Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-03

tween them was the fercely main
tanned fiction of youth; eternal, pas
sonate, virile youth.
When she Jagged on her ridiculous
heels he would pause, breathleSS and asthmatic,
and they would admire the view.
Charming, Ell, darling?"
"IoVely. The on the river"
She would ease her small feet in her tight
slippers frivolous with buckles and look for a
bench; and seated, she would slide her feet out
Of her pumps, and he would take in a long
breath of air. He would look out over the
river, so as not to see what she had done, and
she never slipped her arm through his until he
had ceased the old fight of his for air.
Sometimes people passing stared at them; the
little old lady, with her dyed hair her bangles,
her unutterably frivolous hat Her loose throat
was secured by a wide band of black velvet,
with paste buckle in front, and this she wore
very tight, that at night there was the mark
of it on her neck, a red rectangle Which would
not rub away. On warm days the band made
her hot, and small thin trickles of the black
paste she used on her eyebrows and lashes
would extend down onto her cheeks.
Then he would say: There is a tiny smudge
NOf SCOT your cheek, dearest"
She would get out her mirror and wipe of the
stain, while he gazed out at the panorama Of
life which passed them as they sat on their
bench It moved so fast, so- incredibly fast.
There were days when he felt slightly dizzy from
it. although he never told her. He would not
wear glasses.
at am dirty" she would say repairing the
damage. '"They burn so much soft coal. There
ought to be law"
And as if to support this fiction between them,
to bolster up her pride. sometimes she would
lean toward him and flick imaginary SCOT from
his stiff white collar.
He was very straight, very aquiline, very old.
From the rear, as he marched along he gave
jaunty impression of youth-his fiat back, his
swinging cane, his neat spats And before her
Ianv coIaoe as1k1 claOHrl-
ders squared
CROSSING streets, he had to resist the inn
pulse to offer her his arm. She did not like
him to offer her his arm. 1t was as though she
was old and needed help.
Not that she told him that. She said it was
quaint; quaint and old fashioned.
Nobody does it, dear"
cit is those heels of yours" he would grumble.
"They are deadly and with things moving SO
FAST"
''You would hate me in anything else. You
know you would"
From under the mascara she would glance
UP at him coquettishly, and he would look
around quickly and then kiss her beringed hand.
So many rings, one after another; little dia-
monds, scraps of sapphires- sapphires were her
birth stone-baby pearls.
Il love your little feet. I love everything
about you"
She would color delicately under her purplish
rouge, and for moment there would be be-
tween them, not the Illusion of youth, but youth
itself Their hearts would beat little stronger;
his grasp on her hand would tighten. So they
would sit
Little children would pass them, turning
limpid eyes on them
Look Annie! Look at the funny people!"
flush, for goodness SakeI How often have
] told you-?"
But for that moment they were armored
against intrusion: just the two of them on a
park bench, seeing about them, like young
lovers. only shadowy world of no Importance.
On rainy days. or when the wind came
hercely down the river, they did not go ,out.
They sat in their tiny apartment, their two
chairs by the window, their knees touching
And often he read aloud to her, the stilted ro-
mances of their youth.
my dear master, / am Jane Eyre: I have
found you QUIT have come back to YOU"
When he read line like that she would
hesitate in her Sewing-she would be making
herself some dreadful bit of frippery out of
scraps from her trunk-and glance at him, but
he would read steadily on. He had not noticed,
or if he had
Years ago she herself had gone away from
him. wild impulse, soon regretted. She had
gone away with another man. But she had
come back again.
He would read on:
In truth? In the flesh? My living Jane?"
you touch me, sir-you hold me, and fast
enough: I am not cold like corpse, nor va
cant like air, am ~"
Yes, she had come back. It was long time
ago. He had blamed himself as well as her.
He had been jealous, and maybe inattentive.
He had had to work so hard, but that was
so they could lay up something for their old
hge. But it had been hard for him. He had been
uuieter since. It had done something to his
belief in himself. That was why she was so
careful now.
That's such nice tie. dear. It matches