Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1906-09-06
AN
ELEVATOR
CUPID
BY CARROLL WATSON RANKIN.

| Bailey Building, Tor 1t was connected
! with an electric motor of such unstable
character that the initiated had lost all
| confidence in it as a means Of transporta-
| lion.
Katherine, however, was not an inhabi-
| tant. In her own town elevators pur-
sued the even tenor of their way without
| vagaries of any sort; So when her bust
eSs with the photographer on the top
floor was completed the young woman,
with every reason TO expect swift and
uneventful journey TO the street, stepped
confidently into the elevator.
At the fourth floor the elevator stopped
to admit a second passenger, a man
named Westcott. Westcott differed from
Katherine in that he entered the cage
like apartment with full knowledge of its
treacherous tendencies, but Westcott was
that morning in frame of mind to court
disaster He assured himself as he
stepped in that it was a matter of COM
plete Indifference to him whether the ele-
vator shot suddenly upward and crashed
through the skylight or dropped without
warning into the basement.
The elevator, however, did neither of
these things. Under the guidance of a
chubby blue-eyed youth, it pursued its
downward career until it reached the
space between the first and second floors ;
there it stopped.
At the sight of her fellow passenger
Katherine had turned pink with embar-
rassment. The man had muttered some
thing under his breath and bowed frig-
idly; for, before courting disaster, he had
courted Katherine-apparetltly it had
amounted to the same thing. They had
parted forever only the evening before,
and the ring she had worn for three
months was at that moment in Westcott's s
trousers pocket, where he had thrust it
savagely at the end Of their quarrel.
why are we stopping hete?' asked
Katherine, turning to the elevator boy of
cherubic countenat1ce.
"'Cause we can't go on" returned The
boy, producing bag Of peanuts and a
dime novel, and proceeding TO make him
self comfortable. "The blamed powers
off,"
HAS it ever-does it often go off like
this%
ooh, yes" replied the boy cheerfully.
There's nothin' to be scared Of Some
times she runs all right for as mitch as
week; then, again, she won't biidee
for six or seven hotirs at stretch
"Six or seven hours ~ gasped Kath-
crime
"Yep," replied the boy, settling himself
more comfortably on his stool. "Once
it was longer, but eiti'rally they get her
goin in an hour or two. There's no dan
ger at all, miss"
The boy gently discouraged further
conversation by bhryihg Himself in his
book katherine moved to tile end of
the long, leather covered seat Westcott,
at the extreme other end, stared eioouiy
at the wall
Katherine locked at her watch. Tt was
already past luncheon time, and she had
been too miserable to eat much break
fast Still-shc frightened at the thought
she should not starte, for she had with
her box of chocolates she was taking
home to her sisters children.
She looked at her watch again. Only
four minutes had passed, but paiiss of
hunger were becoming unetdurable. The
| chubby boy niunched peanuts with appar-
emily no thought Of his fellow sufferers.
Katherine united the pink string that
bound the candy box. iinfolded the paper,
lifted up the lid and ate a chocolate.
When she had eaten three she glanced
at Westcott He was still gazing at the
wall. The walls in elevator shafts are
seldom interesting. This one was tinted
with bilious greerl-a color that West
colt abhotred.
"How he must hate me-" thought Kath-
crime, eating another chocolate, "wleii
he'd rather look at a wall than at me.
/ wonder what I ought to do? If we
were utter strangers, cast away on a des-
ert isle and he had one biscuit and three
drops of water, | should think him hor-
rid if he didn't offer me half. | suppose
| ought to offer him some of these choco-
lates, even if we're not on speaking
terms"
Katherine, sitting very straight, and
with her eyes straight ahead, pushed
the box along the seat. Westcott paid
no attention.
"Will you have chocolate?" asked
katherine, somewhat unsteadily.
Westcott was so sure that he was
dreaming that he did not make any an.
swer.
"The lady spoke TO you," prompted the
elevator boy.
.Westcott looked inquringly at Kath-
erine
"Will you-,will you have chocolate?' p
No, thank you," replied Westcott, re-
turning to the contemplation of the greer
wall.
There was another long pause. The
neglected box remained half way between
the suspended passengers.
Il think you're very-tingentemar
said Katherine, at length.
$50 you said last night" responded
Westcott coldly.
You're more SO to-day"
"How SOP"
"You-you know I'm too polite to ca!
those chocolates and let you go hungry
and I'm fairly starving"
Westcott with an air of exaggerated
poiteness, took a chocolate and ate it
with his eyes fixed unsociably upon the
green wall He dared not trust himself