El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-09-13

But there was nothing for her.
There never was.
YEARLY she climbed the three flights
of stairs to her room--a back hall room
close, musty odor greeted her. she
went to the window, pushed back the
dingy lace curtains to let in more air.
A dismal stretch of dark roofs and
Uttered back yards lay before her.
Clothes tapped dejectedly from count
less lines and fire escapes. Ash bar
rels, bottles, rubbish.
She turned from the window to shut
out the Squalid scene, threw herself on
the narrow bed and sobbed despair
ingly. how much longer could she
bear it? The sordid misery of it all
was eating into her SOUL The monot
onous work all day in a noisy, crowded
office and the long, dreary evenings in
this dingy, little room
And this was the 18th of September.
The fourth anniversary of her mar
riage. All day she had been trying not
to think of the date, to force from her
mind every thought of what IT had once
meant. But now she gave herself up
to the rush of memories that swept
over ner.
For almost an hour she lay there, for
getting the dreary misery of her sur
roundings in the memory of a sheltered
protected happiness. How tenderly he
had shielded her from every care and
hardship. And now
The sound of a harsh jangling bell.
She started up with a shudder-the
dinner bell. she could not go down
tonight her whole nature shrank
from the thought of the dingy basement
dining room, the long tables with the
soiled cloths and damp napkins, the
smell of food, the cheap talk and
laughter.
Her throat ached as she thought of
how year ago she was dining happily
with her husband at the cafe --. How
often they had dined there, always the
same table, the same waiter. sudden
thought possessed her. Why should she
not go there tonight? Her heart beat
fast. Just for one more glimpse of the
place where they had spent so many
happy hours. She could sit at the same
table, have the same waiter, and try 20
ina CINE that he was with her.
Oh, how she longed for it. She had
deprived herself of so much-surely
she could have this. The ten dollars
she had saved in case she should be
sick-but she would not be sick, or she
would work just the same If she was
She would take that money and have
one more hour of warmth and lights
and music.
For the next hour she did not stop
to tnink-she only acted With mar
velous swiftness she unpacked a soft
gray crepe the only gown of her old
life that she had brought with her.
Eagerlyt nervouslH she dressed A
last glance at the wavy mirror and
she was again hurrying down the long
dark hall and stairs out to the street
The green and blue bottles of a drug
store shone out cneerfully from the
next block moment later she was
there telephoning to the head wiiter
of the Cafe -.
Yes, the sixth table from the en-
trance on the left side"
You think il is already reserved!
Yes, 1 will hold the phone until you
find out positively"
Hello. 1t is reserved-but I can
have the one just back Of it?" She
nesitated a second, and then: Very
well. 1 will take it.
Two blocks farther down she took the
car Quickly she was carried from the
shabby boarding house district into
broad, well lighted thoroughfares. Cabs,
automobiles and crowds of well dressed
people surged by. With breathless in
terest she watched the streets and
buildings She was almost there.
At the corner she left the car and
hurried across the street to the bril-
liantly lighted cafe. A moment later
the head waiter seated her at her table.
Tt had all happened with bewildering
quickness.
And then Park was bowling and
smiling before her.
Good evening, Nam" He spoke as
though she mad been there only a few
nights before, instead of it having been
over eight months since he had last
served her. 1t is a way waiterS-good
waiters-have. He tipped forward the
chair opposite her.
You are waiting, mam?
! She flushed, painfully. Oh, why had
! she not thought of that OF course,
| they would think she was waiting for
/ her husband. Women do not go alone
] to fashionable dining places, and she
had always been there with him
"Oh. yes: Mr.. Wilmer viii probably
| be here later. He telephoned that he
was detained. But II think 1 will
| order and let you serve me now. He
may be quite late.
Eyes. man." And a menu was placed
/ before her
she had not intended to say that;
| the words had come of themselves
/ But just the saying of them had
| thrilled her. He was coming later
He had been detained at MS OIIlCo- liz
| would join her soon.
Her mind dwelt lingeringly on the
phrases She would try to believe them
Ito live this one hour as though they
! were true.
She wrote her order, and then leaned
back and gave herself up to the allur-
| ing charm of it all. The music, the
lights. the palms. the murmur OF
voices-it was all the same. The
same crested china. The same red silk
! beaded shades for the table lights-ln
playing with the fringes one night she
| had broken off a few Of the beads. She
wondered If she could find the same
strand-it was shorter than the others
But that had been at the old table
the table in front of her. 1t was moi
taken vet, but a chair was tipped for
| ward TO mark it reserved. She felt ar
| unreasoning resentment at the persons
who had engaged it, There were sc
many tables; they might have chosen
some other.
Park was placing a hassock under
her feet. She smiled her acknowlelg-