Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1910-05-20
By Telephone


thought you never were going to get
through"
"Hello!" Lothary said, in surprise.
Where did you come from
There was a breathless little laugh.
oh" said the voice, airily. Il just
dropped int"
Well. should say you did" agreed
Lothary. Somehow. he liked the
voice is there something can do
Tor your" he inquired. ingratiatingly.
No." said the voice. meditatively.
i don't think so-unless you happen
to be green 4376. That's the number
| called"
Sorry" mourned Lothary. Il hap
pen to be blue 1909. but"
Obi" gurgled the voice
| The little chuckle at the end of the
exclamation quite won Lothary's
heart Whoever it was surely must be
| young, and anyone who could laugh
| like that assuredly must be attrac-
| tive
| See herel" Lothary cried. Tell
me who you are won't your
Certainly not" said the voice in
properly shocked tones why should
/? don't know who you are and it's
most unheard of that | should talk to
| you at all What | should do is to
hang up the receiver. You might be
a--a-burglar or"
! Pm mott" Lothary protested. I'm
a
me if you knew me-"
/ We'll, OF all the conceit!" said the
voice.
! Il WISH" said Lothary. Il could con-
vince you that Pm respectable per-
son. Aren't you going to tell me
I'm not" said the voice Pm
going to hang up the receiver this
I very"
| Watt" begged Lothary He could
not explain why, but he had strange
/ reluctance to let her go There was a
haunting quality to her voice which
charmed him and spurred him on.
"Please-won't you call me up
! AGAIN."
We'll, of all the impudence!" cried
the voice.
Il know" he begged. but you
won't tell me who you are nor your
number, so what can | do? Won't
you call me up?"
She seemed to consider the matter.
Maybe" she said at last. Then came
the little chuckle which had SO
charmed him and she was gone from
| the wire.
| Lothary was certain she was no
ordinary girl Her voice, her inflec-
tons and the strange impression she
had made of daintiness and airiness
| convinced him of that. Lothary is
| hard-headed, but he was immensely
curious about this unknown young
woman and great deal fearful If
| only she had the requisite spice of
daring In her makeup which would
lead her to call him up again deliber-
ately Lothary blessed the telephone
operator who had made the mistake of
mixing numbers.
For several days he jumped when
ever the telephone rang and then,
| just as he was regretfully thinking he
should never hear from her again, she
called him, Lothary was so dazed
and pleased and anxious to make a
good impression that his conversation
was stilted and hating She was
bright and gay and charming, but she
persistently refused to give her name
| or number
Il shouldn't be doing this at all, you
know" she said, with a verbal shud-
der
You'll call again." besought Lo-
thary.
| She did. 1t was a charming little
Irritation which developed over the
telephone The girl was exceptional
and he was conscious that she did him
a special favor. He told her SO, CRATE
fully, along with many other things.
! Finally mis- opportunities to see her
became so insistent that she relented.
1T is perfectly scandalous," she said,
but | suppose l owe you something
I've had it all on my side SO far" She
named a downtown drug store and an
hour. 81 have a gold bow on my black
| velvet turban," she told him.
Lothary was so excited over the
prospect of actually knowing her that
be counted the hours till the appointed
time. He was fearful lest she should
back out at the last minute.
There was one girl standing just in
side the drug store when he entered
and there was gold bow on her vel
re toque. She regarded Lothary
smilingly. She was his sister.
why, Jim,' she said. What are you
doing here?"
Lothary was getting hold of his emo
lions. 1t couldn't be possible-yet II
it was so, had she known him all
along? If she had, how could she look
SO innocently at him-and, anyhow
Then she laughed. And in the lit
tie gurgle which Lothary now remem-
| harad cha had always had he read his