsiVe gasp at thought CT sending an
S. O. s. to the colonel, and yet she
! looked forward happily to the oppor-
/ tunities that it would offer to exhibit
|
! the man she had refused in order to
marry Tom Anstruthers. There was
always a little glow of feminine sat
/ isfaction when she reflected that he
was still q bachelor because of her.
! His eyes We're inscrutable. unfathom-
! able. They looked at her as if they
We're still seeing the pretty innocent
young girl she had been when, visit
! ing the post years before. she had
chosen a husband because he was the
best looking officer there, the best
| dancer and the most adept at making
love. Well, she had paid for her fail
ure to discriminate, but nobody knew
! how much she had PAID. Outwardly
she was the toast OF the officers" mess,
| beautiful as a star and just as cold,
men found who ventured TO make up
for Anstruther's obvious lack of atten-
| ton.
She had never asked a favor of
! Colonel Kent. but the time had come
! when->she felt that the end justified
the means. She could not have Toms
quiet little sister go back home with
tale of unha Qpiness TO tell The gi1l
| had looked forward to the visit for
Years. Anne knew. She remembered
how it had been when she was young.
| So Anne wrote a little perfumed
note and asked the colonel to call at
! tea time the next day. She planned to
have a few others in so that she could
| take the colonel aside and explain
| just what was wanted without having
| Helen suspect anything.
She longed to wear a blue georgette
| frock deliberately embroidered in steel
| beads. but the colonel had often men
toned his fondness for her in that
| color in the never-toebe-f forgotten
| days Of youth, so she resolutely pushed
aside the anuring little garment and
selected Il drab gray to which only
her sapphires gave color.
| of course they had met almost every
| day in the year, but he never went to
Anne's house unless he was invited
there, and Anne only asked him when
| there were many other guests. Lately
| she had seen little of him. He was
| beginning to plead that middIe-aged
| officers ought to turn over social af-
fairs to the younger fellows and let
| them have their fling
When the few people whom she had
asked had all been served, Anne left
| the gay little tea table and casually
moved over to sit beside the colonel
I'm so glad that you came" she
said. I want to ask a big favor of
you
Granted" he answered. smiling in
scrutably. before you ask. as you
must have known it would be"
| Capt. Anstrutherss little sister is
| visiting me for q month. For some
reason. not known to me. she is not
proving very popular. My sixth sense
tells me that"
Woman intuition
! She is young, as you can see, so
young that her heart and her eyes are
still filled with dreams. L want her to
be gay and happy while she is here
Already she is beginning to feel that
the men are not rushing ner as she
had hoped they would. Can you help
me? VIII you help me to make her
! visit here all that 1 want it to be-
A little wistful smile played about
his full lips and etched with a bold
stroke the fine lines that were al
ready showing at the corners of his
brown eyes. It's a big task to put up
/ to a man whose own dreams have
never come true. but I'll do my best
Whatever you say goes, you know. 1
told you that same thing, fifteen years
ago.
! Only that once did she let the mask
fall. Her face went white as a snow
/ drop and her hand idly lingering the
bar OF sapphires on her breast, trem-
bled visibly. There was the agony of
confession in the eyes she lifted to his
for one brief moment. IF it hadn't
been for the memory of your kindness,
couldn't have endured it all these
years"
I know" His clasp on her hand
was warm, reassuring. "I'H do ev-
erything that 1 can for the girl"
If a miracle can happen, then one
| happened at the post. The end of
Helen's visit came and Anne knew
that no girl who had ever been
/ entertained there had enjoyed great
er. popularity. There had been rides.
luncheons. teas. dinners and theater
parties to the nearby city, all of them
sponsored by the able, quiet looking
colonel. Anne was grateful beyond
the power of words to express, but
the visit had been a trying one for
her She was conscious every time
that she saw the commanding Off
Ger at the post that all he did was
for her. She had worn her blue
dresses because she had heard him
say so many times in the old days
that blue was his favorite color. and
she wanted to please him because
he was doing SO much for her
He came to CALI alone, the night
before Helen was to leave. The girl
seemed strangely excited, as if she
We're just bubblinS over with happi-