The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-16
Our Daily $bcrt Story

i Unconsciously she fell into the slang of the other girls.
 She rose with fresh determination and began to dress for dinner She pulled out her best frock. the one kept religi- ously for Sundays, and her good slip. pers. She would dress up like the other girls. She would even make up" like Daisy. the landIadys daugh- ter To do this she had to improgfse cosmetics. A rose petal from her best
 hat put color Into her cheeks and lips.
 She darkened her brows and lashes. She | almost fancied that she saw in the | face reflected q likeness to Mrs. Live- l ly. the wife of drummer further down
 the hall. Then she began to comb her hair. Not in the usual knot, but in an elaborate and much tangled pompadour By the time she had her dress but. | toned. the dinner bell rang and. with. out taking time to consider her daring
 she ran lightly down Co the dining | room. She did not see, fortunately, the elevated brows behind her back. or hear any of the whispered comments
 on her appearance. It was a pity she
 did not know that one man. Mir. HugheA
 the kindly-faced new boarder, was dis- appointed in her. Before this he had felt a certain shy friendliness for the
 modest little bookkeeper, who reminded him somehow of fragrant clover blos-
 som in a bunch of artificial flowers. And | so. he was thinking. as he watched her | fiippant and painted, that she was like the others, after all. He felt a mild
 sort of pity that he could not have ex- l plained to himself. but all the time | he knew that the others were making fun of Miss Peters behind her back. l But the little bookkeeper. with an | almost fierce gaiety. was chattering away to a commercial student who sat next to her. After dinner she followed | the others in the parlor. still deter, mined to be one of them. Her conn panion at dinner was at her heels, en- | couraging her. Later she went to sit l on the steps to the side gallery with
 him while he smoked a cigarette. 1 Have one7" he invited. companions ably. Daisy smoked one with me last night" For an instant Miss Peters face went white under the paint--with
 anger Then she remembered she
 must be like the others if she wanted | to be popular No one could be popu-
 lar and be a prig.
 sse reached out for the cigarette. and | the young man offered her light from the one he was smoking-and moved
 up nearer. Two whiffs of the cigarette | turned her deathly faint
 | T think I'll go up to my room," she faltered, throwing 1t aside with a liz tie forced laugh.
 |
 game enough to finish 1t? Must be your first one."
 Tt is,' she admitted. fighting back her disgust for her companion. Good I night"
 Aren't you going to kiss me good nightT he whispered. rising. Daisy
 always"
 HOW dare" But Miss Peters did not finish. She stumbled blindly through the dining room and on up the three flights of stairs to her own room. She slammed the door and dropped on her knees beside the tiny white bed.
 70 God" she sobbed, what have I done? Why did you let me do ity what did 1t matter if I were ugiyi
 That had no friends. Nothing mat ters any more! have lost everything
 now. My self-respect is go-one for | ever"
 | And she was on her knees. still sob
 ping and praying in the dark when the Iast boarder came in for the night and
 passed whistllng to his room at
 o'clock.