The San Francisco call., 1909-06-13


drawings to decorate my attic walls
had Unexpectedly secured a regular
position and as suddenly had married.
thus solving at a stroke the complex
riddle or Omelets and pancakes The
gentle German was unfortunately in
a hospital. his contemplated figure
painting unfinished and his Cherished
samovar left with me for safe keeping.
The law student was become insuffer-
able with his charitable donations OF
bilious pastry and his brOtherly moral
lectures that took up Just as much OF
my time as the other boys "maunder-
ings' of which he disapproved. and
we had quite tin The poet had stiu
come in, but his long expected ship
had not. and his persistent melancholy
was beginning 20 meet its faithful re-
Election III my mirror like attitude-a
circums tauce which for some reason
did not crafty him and he was be-
coming mOrose.
In a desperate endeavor to ralIv nv
forces before the holidays Z resolved
to appoint an evening for entertaining
nay cousins and the few kindred spir-
it's could stlll muster, with the object
of inaugUrating a reading club. Chief
among these latter Individuals was a
brilliant and erratic journalist. whose
recent ascendency had provoked the
unqualified censure OF my legal adj
clude them both, along with the anna
teur illustrator and the cub reporter.
and TO invite the little milIiner to
watch the pyrcteChnics. This ungodly
inspiration gave pause 70 my frugal
supper getting. tt was the evening Of
a blue Monday. and after laying aside
the weekly stipend for my landIadv
began appOrtioning my quarters and
dimes i'm such wise as TO provide re-
treshments and festive greenery for
the occasion and vet leave enough for
my meager subsistence until pay day.
This required the most delicate calcu-
lation and was scarcely accomplished
when there came rOusing knock az
the door
IL was the genial commodore who
had Just returned from an extended
business trip TO celebrate Thanksgiv-
Ing week at home He had never ven
tured UP here before and looked about
little surprised at the primitive sur
rOundings.
Il thought perhaps one OF your
talented friends had come TO take YOU
out to dinner and the opera tonight
but didn't see any hat in the hall, so
I came up. Which of the singers have
you heard?"
1t was as though a Martian had set
foot upon my threshold Almost with
gasp answered. II have never
heard any Of them. Poets and artists
do not have money for such things.
nor-nor journalists themselves. al
ways"
How can they have the nerve to
come up here so often to be enter
tained then? Funny way 20 treat a
woman to my way OF thinking"
Then. seeking TO atone for a possi-
BILE affrOnt he changed the subject by
announcing. You ought to have one
of our duplex odorless heaters i'm here
If you are going to stay through the
winter. It's chilly even now without
fireplace You have q coy arrange
ment, though don't wonder the
boys Ike 10 come. What do you do for
mUsic2 That's half an evening. hav-
ing piano and some one that can
really handle 1t. suppose some OF
them are human nightingales. though.
and don't need any encourag cement"
This complimentary observation was
punctuated by the sizzling OF my lamb
stew. which had boiled over into the
oil stove.
Il was intending" began with Sra-
clous dignity, removing the offensive
saucepan and trusting to a kind prOvi-
dence that his superficial vision might
not take cogniZance OF the scantv
viands upon my table. "T was intend
ing to invite your friend. the little
milliner, to meet some OF my comrades
IAt4o NOCh- D4c ullEnt ENJOY good
company even though they can't afford
fine clOthes.''
"Oh. bless you, she's married Mar
ried a ewspaperman, her mother
says-One OF those sudden ronnances
that girls like He gets thirty a week
for illustrating the sporting page
That's pretty fair for a starter Hs
had been down on his luck before
that-batching with freak over on
Russian hill. and got dyspepsia. be-
Heve. But she's an Al cook and has
lots Of style about her. and they're
happy as clans"
1t would have taken a psychologist
to analyze the effect OF this moment
1 had awkwardly cOntrived 70 burn
my fingers. and in my bewildsrment
and modification. the physical pain
combined with fatigue and the pangs
OF hunger. started childish tears
which were forced back only BY heroic
effort
For an instant the eommodcrs re-
garded me In duizsfcal silence. Then
he said:
Look here. Miss Lee. You're tired
and hungry and lonesome. Just cut
all this bohemian business and come
out to dinner with me Tomorrow
night we'll 60 TO the opera with the
folks downstairs and next week you
can take a little vacation II you like.
till a friend OF mine that I've spoken
TO about you can arrange TO place you
on his advertising stah. Is II a go9"
It was