Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-24


Though winds which still helt
~ the tang of Winter counter
acted the effects of a brillian
tnidafternoon sun. the small park was
full of people-children in go-carts and
perambulators. old. weary and ailinG
folks who needed an airing. a group
OF women discussing something with
great enthusiasm. Sue glanced al
them all indifferently. impressed by
the fact that as usual she recognized
nobody. then turning her back she
stared into a larch tree near her.
The larch tree made her think OF
home. There had been one at the
southeast corner Of the old gray
house. Her father had planted it.
At night she could hear it talking
outside her window. 1t had seemed
TO tell her wonderful secrets Of life
and happiness. Then suddenly her
father died. the old gray house was
sold TO pay the debts and she and
her mother came TO the city. where
there was a promise of work for
both of them. And now her mother
was gone and she was alone. Worse
than that, she had lost her job 1t
wasn't much of a job, bur such as it
was it sufficed to feed and shelter
and clothe her and allow her to lay
a
She didn't know where TO look for
another such job. And SO as she
stared, at the friendly larch tree she
cried softly, wiping the tears off her
checks with furtive dabs of her hand
kerchief. She couldn't have done that,
OF course, If she had used either pow
der or rouge. As a matter of fact
she left her complexion alone. 1t was
line. clear, pale. but suited to her
gray eyes with their long, black
lashes and arrowy black brows. Her
clothes We're just what YOU would ex-
pect a girl of her kind to wear
"a plain. dark coat and hat chosen
for serviceability and warmth and
sensible, low wheeled shoes. sturdy
protection from damp sidewalks,
Something passed under the larch
tree, whlrled along by a chill gust,
and landed in her lap. A piece of
paper-with marks upon it. She
looked down at it, arresting its course
by laying her hand upon it. And sud
denly she felt a thrill of interest. 1t
was only the back of an old envelope,
but 1T bore a small, we'll conceived
plan for a bungalow. A four-room
bungalow with everything carefully
designated save the place for the
Kitchen sink. But almost anybody
except a woman would have left
that out.
Sue, brooding over the plan, visual
lied the bungalow completed. with
rose vines on the tiny porch, larch
tree maybe to swing over it. A four
room bungalow. 1t was what she and
her mother had always talked of hav-
ing when their ship came in. Alas,
the ship had gone the ways of so
of
beg your PARDON Sue looked
up, startled. A young man stood be-
fore her; he was dark, grace, ear
nest. She, who had worked in a place
where there were many men as we'll
as women, knew something about
races. She recognized instantly that
lnlS mans face was out of the or
binary In quality of expression. Il
beg your pardon" he said again, "but
! see the wind brought you a bit of
paper that belongs to me-"
Sue held out the paper. On the
other side of the envelope was writ
ten name in clear woman's hand.
Mr.. Rupert Holley." with the ad
dress. Rupert Holleyi Why. he was
the man Louise Wright was always
talking about-her brothers friend
There couldn't be two Rupert Hol-
leys.
It's all right" she said. except
for one thing"
What is that?" He was inter-
ested.
The kitchen sink. You haven't
allowed for it. And it ought to go
under the window somewhere. A
woman naturally wants light when
she washes dishes or cleans vege-
tables"
4 see. Would you mind showing
me He sat down beside her
with her permission and they settled
the matter of the kitchen sink.
1t was now time for Sue to go
home. She arose. He walked with
ner as far as the entrance. There
they parted. She never expected to
see him again.
But she thought of him. He had
made strong impression. 1t was
odd. She did not care for men, was
bit afraid of them, in fact. but he
seemed so candid and decent, 30
trustworthy. She wished she dared
ask Louise Wright about him. but
upon the one occasion when Louise
came to see her his name was not
mentioned between them. She, how
ever. had reasoned it all out. The
bungalow was for the woman who
had written his name on that en-
velope-a woman's envelope, wom-
ans handwriting
But he would never have known
about the kitchen sink but for me-"
she thought with a sigh.
Two weeks later Sue found another
job. 1t wasn't quite SO much of a
job as the first. but it would do.
Only she would have to change her
room in order to be nearer. She
hunted her new room painstakingly.
1t was small. but newly furnished,
with a good window and she could
get breakfast and dinner all very
reasonably. Besides. she saw that
she was going to like Mrs. Moran,
her new landlady. And her job
wasn't so bad. She got the hang of
IT Immediately.
There really semed some reason
for her being joyful and that first
evening she walked into Mrs Moran's
dining room she had a smile to go
with her apology for being late. They
were all at the table-eight men and
wonderland as Mrs. Moran intro
duced the newcomer Sue found her
self looking into the eyes of Rupert
Holley. More than that, her seat at
the table was beside him.
How does this happen ?" he asked
her in a low tone as he passed her