Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1904-06-25
A Business
nsac
Copyright, 1901, By Daily Story Pub. col
BY BELLE MANDATES

Copyright. 1901, By Daily Story Pub, col
livery seat in the car was taken
+, when a young IN got on at
FOrty-ninth streets She did not eye the
passengers with the demanding glare
that often is so effective in bringing re-
turns, but quietly, and as a matter oil
course, attached herself to the strap
nearest the back platform. In an instant
Gregory, at the farther end Of the car,
arose and, lifting his hat, motioned 10
the young woman to be seated.
She thanked him g%raciously and occu-
pied the place he had vacated. Gregory
continually cast surreptitious glances
in her direction, for she was most fair
to look upon, with a refined, progresses
ing face. She was dressed in perfect
taste though not richly,
The conductor came forward to col
lect fares and she removed her gloves
to search for the correct change. Greg
DRY noted apprcciatively the shapely
hands and the diamond solitaire that
cleaned on the third finger.
lie was so absorbed in his admiration
II her that he forgot TO have his own
fare in readiness when the conductor
came to him. and he fumbled in his peck
cts in vain for small change. He took
ont a long po%cketbook which was well
G1lan md rplortoI a cnp dollar hill from
others of various denominations. Hay-
ing dropped his 95 cents in change into
his pocket, he folded up the p%ocketbook
and was about to restore it TO its usual
place when the young m to whom
he had given his seat dropped her purse.
Quickly thrusting his pocketbook into
the right hand outer pocket Of his over
coat, he picked up her purse and handed
It TO her, receiving a courteous Thank
you" in a voice cxquisitely low and
sweet,
just then the person sitting beside her
left the car and Gregory Instantly appro-
priated the vacant seat, He was not
susceptible and not in the common ac-
ceptance Of the term a ladies' man. but
he was attracted by the personnel Of this
young woman and possessed of a desire
10 know her. He instinctively felt that
ne could not win her acquaintance by
any other route than the conventional,
straightforward Introductory me. He
wished he had not obeyed his first i'm
pulse in taking the seat beside her, for
in his former position, he had the advan-
tage of being permitted 10 look at her,
which he Of course could not do now
without being guilty of staring. lie
opened a newspaper, and while appar-
emily scanning the headlines, he was
trying TO fathom the problem of meeting
her, They were in the suburbs now, and
nearly all the passengers had alighted.
Presently the young woman beside
him arose and walked quickly to the
rear, and before he realized the fact,
she had stepped from the car, and he was
being whirled onward with the oft-ex-
p|erienCed sensation of a face lost in the
crowd. When he came to his street and
was walking the block that interviewed
between the venue and his apartments,
he remembered the depositing of his
pocketbook in his ovrcoat pocket. lie
mechanically felt for it, but found the
pocket empty.
He started, felt again, turned to 20 to
the street car barns, a short distance
away, and then reflected. lie had taken
the seat beside the young woman di-
rectly after he had placed it in his
pocket--the one next TO her. No one
had occupied the seat after she left the
car and when he got off, there was no
one on board save the conductor who
had not been near him. All things
pointed directly in the line of circum-
stantial evidence TO her as the thief.
But no! He would never believe so i'm
possible a fact. Again he thrust bis
hand into his pocket in the vain hope
of finding It. He encountered a small
object down in one corner and drew
forth a diamond ring, the diamond ring
he had noticed on her finger. lie re-
called now that she had not put on her
gloves again after paving her fare.
More bitter to him than the loss of his
money was the convincing proof of her
theft. He was a man of comfortable
income and he would not suffer any de-
privation from the abstraction of his
pocketbook, which contained 5000 that
had been paid to him that afternoon
after banking hours. The ring was prob
ably worth $50. 1t was not a very large, !
though a very good stone, as his critical
eve decided. He resolved to take no
steps to recover his property, although
he would like the papers and data in
the pocketbook. lie shrank from hav-
ing it known that he had been the vic
tim of a oma in broad daylight. Still
more did he shrink from seeing her ac-
cused of such an act. lie decided to keep
boy and 20 daffy over a passing face
again.
He inserted in the papers a little no
tIce signed H." notifying the person
who took the pocketbook that the ring
could be had in exchange for same,
Two days later he received a package
with first-class postage on, but not reg
istered. Opening II, he found the pocket
book with contents intact-savo the
money. His card with address had en-
abled the sender 10 return,