The new age. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1896-1905, 1907-01-19

0uppose, and to your great Surpris
your hand was emptyP
Yes" said Alicia, simply. "My frs
Thought was that must nave droppe
II somewhere on the floor and | bega
10 look around for it. Just then
voice at my elbow said, L beg pardon
Dut nave you lost anythingY"
What kind of voice?" / asked.
1t was very musical voice." re
piled Alicia, "rich and deep and pene
trdting, with an indescribable qualit,
IN IL, If you know what | mean"
"A liquidity?"
NOT exactly llquidity. No. Their
was sort of sympathetic timbre. Blu
You don't know what l mean. You ar
Just laughing at me-"
1 assure you was not. Was 1t
mans voice or a woman'sY
why, a mans, of course" said Ali
cia' widening her eyes. How could {
man speak in a woman's voice7 And ht
was just splendid. Tall and dark anG
with the loVeliest little silky black mus
tache."
wish l had been there" l said.
m sure l don't know why you
should, because he was perfectly re
spectful. l think he SAID, Have you
lost anything, MADAME"
"Oh, one of the fioorwalkers.
He was nothing of the kind He
didn't look In the least like a floor
walker; most Of them IRE bald and
middle-aged. They are at RaxtrelPs.
1here are some young ones at Spoon
derDy's. There Is one in the ribbon
department who Is per-"
Never mind. What did you do?
Did you freeze him?"
Or course l know that the idea of
Alicias freezing anybody Is quite pre-
posterous. you should have done So"
| said.
i told him that had lost my purse
and he was most polite and concerned.
He didn't try to be silly as some people
do"
what peOpleW
Never mind. He asked me to de-
scribe the purse and looked all around
under the counter and stools and ev-
erywhere, but we couldn't find it, and
then l told him that I'd probably left
1t at the embroidery counter in Spoon
derby's and he offered to go back there
with me-"
Alicia" l said, severely, "I'm going
to speak to your mother and ask her
not to let you go shopping alone The
Idea of walking around the stores with
a stranger-a young man you know alb
solutely nothing about-and talking
with him and smiling at him and"
But | didn't walk around with him."
protested Alicia. IL told him that l
think of troubling him and
asked the clerk to show me some al
1atross and he bowed and walked away
lust as nicely as could De. He was
lovely about 1t and | felt
mean because l was afraid he would
blink | was trying to snuD him."
You did perfectly right" l said. !
Perfectly right"
II don't know" sighed Alicia. az
lon't like to be rude. Well, when ! got
through looking at the albatross | |!
vent back to Spoonderby's and, what
o you think? They told ne that some
ody had just called for the purse and
escribed it exactly and that thew
ad given it to him, and, do you know.
must have been that same Young
ian. The description the young wom-
n gave of him makes me absolutely
ertain that it was he."
Il never keep my money in nv purse
hen | go shopping" said Alicia. with
faint blush. There were a lot of
amples In it, though, and car fare. and
hated dreadfully to lose it. But papa
ought me another and I'd wanted
aw one for ever so long It's just the
sautifulest little thing, but L never
'uld have afforded it myself, and papa
ouldn't get it for me as long as l had
le old one.
Still, I'm sorry for that young
an. suppose he thought I'd be at
axtrelPs for long time and he'd get
e purse and bring it back to me and
Irprise me. l wonder If lie isn't walk
g up and down State street now with 7
lat wretched little purse In his hand
oking for me?"
Il wonder!" l said. And, as | re-
arked before, am still WONDERING Q
licago Daily News.