The Monticellonian., 1904-06-23
A Business 
By BELLE MANIATES
Copyright. isOi, by Daily Story Pub. col

Copyright, isO by Daily Story Pub. Col
 EVERY seat in the car was taken when a young woman got on at Forty ninth street. She did not eye the passengers with the demanding glare that often is so effective in bringing re- turns, but quietly. and as matter of 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 to the young woman to be seated
 She thanked him graeiously and oecu- pied the place he had vacated. Gregory continually cast surreptitious glances in her direction, for she was most fair 10 look upon, with a refined, prepossess- ing face. She was dressed in perfect taste though not richly
 The conductor came forward to col- feet fares and she removed her gloves to search for the correct change. Greg ory noted appreeiatively the shapely hands and the diamond solitaire that gleamed on the third finger.
 He was so absorbed in his admiration of her that he forgot to have his own fare in readiness when the conductor came to him, and he fumbled in his pock cts in vain for small change. He took out long poeketbook which was well filled and selected one dollar bill from others of various denominations. Hav- ing dropped his 95 cents in change into his pocket, he folded up the pocketbook and was about to restore it to it's usual place when the young woman 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 voice exquisitely low and sweet
 Just then the person sitting beside hsr left the car and Gregory instantly appro- priated the vacant seat. He was not susceptible and not in the common &C., eeptance of the term ladies man, but he was attracted by the personnel of this young woman and possessed of desire to know her. He instinctively felt that he could not win her acquaintance by any other route than the conventional, straightforward introductory one. He wished he had not obeyed his first inn pulse in taking the scat 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. He opened newspaper, and while appar- ently 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- perienced sensation of face lost in the crowd. When he came to his street and was walking the block that intervened between the avenue and his apartments, he remembered the depositing of his pocketbook in his ovrcoat pocket He mechanically felt for it, but found the pocket empty.
 He started, felt again, turned to go to the street car barns. a short distance away, and then reflected. He had taken the seat beside the young woman di- reetly after he had placed 1t 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 fact. Again he thrust his 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 He re- called now that she had not put on her gloves again after paying 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 S200 that had been paid to him that afternoon after banking hours The ring was prob ably worth SS0 It was not very large. though very good stone, as his critical eye decided. He resolved to take no steps to recover his property, although he would like the papers and data in the pock ketbook. He shrank from hay ing il known that he had been the vic tim of woman in broad daylight. Still more did he shrink from seeing her &C., eused of such an act He decided to keep the ring as warning not to be a school boy and go daffy over passing face again.
 He inserted in the papers little no- tiee signed "Z. notifying the person who took the pocketbook that the ring could be had in exchange for same
 Two days later he received package with frst-class postage on, but not reg istered. Opening it. he found the pocket book with contents intact-save the money His card with address had en- abled the sender to return.
 HEAR FROM EXPEDITIONS