The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-08-11
Black and White.


pIised that Gus Parry should condescend
to lie fascinated by Bella Ward; in the
end, everybody was even more surprised
that Bella should be contented with Gus
Parry.
In the beginning Gus stroned down
Somerset street, eating fred paice out
of a scrap of newspaper, and saw Bella
sewing at her mothers doorway.
They were neighbors and knew each
other by sight.
'HaIlo!' Gus calculated, d-laying to
look at her; and it struck him, for the
first tine. that she was rather pretty.
She glanced sup and nodded shyiy.
lave a bit?" he urged her, coming
step nearer and proffering the con-
tents of the PAPER.
No, thanks"
She shook her head and blushed, acute
ly sensible of the complime MT he was
paying her.
where yer go,n tonight?' he in
quir5d, rlac:d.y resuming his eating.
Nowhere"
I'm goin' to the Standard-the the
aytre. Come wiz us?"
7 dunno" Bella affected indifrer-
ence; but she was very much fattered
and a little afraid he might feel sighted,
so she added abruptly, IF yer like
And next day Haggerston talked about
1t, and wondered.
For the two were divided by divers So
CIal and other disparities Gus was
handsome in his way, and tasty, after
woIF,ng hours, in the cut and pattern of
his garments while Bella's prettiness
was of the quietest type, and her hat
and dress were not elegant even of
Sunday. Moreover Gus had local repu-
tatiCn for ga lantry and was credited
with the breaking of many hearts; but
Bella was so retic5n and retiring that
# crl1l -lono Il
aware Of ner attractiveness. Gus most
ly had money to spend, for though his
salary as a bother at the mineral water
factory was not large, he was talented
as a hacker of winners; but it was as
much as Bella and her mother could do
to live from hand to mouth by tailoring
hard the day long in their one stuffy
groUnd-foor room in the poorer section
of Somerset street.
Somerset street was nigh and narrow,
and squalid, with a barren paving
stretching up its dreary quarter mi
vista. 1t was partially shut off from the
main road at the Haggerston end by a
massive wrought-iron gateway, which
was rusted now and broken, and had lost
its gates. This gateway gave an aris-
tocratic touch to it which the street
itself did not live up to; for as there was
no road through 1t for vehicles it was
not only converted into a safe and COM
mon playground for the swarming
children of the district, but was thckly
intersected by clothes lines from some
or other of which drying clothes fiut-
tered daily.
The best society Of the street was to
be found at the gate end, where Gus
Parry dwet with his people; Bella and
ner mother lodged at the other end,
where there were more tenants to the
square inch, and. consequently, more
clothes lines.
When the establishment at Gus Parry's
latest fancy grew stale, people laughed,
and told one another 1t would not last
long; he would soon tire of Bella as he
had tired of far finer charmers often
enough before.
Meanwhile, the strange thing was that
Bella really did seem to take quite a
remarkable hold upon him. Whether it
was her very unlikeness to all other girls
of his acquaintance, her novel simplicity,
her gentleness and modesty, that at
tracted and subdued him, it was a fact
that evening after evening he sauntered
to her door and leaned there chatting
with her as she sat sewing, for the sake
Of the fresher air, just inside the pas
sage; or If she were not out there ne
would put his head into their front
room and start a casual conversation
with her and her mother.
He walked out with Bella occastonallv
that was undeniable; 81 rumor even OBJ
tanned that he had accompanied her one
evening to the shop that employed her
and her mother and had carried her
bulky parcel Of work for her; but nobody
believed this of him, until he was posi-
lively known to do something quite as
extraordinary one Saturday in May, and
after that everybody was prepared to be-
ieve anything.
On that Saturday afternoon he took
Bella to a secondhand shop in the
Kingsland road, and purchased a stuffed
owl under a glass shade which was sent
to be stored in Bella's lodging. The sig
nificance of this action was unmistak-
able; it was the first step towards a.
home of their own
Bella was very happy in those days, and
Ter happiness lit new light in her eyes
and seemed, somehow, to make her pref
tier than ever. Any who noticed this
thought it but natural Bella was lucky;
Bella was envied; Bella was hated; and
ell because Gus loved her.
Nevertheless, there was no lack of I'M
beheVers who wagged their heads and
said darkly:
IT'S all nothing. Ell soon ave 'ad
enough of it. You wait an see."
And presently those who waited saw
Gus in attendance upon Alice Bates, the
belle Of DENLY Lane, hard BY
belIa was duly informed of this, but
forfeited the sympathy she might have
gained by the evasive brevity of ner re-
sponses. She could not disguise her suf-
ferings, but she would not talk of THEN.
To and fro she trudged every other day
carrying her big parcel Of work as usual.
but her face grew thinner, and her eyes
lost their light, and her prettiness began
to fade.
Still Gus kept away, and still she never
wrote to aim or attempted to waylay
him, as others he had Tilted used to; on
the contrary, being proud in her poor
way she rather avoided him. and it NAV
be that Gus resented this and was pioued
by her apparent unconcern.
Hcwheit, as she sat pensively sewing
one evening in the doorway, a shadow
fell across ner and she knew without
looking up that Gus was there.
Cheer Bellai" said he, COMM out?"
He was shamefaced ana uncomfortable
She shook her head, and would not
trust herself to speak.
WHY not?'
But she went on sewing in silence
Well yer needn't make yerself so
nacsty with a blohe,'' he protested. 81
was only larlHin'-never meant notnin'.