Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-05
AROUND THE CITY

a young man swung to the front OF
car and exchanged grins with the motor
man. The conductor came skimminS
along the running board to collect rare
but when he saw the young man ne
too contributed a grin. reinforced by All
inquiry:
How'd you get of. boz"
oh: l got fellow To run my car
subbed for him last week when his klu
was sick"
Having made his explanation. the
young man took from his pocket DOCK q
manila envelope and shook something
into his palm.
Then he held it up that the conductor
might feast his ewes. The conductor
acknowledged the favor with an eXtended
grin that showed every splendid white
tooth in his head.
Huh. looks like you are going some
Say. she must have fingers pke cigar
cites if that's fit-does she kho" WHAT
coming to her?'
The young man smirked up at the new
moon and the conductors grim WIS
widening into a chuckle. "Ien-So'ie
passenger pressed n button. and he had
to skim down the board. Maybe he
would have spelled it butt-in, but n" mat
Then the young man slipped the ring
half way down the little hnSer oil
hand big and reliable enough To manage
car brakes. Then he looked at il.
1t wasn't really much OF a ring 10 look
at-iIIst solitaire of the water To De
expected from "a manila envelope. but
II must have meant everything hal
was splendid to the young man. for. as
the car whiZzed along the starry dust
his smirk changed to that rhapso~lc
something that we all know about. bul
| for which no mortal man has ever found
| the right name
The motorman. for instance. glanced
| hack every little bit to repeat his grin,
and once he cnuckled:
Look pretty love-sick, bubble.
But to the one pay passenger IN iron1
maybe she sat out there so that she
! could make believe she was riding
straight into NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. was
not the word to use.
1t seemed TO her that the qualities that
made the young man smirk and wear
| loud clothes and nit diamonds had been
driven out from his personality by the
ring that had come out of the envelope
| And that their places had been filled by
one beautifully tender emotion tha'
might be-maybe-the radlum OF th'
soul.
| OF course everybody knows that every
thing depends on the way you look at &
thing.
| Sure.
| A girl was wrapping bundles in de-
Il
pertment store
| She was SO Young in years that papA
(; gold still glinted in her premature pompa-
| dour and so old in the knowledge OF pow
erty and its ills that she might nave beer
twin to Job. And as she worked up II
her perch behind the counter middle
aged customer who was waiting FOL
change, and who must have been the
child's neghbor, called up in voice tina
possessed all the fine qualities of meg
aphone:
why. that you, Annie? How's YOU
ma eettin' on? | ben alloWin' to run II
an bring her little somethin, but L be
so busy"
The bundle wrapper sifted some lace
into an envelope and remarked briefly
that her ma was getting along all right
Your pa amt got work yet, has he
Annie?'
A lot of handkerchief had to be tied IL
a square interrupted package and while
she was doing it the young person in tn
perch stated in the same brief words tina
her pa was getting along all right
Your sister amt goin' back TO her nus
BAN any more, is she, Annie? L don
| blame her
Maybe the bundle wrapper objected T.
so open a canvass of her home affairs. TO
her interruption was exceedingly snappy
Say, Mrs. Blank, how many more year
has your son got to stay in the penlten
tiary?'
This exchange of amenities. somehow
closed the incident, for Mrs. Blank left s.
suddenly that she almost forgot the sevei
cents that was coming to her.
And the bundle wrapper began to rol