Willmar tribune., 1909-09-29

ls
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(unpublished) comedy.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 a public
school and said "Well. reallyw to
everything you said, sat on the top
step and shifted. And Miss Dorm, who
shot at the moving ducks at Coney
every Sunday and worked in depart
ment store. sat on the bottom step
and shifted. Miss Leeson sat on the
middle step. and the men would quick
" 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 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
We're ilnplacable.
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 tallcw. the bane of
bulk, the calamity Of corpulence. Tried
out, Falstaf 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 q
fifty-two inch belt. Avaunt. Hoover!
Hoover, forty-fve, flush and foolish,
might carry of Helen herself. Hoover,
forty-ive, flush, foolish and fat, is meat
for perdition. There was never
chance for you, Hoover
AS Mrs. Parker's roomers sat thus
one summers evening Miss Leeson
looked up into the armament and
cried. with her gay little laugh:
"Why. there's Billy Jackson! I can
see him from down here too"
All looked up, some at the windows
OF skyscrapers, some casting about for
an airship. Jackson guided.
''It's that star" explained Miss Lee
son, pointing with tiny finger. mot
the big one that twinkles-the steady
blue one near it. can see it every
night through my skylight. l named
it Billy Jackson"
"Well, really!" said Miss Longnecker.
II didn't know you were 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
its meridian passage is''-
"Oh," said the very young Mr..
Evans, II think Billy Jackson is a
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.
II wonder whether it's a shooting
star" remarked Miss Dorm. II hit
nine ducks and rabbit out of ten
in the gallery at Coney Sunday"
"He doesn't show up very we'll from
down here" said Miss Leeson. "You
ought to see him from my room. You
know. you can see stars even in the
daytime from the bottom of a well.
At night my room is like the shaft of
a coal mine. and it makes Billy Jack.
son look like the big diamond pin that
Night fastens her kimono with"
There came time after that when
Miss Leeson brought no formidable pa
pers home to copy. And when she
went out in the morning, instead of
working, she went from Office to Office
and let her heart melt away in the
drip Of cold refusals transmitted
through insolent office boys. This went
on.
There came an evening when she
wearily climbed Mrs Parker's stoop
at the hour when she always returned
from her dinner at the restaura nt But
she had had no dinner.
AS she stepped into the hall Mr..
Hoover met her and seized his chance
He asked her to marry him, and his
fatness lowered above her like an ava.
lanche. She lodged and caught the
balustrade. He tried for her hand. and
she raised it and smote him weakly
In the face. Step by step she went
up, dragging herself by the railing.
She passed Mr.. Skidder's door as he
lwas red-inking stage direction for
Myrtle Delorme Miss Leeson) In his
(unaccepted) comedy, to "pirouette
across stage from L to the side Of the
count" Up the carpeted ladder she
crawled at last and opened the door
Of the skylight room.
She was too weak to light the LAMP
or to undress. She fell upon the iron
cot her fragile hOdv scarcelv hollow