The Shoulders of Atlas: A NovelFreeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins
General
The Shoulders of Atlas: A Novel
Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins
New England -- Fiction
"Thank God!" Horace thought, as his eyes met one and another of the
girl-faces. "She is not, cannot be, a common type." And then he felt
something like a chill of horror as his eyes met those of a new
pupil, a girl from Alford, who had only entered the school the day
before. She was not well dressed. There was nothing coquettish about
her, but in her eyes shone the awful, unreasoning hunger which he had
seen before. Upon her shoulders, young as they were, was the same
burden, the burden as old as creation, which she was required to bear
by a hard destiny, perhaps of heredity. There was something horribly
pathetic in the girl's shy, beseeching, foolish gaze at Horace. She
was younger and shyer than Lucy and, although not so pretty,
immeasurably more pathetic.
"Another," thought Horace. It was a great relief to him when, only a
week later, this girl found an admirer in one of the schoolboys, who,
led by some strange fascination, followed her instead of one of the
prettier, more attractive girls. Then the girl began to look more
normal. She dressed more carefully and spent more time in arranging
her hair. After all, she was very young, and abnormal instincts may
be quieted with a mere sop at the first.
When Horace reached home that day of the drive he found that Rose had
returned. Sylvia said that she had been at home half an hour.
"She went to Alford," she said, "and I'm afraid she's all tired out.
She came home looking as white as a sheet. She said she didn't want
any dinner, but finally said she would come down."
At the dinner-table Rose was very silent. She did not look at Horace
at all. She ate almost nothing. After dinner she persisted in
assisting Sylvia in clearing away the table and washing the dishes.
Rose took a childish delight in polishing the china with her
dish-towel. New England traits seemed to awake within her in this New
England home. Sylvia was using the willow ware now, Rose was so
pleased with it. The Calkin's soap ware was packed away on the top
shelf of the pantry.
"It is perfectly impossible, Aunt Sylvia," Rose had declared, and
Sylvia had listened. She listened with much more docility than at
first to the decrees of sophistication.
"The painting ain't nearly as natural," she had said, feebly,
regarding the moss rosebuds on a Calkin's soap plate with fluctuating
admiration which caused her pain by its fluctuations.
"Oh, but, Aunt Sylvia, to think of comparing for one minute ware like
that with this perfectly wonderful old willow ware!" Rose had said.
"Well, have your own way," said Sylvia, with a sigh. "Maybe I can get
used to everything all blue, when it ain't blue, after awhile. I know
you have been around more than I have, and you ought to know."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account