Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-01-09

Even when hear him coming
down the street on his way to the
factories or when he stops by from
me- inc ai s;s meeting; even when !
street, it's like a soldier with new
spurs on his boots was marching to
stand by US. Amt it so?"
He was slower still to release her
hand.
That's why. Lo. I-even IL you can
get the hankering out Of your sys-
tenn L"
II amt hankering. Al; honest. darling.
l."
you don't mean that, Lo."
DO! Do! Do! Lemme go. darling:
femme put some bulbs out. Lemme
hurry. darling"
She broke from him with a great
show of raillery.
DY afternoon the sun had shifted
so that the warm flood Of light lay
to the rear and streamed into the small
square kitchen with its rows Of uten-
sils rejecting and cleaning. A few
gray chickens prinked in the open
doorway and on the window sill a
potted geranium lifted its head CRATE
full to the light. On that same win:
dow sill coffee pot. lid back. turned
its black mouth to the sun. Mrs. Lola
Delano swabbed out a great shining
dish pan and hung 1t in its row along
the wall. The pink was high in her
face and her fingers would recoiL
"Ugh!"
Nothing. AL. I'll be in there right
Shall wheel you back here, honr'
mo. no. I like to watch the kids
coming from school,"
the immemorial fashion OF those to
whom falls this ancient and greasy
. rite, slapped 1t open and hung 1t
across the sill. Blonde tendrils of
hair chung to her moist face.
tude Of the morning except that his
more completely relaxed, Mr.: Al De-
lano gased to the white ceiling. The
clean litter Of wood carvings lay
ssSe ss.,de the fnIs nns OF
handicraft. Otherwise the small room
with its sticks of decent oak furni-
| ture. manipulated swinging lamp and
great Japanese fan spread like pea
cock tail before the cold fireplace. was
spick and carefully ordered. A ca
nary hoped in its cage. silent.
Mrs. Delano dragged a chair across
the floor and beside the Uttered table.
You-why amt you working. Al7''
She placed q quick hand upon his
brow.
IT'S because you amt feeling right.
and you won't tell me. I'm going for
Doc. Tell me, darling. are you hav-
ing that numblike feeling up around
your hearth"
"sure I amt Lo. It's spring fever's
got me: Even in my act I used to go
dead like tire when spring came"
Take little nap. darling. You
amt slept in daytime ever since you
started the carving. Lemme pull
down the shade and fix you for a
He was mildly reluctant.
II gotta finish the grapevine design
for them lids. Lo."
Didn't Ben say the minute you get
working too hard not another job does
he send up from the factory"
Like 1t makes any difference. Poor
old gink, he thinks I don't know that
II he wasn't in back Of US. my little
wood carving wouldn't keep US in
shoe 1aces."
'sh-h-h-h; here. femme fix your pill
low"
"what'l you do all alone this after
noon il doze OF, 10? Put on your
little hat, baby. the pink one that Ben
likes. and stroll uptown past the Office
so he can see you. Don't stick around
here SO much. baby"
mo, I gotta clear out that trunk,
AL. All winter it's been standing
around and wanna get at 1t and get
it down in the cellar and out Of the
way"
She leaned over and kissed his
them, lowered the shade and tip-toed
out, closing the door after her.
The boxlike bedroom. hedged in
between the kitchen and front room.
might have been the builders after
thought. A white pine bed and white
stand, left An area between them the
size Of a door mat. damned between
the bed and the wall, black galvan-
lied trunk crowded out the rooms
sole aisle.
The drone of midafternoon de-
scended. A million notes swan in
bar Of sunshine which started
through the windows and lay across
the black trunk. The two-ten accom-
mediation pulled out of the nearby sta
a time whistled back twice from out
over the greenlike prairie. A child
throbbing with freedom ratified his
lunch bucket along the picket fence.
Mrs. Delano tidied the dressing
stand top and wit, with a. = handkerchief ,,sn
it squeaked. Then she fumbled in a
drawer among a litter Of keys, un-
hooked q small one from its ring and,
spreading herself beside the trunk in
tho cross-limbed attitude of shah,
flung open the lid.
The musty odors of the theater,
which are as ingratiating as the
fumes of Circe's cup. rose immedi-
ately like steam. Her lips parted and
she delved.
within her and her heart took flight,
soaring backward through resilient
time and space into yesterdays. Fa.
tigue vanished as rage before Abra-
cadabra and Oh-la-la was her song
"Oh-h-h-h-Lo-o!'
She paused. poised on her toes, her
arms flung in circle over her head
and the quick color draining out of
her face-paused in this tableau vi
want as 4 caught in a paralysis.
For q frozen instant she glanced
about her. dragged at the bed cover
ing as a cloak for her finery, but it
chung to its mornings and, abandon
ing it in her frenzy, she burst through
the door into the darkened front room.
lay atop the rug. 1t was limp and
strangely cold.
+ i
AT s o'clock Adalai finished its day
\ with q bleating Of factory whis-
ties and q sonorous booming of the
First Presbyterian chimes. Main
street closed its shop doors and white
arc lights sprang out before two cine
matograph theaters. Joe's Place, Fray
ley's Ice Cream Parlor and the Red
Trunk Five and Ten Cent Store
open evenings.
At sac the prairie flyer Numbered
into the station, with q row Of por-
tiers swaying ON its coach steps. stools