The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-03-09

"You know his step?' Ariels eyes
were bent upon the woman wonder
ingly.
ia know 1t tonight" was the an
aver. delivered with a sharp and pain
ful glggie. Il got plenty reason to-"
Ariel did not respond. She leaned q
little closer 10 the roses upon the desk,
letting them touch her face and breath
ing deeply of their fragrance to neu-
trallze perfume which peryaded the
room, an odor as heavy and cheap
sweet as the face of the woman who
had saturated her handkerchief with
ii. a scent which went with her per-
fectly and made her unhappiiy def
mite; suited to her clumsily dyed hair,
TO her soiled white shoes, to the hot
red hat smothered in plumage, to the
restless stub fingered hands, to the fat,
plated rings, of which she wore q
great quantity, though. surprisingly
enough, the large diamonds in her ears
were pure and of very clear water.
1t was she who broke the silence
once more. "Well," she drawled,
coughing genteelly at the same time,
better late than never, as the saying
Is ! wonder who it is gifts up all them
comical sayings" Apparently she had
no genuine desire for light upon this
mystery as she continued Immediately:
II have q gentleman friend that's al
ways gittin' 'em off. Well he SAYS,
the best of friends must part and
Thou strikest me to the heart'-all
kinds Of cracks like that. Hes real
comical. And yet" she went on in an
altered voice, 81 don't like him much
I'd be glad if I'd never seen him.
The change of tone was so marked
that Ariel looked at her keenly, to find
herself surprised into plying this
strange client of Joe's, for tears had
sprung to the womans eyes and slid
along the lids, where she tried vainly
to restrain them. Her face had altered,
too like her voice, haggard lines sud-
denly appearing about the eyes and
mouth as If they had just been pen
ciled there-the truth issuing from be-
meath her pinchbeck simulations like
tragic mask revealed by the displace-
ment Of tawdry covering.
Il expect you think I'm real foolish"
she said, "but l ben waitin' so awful
long, and l got a good deal Of worry
on my mind till see Mr.. Louden."
81 am sorry" Ariel turned from the
roses and faced her and the heavy per-
fume. 81 hope he will come soon.''
81 hope So" said the other. "It's
something to do with me that keeps
him away, and the longer he is the
more it seares me-" She shivered and
set her teeth together. ''It's kind Of
hard waitin'. 1 cert'nly got my share
of troubles
Don't you think that Mr.. Louden
will be able to take care Of them for
you?"
ooh, I hope so, Miss Tabor. If he
can't. nobody can" She was crying
openly now, wiping her eyes with her
musk soaked handkerchief. 1--WE had
to send fer him yesterday afternoon
40 come to Beaver Beach, do you
mean?" asked Ariel, leaning forward.
Yes, ma'am. 1t all begun out there
leastways 1t begun before that with
me. 1t was all my fault. I deserve all
that's comm to me, 1 guess. I done
wrongI 1 done wrong. I'd oughtn't
never to of went out there yesterday"
She checked herself sharply, but
after moments pause continued, en-
couraged by the grave kindness Of
the delicate face in the shadow Of the
wide white hat. 81 oughtn't to of
went" she repeated. ''Oh, I reckon
I'll never, never learn enough to keep
out O. trouble, even when 1 see it
COMMIT But that gentleman friend of
mtne-Mr. Nashville Cory's his name
he kind O. coaxed me into 1t, and he's
right comicaI when he's with ladies,
| and he's good company, and he says,
'Claudine, We'll dance the light fan
tastic,' he says, and l kind o. wanted
| something cheerful. I'd ben workin'
| steady quite a spell, and it looked like
he wanted to show me q good time, so
l went, and that's what started it."
Now that she had begun she babbled
on with her story, at times incoherent-
ly, full Of excuses made to herself
more than to Ariel, pitifully endeavor-
| lAS 10 COuN1I1CS herself IudL I00 re-
sponsibility for the middle she had
made was not hers. "Mr. Cory told
me my husband was drinkin' and
wouldn't know about it, and, Besides,
he says, what's the odds?' Of course
knowed there was trouble between
him and Mr.. Fear-that's my husband
"a good while ago, when Mr.. Fear UP
and laid him out. That was before me
and Mr.. Fear got married; 1 hadn't
even ben to Canaan then; I was on
the stage. 1 was on the stage quite
awhile in Chicago before got ac-
quainted with my husband"
You were on the stage?" Ariel ex.
claimed involuntarily.
yes, ma'am-livin' pitchers at Gold
berg's rat'skeller, and amunchoor
nights nearly always done a sketch
with a gentleman friend. That's the
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