Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-04
THE EVENING STORY.
The One Girl.
Copyright. 1913. by W. Werner


Rawlings went to the automobile show
simply to kill time. He was a bookkeeper
so he had no legitimate right to be in
terested in automobiles He looked at
automobiles as other people look at art
galleries-to feast his eyes He was al
most a stranger In Chicago. His work
was not the kind that threw him in close
touch with many people and he was not
the kind to mix readily
So when pretty girl in a blue tailor
made serge and heavy furs paused beside
him. misled by his interested eyes. and
asked him concerning the interior ar
rangement of the huge limousine in front
OF him he did not d!spel her illusion that
he was there for the sole purpose of
telling passers-by what an excellent make
that was. He explained thoroughly all
that she cared to know and then, since
she seemed interested. he strolled to the
next car with her and told her all about
that. But he carefully avoided a direct
question as to her intention of buying.
Presently she thanked him and walked
over to a gray-haired gentleman who
was poking at the tires of runabout.
He was poking with massive gold
headed cane.
Rich. / suppose rf.urmured Hawlng.
Wish 4 was And then. rather dscon-
tentedN. hi Went out To the second class
boarding house that he called home.
1t was a shock TO him the next morn
ing when he found himself still thinking
of the girl. her eager blue eyes and the
dainty fieck of pink in each round cheek
Just the sort of a girl he had always
Imagined At that point in his reflections
he dropped long trail of purple ink on
put the girl out Of his thoughts and COM
centrated his attention on the figures in
stead
He went to the automobile show again
that night. but he didn't see her. and
when he got back to his small bedroom
he declared to himself: Nobody but a
fool would be thinking about a girl whose
hat cost more than he made in a month.
A week later he saw her again She
was getting out of purple and brown
LIMOUSINE that was the latest model of
luxury and expense. She wore the same
trim suit and furs that she had worn at
the automobile show. He liked the cut
of that suit. 1t was horribly expensive
of course-that plain trim cut always Is
and he wished wrathfully that he. was
making the salary that would support a
wife who liked such clothes.
After that Rawlings main occupation
was watching for her. Bookkeeping was
side issue for several weeks. But the
occasional glimpse he caught of her fin
ally aroused him to action. He went
at the neglected books with very fury
OF energy. He got another set to do at
night. He had to keep busy to have
any sort of mental peace. Two raises OF
salary followed unsolicited by him. But
they did not give him much pleasure.
No matter how much a bookkeeper made,
il would not put him in her class
One day he met her face to face She
was walking slowly down the crowded
street and Hawking, though he was head
ed in the opposite direction. simply
turned around and followed her The
winter weather had given way to prema-
ture spring balminess, and she had dis
carded her furs. Hawking had liked her
small pink-touched face rising from the
soft fur. But he liked it even better now.
when the low collar of her throat allowed
a full view of the clean cut of her pro-
file.
He had followed her four blocks. re-
gardless of the fact that his luncheon
hour would soon be over. and he had