The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1910-06-09
sou are very good you shall have q
pickle tomorrow. And now. IL you'll
allow me to be your guest. wei have

IL 4
allow me to be your guest. well have
supper.
He drew up the other chair The tea
frightened the girls eyes and brought
back some Of her color. She began to
eat with a sort Of dainty ferocity like
some starved animal. She seemed to
regard the young man and the aid
he had rendered her as natural thing
not as though she undervalued the
conventions. but as one whose great
stress gave her the right to put aside
the artificial for the human But grad
ually with the return Of strength and
comfort came also sense of the little
conventions that belong. and she be-
gan to tell him her little story. 1t was
one of thousand such as the city
yawns at every day-the shopgirps
story Of insufficient wages, further re-
duced by fines" that so to swell the
stores profits; Of time lost through ILL
ness and then OF lost positions, lost
hope and-the knock of the adventurer
upon the green door,
But to Rudolf the history sounded as
big as the Iliad or the crisis in ''.Junie's
Love Test
ITO think of you going through all
thatv' he exclaimed.
1T was something fierce" said the
girl solemnly.
''And you have no relatives or
friends in the city?'
+ 'None whatever"
II am all alone in the world, too,''
said Rudolf after pause
II am glad Of that" said the girl
promptly, and somehow it pleased the
young man to hear that she approved
Of his bereft condition.
Very suddenly her eyelids dropped.
and she sighed deeply
II am awfully sleepy she said,
land feel so good"
Rudolf rose and took his hat.
''Then I'll say good night. A long
nights sleep will be fine for you"
He held out his hand, and she took
1t and said Good night But her
eyes asked a question so eloquently,
so frankly and pathetically that he
answered it with words.
"Oh. I'm coming back tomorrow to
see how you are getting along. You
can't get rid Of me so easily"
Then at the door, as though the way
Of his coming had been so much less
important than the fact that he had
come, she asked. 'tHow did you come
to knock at my door?"
He looked at her for a moment, re-
membering the cards. and felt sud-
den jealous pain. What if they had
fallen into other hands as adventurous
as his? Quickly he decided that she
must never know the truth. he would
never let her know that he was aware
of the strange expedient to which she
had been driven by her great distress.
"One of our piano tuners lives in
this house," he said. II knocked at
your door by mistake"
The last thing he saw in the room
before the green door closed was her
smile.
At the head of the stairway he paus-
ed and looked curiously about him.
And then he went along the hallway
to it's other end and, coming back, as
cended to the floor above and contin-
ued his puzzled explorations. Every
door that he found in the house was
painted green.
Wondering, he descended to the
sidewalk. The fantastic African was
still there. Rudolf confronted him
with his two cards in his hand.
evil you tell me why you gave me
these cards and what they mean" he
asked.
In broad, good natured grin the
negro exhibited a splendid advertise
ment of his masters profession.
Oar it is. boss" he said, pointing
down the street. But l 'spect you is
little late for de fust act.''
Looking the way he pointed. Rudolf
saw above the entrance to a theater
the blazing electric sign of it's new
play, ''The Green Door,
'I'm Informed dat it's a fust rate
show, sah." said the negro. de agent
49, -