Smyrna times., 1905-02-08
ON THE
UA> - By LUCY
BOAT SARNE S
t,o,artght, 1904, bU 4. S. Richardson
.osOsOOOsOsOOOOoOSOsOeO

something wrong. A sense of the I'M
stross of things had been growing up
~ her for full fifteen minutes. Seat
od in the corner of a big divan on the
Albany day boat, she had gradually
uakened to the realization that, no mat
Tor who passed by, glances furtive and
ooen had been cast in her direction
Not that this was an unusual atten-
ton for Margaret to receive. Chances
f n admiration had followed her ever
since she had passed from spindling
oirlhood into glorious young woman
4 hood But these glances were differ
ont The expression in the eyes of the
women said quite clearly, THANK
T. heaven I am not as you arer' The
z admiration in the eyes of men was
A mixed unmistakably with pity.
Margaret reached blindly in the di-
g. rection of her hat. The little bend in
the back was squarely above the coil
at the nape of the neck. Perhaps 1t
had slipped back too far. She raised
M lef udllu anu ACAL VI hCl DOluDduOuEs
n She knew by touch that there was Just
r. enough hair showing in the front It
might be SCOT on the tip of her nose.
. She drew forth her handkerchief and
B dabbed the tip of that member, but 20
III spot showed on the cambria. Then
B she tried her chin and her cheek bones
) 4 with the same result.
An An Odious woman, lolling in a pat
ent rocker, smiled at her, but it was
= n a plying smile. Not for worlds would
: n Margaret have asked that woman
n what was wrong. And a woman who
4 n wore a lace net dress to travel in would
not have sense enough to tell another
woman what had happened.
IN By the time Margaret had reached
this conclusion she was actually per-
n spring with nervousness. She was
d 4 not a girl whose thoughts ran entirely
n on dress and appearance, but she
n ri viewed with scorn the ungrOomed wo-
n Ii man And at this moment she was
IN morally certain that her grooming had
# slipped a cog. She reviled the manage
Y ment of the boat line which did not
panel its saloon with mirrors, but not
Y for worlds would she have walked the
length of that saloon to a dressing
4 room. She preferred to sit in the lime
light of the restless passengers to run
ming the gantlet Of the lounging pas
Al sengers.
III She was ready to call herself names
for having declined, with thanks, the
vanity bag her brother Dick had want
ed to give her on her birthday. She
had taken a new collar for Pedro.
Poor Pedro, grieving in the baggage
room in the hold at this moment!
What wouldn't she give now for the
tiny mirror repOsing in the rejected
vanity bag?
Just then a young man loomed upon
her gloomy mental horizon. The boat
had made a landing at one of those
small towns from which tourists
ii reached the Catskills. The young man
81 looked exceedingly cheerful and harm
less. Margaret decided upon this the
instant her troubled glance met his
His eyes were the sort to create feel
ing of trust. He was good looking, but
Margaret instantly decided that be
couldn't be blamed for that. Anyhow
he was looking for somebody, and sh'
became restless. She met his look Of
inquiry with nod of invitation anC
deliberately drew her skirts to one sid
as if to make room for him on tn
I'd divan.
The young man accepted the un
u spoken invitation with alacrity. ID
stood before her, hat in hand.
Il "Awfully good Of you" he said, look
ing down at her frankly. Il didn't rec
ognize you at first You've change
. quite a bit since you had that last PIC
ture taken"
& Margaret gasped. She had though
HE her own impertinence quite imposslDl
once the die was cast, but this youn
mans nerve was monumental. Sn
NJ lowered her voice so that the woma
In lace net could not hear what Sd
eE said
"Sit down, please, and I'll explain
OF course you were not looking for ID
l know that. But you--er-play Il
q part much better than 1 could. l VIZ
in such trouble, and l just had
speak to you"
: Just for an instant puzzled EXPIRE
sion passed over the mans face. Ih'
he pulled himself together and S
down beside her.
II am tremendously glad to be
!, service to any lady in distress. Wh
particular form of distress has owe
B taken your
Margaret looked straight into l
trust inspiring eyes, and her own dar
ed.
Il am a victim of woman's I'M
womanity' to woman. Don't you da
TO laugh when tell you this, but
cry woman who has passed me for I
last half hour has looked at me as
my hat was crooked or had SCOT
my nose or my skirt and blouse b
parted company. VIII you please