The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-07-30

peartng in cloud or smoke ike an
aerial cuttlefish.
Presently the tocsin call Of "Clarar'
sounded to the world the state Of Miss
Lessons purse. A dark goblin seized
her, mounted a stygian stairway,
thrust her into vault with glimmer
Of light in it's top and muttered the
menacing and cabalistic words 1.-TWO
dollars!"
"Ill take it." sighed Miss Leeson,
sinking down upon the squeaky iron
bed.
Every day Miss Lesson went out to
work. At night she brought home
papers with handwriting on them and
made copies with her typewriter.
Sometimes she had no work at night,
and then she would sit on the steps
of the high stoop with the other room
ers. Miss Lesson was not intended for
a skylight room when the plans were
drawn for her creation. She was gay
hearted and full of tender, whimsical
fancies. Once she let Mr.. Skidder
read to her three acts of his great
(unpublished) comedy, "Its No Kid;
or, The Heir of the Subway"
There was rejoicing among the gen.
tlemen roomers whenever Miss Leeson
had time to sit on the steps for an
hour or two. But Miss Longnecker,
the tall blond who taught in public
school and said "Well, really!" to
everything you said, sat on the top
step and shifted. And Miss Dorm, who
shot at the moving ducks at Coney
every Sunday,%nd worked in a depart
ment store. sat on the bottom step
and shifted. Miss Lesson sat on the
middle step, and the men would quick
| ly group around her.
Especially Mr.. Skidder, who had cast
her in his mind for the star part in
a private, romantic (unspoken) drama
in real life. And especially Mr.. Hoo
yer, who was forty-five, fat, flush and
foolish. And especially very young Mr..
Evans, who set up a hollow cough to
induce her to ask him to leave off Gig
arettes. The men voted her "the fun
niest and jolliest ever" but the shifts
on the top step and the lower step
were implacable.
|
pray you let the drama halt while
| Chorus stalks to the footlightS and
drops an epicedian tear upon the fat
ness of Mr.. Hoover. Tune the pipes
to the tragedy of tallow, the bane of
bulk, the calamity of corpulence. Tried
out, Falstaff might have rendered
more real romance to the ton than
would have Romeo's rickety ribs to
the ounce. A lover may sigh, but he
must not puff. To the train of Momus
are the fat men remanded. In vain
beats the faithfuleSt heart above a
fifty-two inch belt. Avaunt, Hoover!
Hoover, forty-tive, flush and foolish,
might carry off Helen herself. Hoover
forty-fve, flush, foolish and fat, is meat
for perdition. There was never a
chance for you, Hoover.
AS Mrs. Parkers roomers sat thus
one summers evening Miss Lesson
looked up into the armament and
cried. with her gay little laugh:
"N'hy, there's Billy Jackson! 1 can
see him from down here too"
All looked up, some at the windows
of skyscrapers, some casting about for
an airship, Jackson guided
Its that star" explained Miss Lee
son, pointing with a tiny finger. "Not
the big one that twinkles-the steady
blue one near it. 1 can see it every
night through my skylight. named
it Billy Jackson"
"Well, really" said Miss Longnecker
II didn't know you We're an astrono-
mer, Miss Lesson"
"Oh, yes" said the small star gaZer
II know as much as any Of them about
the style of sleeves they're going to
wear next fall in Mars"
"Well, really! said Miss Longnecker
"The star you refer to is Gamma, OF
the constellation Cassiopeia. 1t is
nearly of the second magnitude, and
it's meridian passage is
'Oh," said the very young Mr.
Evans, 81 think Billy Jackson is 6
much better name for it."
"Same here" said Mr.. Hoover, loud
ly breathing defiance to Miss Long
necker II think Miss Leeson has
just as much right to name stars as
any of those old astrologers had"
"Well, really" said Miss Longnecker
"I wonder whether it's a shooting
star" remarked Miss Dorm. II hi
nine ducks and a rabbit out of ter
in the gallery at Coney Sunday"
"He doesn't show up very well from
down here" said Miss Lesson. "Yo,
ought to see him from my room. Yol
know, you can see stars even in thu
daytime from the bottom oaA well
At night my room is like the shaft o
coal mine, and it makes Billy Jack
son look like the big diamond pin tina
Night fastens her kimono with"
There came a time after that whel
Miss Leeson brought no formidable pa
pers home to copy. And when sh'
went out in the morning, instead o
working, she went from office to offic
and let her heart melt away in tn
: drip of cold refusals transmitte'
through insolent Office boys. This wen