The citizen., 1901-02-22
; "A CORRECTED
) PREJUDICE. E
A Story of q Girl, Young Man and
Railroad Car.
oAoAoNoAoNNoNoNoAoA


A merry party was on the station plat.
form when Mabel Rodman, her arms full
Of roses, waved her adieus from the real
platform of the car. The house party
was breaking up, and she was on her
way home. 1t had been a lovely week,
and her mind was still filled with the
nearness of its delights She sat back
with her eyes upon the flying landscape,
but her thoughts were elsewhere
Then she realized that somebody was
standing in the aisle. She looked around.
tall young man with a frank smile
was gazing down at her. He raised his
hat.
This Is quite a pleasant surprise" he
said. "No, it isn't" he laughingly added.
Strange how we get in the habit of say
ing those meaningless things. It's
great pleasure, of course. but it isn't a
surprise l knew you were going on
this train"
The roses and her handbag and the
latest magazine were on the seat beside
her, but Mabel did not offer to remove
them.
She answered his greeting in well
bred and dignihed way, with no trace of
special friendliness in her tone
Presently with courteous phrase in
which he expressed the hope that he
could help to brighten her journey he
raised his hat and passed along, evident.
ly on his way to the smoking car.
Mabel took up her magazine, but
though her eyes were on the page her
thoughts were on Arthur Blake. He
was certainly fine looking and very well
Bred but these qualifications could not
excuse his lack of ambition and his idle
ways. OF course it was his misfortune
rather than his fault. Rich mems sons
were usually handicapped in this way.
And yet Mabel felt she could hardly for
give Arthur Blake. The fact is he was
the only cloud on an otherwise perfect
vista. The very first time she had met
him he had shown his admiration so
plainly that it was almost embarrassing.
Probably nobody else had noticed it, but
it was almost strange if they had failed
to do So 1t was true that he hadn't
paid her any really marked attentions.
but there was a different look in his
eyes when he addressed her and a sof-
tened modulation of his voice that told
the story quite too plainly. She had left
her Pittsburg home for a good time, and
1t irritated her to have this serious ele.
ment intruding itself on her week of gay
ETY.. For Arthur Blake. evidently was
serious, as serious as such a frivolous
fellow could be. That he was an idler
she was quite sure. His time seemed to
be entirely his own. And here he was
now actually taking the very train she
had taken in order to be near her. She
would show him that his tactics were not
appreciated. She was not to be won in
any such way. No doubt he had set his
heart on her as he might on any gilded
toy that his rich papa could buy. Well,
his heart would be disappointed this time,
if he really had a heart.
There was a great deal of mirror work
along the sides of the car. There were
strips of glass between the windows, and
there were other strips below them, and
Mabel, musing above her magazine, with
its cover opened before her as a pretense,
found that by looking in these strips at
certain angles she could get a very fair
view of number of her fellow passen-
gers along the other side of the aisle.
And just as she made this discovery
Arthur Blake returned. He came down
NV "iSiS duu luIeW nasty glance at
her as he passed and then took seat on
the opposite side of the car little back
of where Mabel sat.
There was no doubt that he was a fine
looking fellow. or course Mabel took
good care that he shouldn't discover that
she was watching him. Then she soon
found out that although he had every
opportunity to watch her he didn't avail
himself of the chance as he might have
done. On the contrary. he only threw
two or three casual glances in her direc-
tion as if to assure himself that she was
all right. Then he drew some letters
from his pocket and looked them through.
When he had finished them. he produced
a memorandum book and made num-
ber of figures. And Mabel noticed that
his face wore quite different expression
while these business transactions were
under way. After he put aside his
memorandum book he sat still for a mo-
ment. and his brow was knit as if in deep
thought over some abstruse problem.
And Mabel. covertly watching him in the
mirror, felt that this was an Arthur
Blake whom she had never met.