The Washington times., 1903-06-28

| thlng mat she earned vas swept up %
/ her grandmother to pay for those dark
intOlerable little rooms. What was the
use. The tears overfiowed the soft
/ eyes and splashed on the petal of q
silk poppy which she had picked up as
she passed the work table. Then she
looked up and caught Jerry's smile.
| After that the little house interested
her greatly She had never before no
ticed the Intricate workings OF the busy
switchboard. but now she watched Jer-
rvs strong hands manipulating the le-
vers. and pretended he was playing a
mighty organ, the different engines
whistling in different keys as they re-
/ piled to his signals. II was only Jer-
rvs hand that she watched. She never
had the courage to look into his face
for fear he would smile again. and she
had Just a little suspicion that he was
/ smiling at her folly. Did he know about
the Inconsistencies. and the little hump
backed grandmother. and her beloved
Paris?
| Jerry. being no idle dreamer, never
tried to picture anything Of the sort.
| He simply knew she was different
/ from the other workers IN the factory
which touched elbows with his little
house. and that the disagreeable look
| ing foreman was probably a slave
driver in his way. and made life a bur
den for one OF Nichette's apparent re-
Anement
Then spring came. The windows OF
the big house and the one window OF
2 ho Il 81
one day. as Nichette stood watching
Jerry during her incoming. he turned
suddenly between trains and asked her
sharply why she did not go out. There
was a square with trees and flowers and
children just beyond-"beyant," he pro-
nounced it-and she ought not to stay
cooped up in that smelly place all the
day long.
Just then a train was due and Jerry
went back TO work, while Nichette.
startled but accustomed always to
obey, slipped back to the peg where
her hat hung and walked straight 70
the park She had picked up enough
English to catch all that Jerry said.
and she felt a childish right to fnl
her way by the aid OF a policeman.
After that she went to the square
every day, always nodding good-by 20
Jerry and going. lot so much because
she cared for tho trip. for IT soon pallod
on her. but with an indefnable feeling
that this man with the merry smile
knew what was best Cor her.
When June came and brought the first
touch of hot weather Nichette hated
worse than ever the noisy. narrow street
where her family lived. She dreaded
going home at night. One evening. with
a strange sense of rebellion. she turned
in the opposite direction when she left
the factory. and sat, hungry. but quiet.
in the little square. The children who
had been playing on the grass went
home TO supper. other factory hands
hurried toward the ferry, and the spar
kle OF the sun no longer caught the wa
ter Of the fountain.
So Jerry found her as he started home.
He was not relieved until Z o'clock. and
usually he had no time to lose, for be
lived in a small suburban town across
the river. Now, however, he quite for
got that such things as time cards and
ferrybOats existed
He told her about his mothers cot
tage in the Jersey town, with the flowers
In the front yard and the vegetables
thriving in the back lot, to say nothing
of a horeysuckle vine on the side porch
and a promising young cherry tree near
the rain barrel. Nichette waxed &C.