Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-03

t Hem icet " ~nGSw at tSeloS D " of the
Il theater was deserted. 1t lacked
only twenty minutes to three, when
he glanced once more impatentiy at his
watch. Behind the drawn curtains of the
auditorium ripples of laughter, scattering
voleys of applause. told that the usual
Saturday matinee audience was getting its
usual enjoyment out of the latest popular
play still running TO full houses WI en- other
theaters had already begun to close for the
summer. The man in the box office was a
the telephone. the irritating deliberation of
his answers being plainly audible from
without He had nothing left for tonight
nearer than the nineteenth row. No, nor
for next Tuesday either. Wednesday, the
house was practically sold out; two large
theatcr parties. Thursday? He might do
better for Thursday. Hold the wire, please.
1t seemed to MeIlish hardly worth his
while to wait. He knew from experience
that il was unwise to offer Nora tickets for
the nineteenth row; she would rather never
see the play at all. The women ahead of
him evidently shared his disCouragement.
The younger one was bewailinS the neccs-
sity Of exchanging her tickets for some
evening next week. in place of tonight.
Such good tickets. too! 1t Was so like
Harry to forget and make n appOin tmcnt
with business friend. My dear, during
business hours Harry simply doesn't re-
member that | eXistI'
Mellish sighed involuntarily, and care
worn lines revealed themselves on his thin
face. He wished that he shared the ability
of this unknown Harry. the ability of the
average unimasinItive. tranquil husband,
to shut domestic cares behind him when
he stepped out over his threshold in the
morning. He wished that just for one busy,
haraSScd day he might forget that there
such "A Nora in existence.
He knew that it would bc better for his
peace of mind, better for his business in
tcrestS. il Nora face did not hover so
often between him and the letters he wrote.
the sales he made. the contracts that de-
manded undivided thought-No-a, with her
small. red, mutinouS mouth, her aurCole
of hair like spun copper, her childlike APP
peal. her wide gray eyes. aVidiOus of adj
mfratiOn. He wondered vaguely whet her
other men. outwardly happily married. had
their joy c3nEered by gnawing suspicious,
intangible doubts inSdiOuS as microbes.
that found a lodgment in the brain and
thrivcd and bred a fever of unrest.
The wife of the absent-minded Harry.
having at last won attention from the box
office. and accepted, under protest, an
exchange for the third row in the balcony.
made way for Mellish. With the spasmodic
brUsqueness of natural tmiditv he de-
manded the tickets she had Just surrender
ed, and, somewhat to his surprise obtained
them. They were splendid seats, nine rows
from the stage. on the middle aisle; the
sort of seats that Nora always expected
him to get. 1t was characteristic of Nora
always To expect the best of everything
and usually To end by getting 1t. Equally
characteristic was her pretty impcriousncss,
which for a time had almost blinded him
10 her Unborn sclfshness.
From the theater Mellish turned down
Madison avenue to 10Th street and thence
westward along the northern boundary of
Madison Square, not because it was a
shorter way to his home but in obedience
to a sudden, unrcasoninS impulse to pass
the restaurant where his wife had told him
She would be lunchng. At this late hour
il was quite possible that he had missed
her; yet Nora was one who loved to linger
over lunch table. forgctful of the flight of
time. There was still chance that he
might catch a glimpse of her through the
windows on the 9TH avenue side, or even
have the luck to meet her just coming out.
in all the pride of her new raiment. He
knew already how extremely we'll it be
came her. 1t had come home from the
dressmaker's only the night before, and
had put her In gracious mood for the
whole evening. She had even donned it
for his private benefit and had Knocked
him gaily because he kept forgetting that
the right name of all that gorgeousness
was lizard green MORE. How she loved
the pleasant luXuriant things of life; dainty
viands. lavish clothes, the glitter of many
glance, She not made for domesticity.
She was too eXotiC-that the initial
fault. the source of his unrest. She craVcd
the stimulus of perpetual excitement; the
SNOWY, outside life of theater, restaurant,
hotel; the champagne atmosphere of the
modern Caravansary. 1t was in public
restaurant that lie had first met her, five