The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1907-04-06

ctement the snowy outside life of theatre restaurant
hotel the champagne atmosphere of the modern
vansary 1t was in public restaurant that he had first
met her, five years agoa dinner at Sherry where he
dazzed by the coppery CLINT of her hair, first looked
into those wide gray eyes, and answered their appeal
for hattery. She little than child in years
he had realized that at the time ust tall, slim
thing with face that robbed him of his sleep. He
could smile now, grlmy, remembering how he had
fought against the piquant spell of her precocity her
nascent grace of womanhood. 1t was not normal, he
had told himself for young girl in the butterfly days
Of life to care seriously for shy, reserved like
himself ALREADY Ye5gns upon forty and settling down
approval upon the Junior member of the established
house Of Marvin Melish and cleverly mannuyred to
make his courtshp easy. He had not been blind to
be cajoed deuded, hypnotized into the belief that,
through some modern miracle, special dispersal
years, there were fleeing hours, hacyon days, when
such belief ceased to absurd. Ye almost from
the first the discrepancy in age had ranked in him,
begetng vague suspicious, morbid doubts symptoms Of
which he was slow to guess the meaning Them one
day he realized, with of sefcontempt, that he
was jealors-he Mellish in his sober middle ea-
of callow youths, with the bloom of undergraduate
conceit fresh upon he the jargon of football in their
Speech jealous of every compliment murn1ured in her
ear; jealous Of every strangers Aatering glance That
Of underlined, unjusti6ed jealousy. At times more
dehnites images, ugly thoughts with ugly names, had
threatened to crystalline But he had quite put
rowed down his fears to specific accusation. Above
all, he had sought hide his burden from Nora her
self, as one hides physical deormity
Before the solid, unpretentious building the
ner landmark of fashion and convvalty to earlier
generation, Mellish paused uncertainty, peerng blind
shy, with ncarsighted eyes, wondering whether some
Nora still there; wondering, indeed, if she had
been there at ALL :.
The warm. bright summer afternoon was passing,
and still Mellish fingered staring Intellectually at the
doorway, through which he had already ceased to
pect her to appear. Suddenly bevy of women came
out together, two four, yes, six OF them He could
sham might be there she might not but the lizard
green MORE unmstakable, his poor eyes
showed that He made reckless plunge in front of
delivery wagon, and narrowly Stunned automobile,
because his thoughts, like his gaze, fastened on
that group of women across the way, half hidden be-
hind hanson cab Nora had told the truth after all,
he thought with gadness that almost pain. But
as the automobile moved out of his path he her,
to his amazement, step into the waiting hansom. A
wha;e s 6 fe s slender of
had dispersed melted, vanished in thin ART scarcely
mattered where If they were not after ALL Mrs. Faver-
he caught sdewisc glimpse Of the coppery hair the
soft watery simmer of the green MORE; more
step and he could have reached out his hand and
lash, that snapped like spiteful cracker within an
inch of Mellshs The horse, yellow roam, with
gaun unganly legs started nervousy scrambling for
foothold the slippery asphalt then lurched sud-
denly forward and swept the woman and her com
panon from his astounded gaze around the corner and
down Fifth Avenue.
At any other time, had the question been laid i'm
partially before him, Mr.. Mellsh would have held that
man who tried to follow foot rapidly retreating
hanson cab through the crowded of New York
streets, during the busy rush of Saturday afternoon
was in serious condition, bordering upon unacy. In
the present crisis he did pause to consider, but
simply gathered himself together and sprinted nimby
down the avenue forgetting for to be selfcon-
scious, his long thin legs flashing like the long thin
spokes of rapidly turning Wheel his glasses threaten
ing to slip from the bridge of his long, thin nose his
nearsghted eyes straning heplessly after the yellow
roam, that fitted like thing Of evil in and through
the endless stream of landaus motor omnibuses
and business wagons. At Twenty-ffth Street the
mounted police stationed there to regulate traffic
waved the south-bound stream of vehicles westward
towards Broadway, through the tag end of city block
AS they swung in single e first right then left again
an electric car for moment blocked the procession
Mellshs first lucid thought was to spring into one
of the many vacant hansoms that waited along the
curb and bid him follow the yellow roam which thi.
time threatened seriously to elude him. He waved tc
spasmodica11y with his long arm. Then as il
promptly responded, he waved it away again. HI
realized suddenly that he could not bring himself tt
take stranger, unknown cab driver, 50 ia,
into his confidence to bid him follow that othe,
hanson. No. he could not expose his jealousy to Z
in the fellows eyes. Instead he swung himself on tt
Broadway open car, that for two blocks shot south
ward with such speed that he gained once more rapid
~ upon the fugitives when Twenty-hird Street h
suddenly lost sight of them altogether He rose from
the seat he had just taken in beildernent of help
less indecision But the car had started once NOR
A before he could e xet of; and The next minute