The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-04-08
JACK AND
THE HAT
A Mistake That
Ended Well
BY cLARIssA MAcKIB

Going DOWN. called the operator
and Jack slid along the corridor and
caught the car. As the door crashed be
hind him and the car dropped dowr
an ascending car swooped upward and
Jack had a glimpse Of familiar hat
A smart little hat it was Of black ant
white, with a hint of rose color some
where about 1t.
OF course Jack did not see all These
details as the car passed him. He was
recollecting the hat as he had last seer
it upon the small, haughtily poised
head of Laura Hazen. He had excel
lent reason to remember that hat, fol
she had nodded it at him as she dis
missed him forever. 1t had all beer
about a very trivial matter. He ha(
almost forgotten the quarrel now. o.
course Laura was In the right She hat
a provoking way of always proving
herself in the right. He imagined thal
he was quite broken hearted over his
shattered romance, but so far he hat
managed to retain a most excellent
appetite, although he avoided the op
posite sex like pestilsnce.
AS to the quarrel, it came from q
mans not liking to have his fiancee
dance modern dances with any one ex
cept himself. Laura didn't see any
reason why she shouldn't dance them
II she wanted to. She intended to &c
to subscription ball, and he objected
saying he feared the company, not tG
speak of the dancing, might be very
indiscriminate. He could not approve
Of the turkey trot, bunny hug or tango
Laura had pouted and fretted to sucl
an extent that the result was a quarrel
She really cared very little about the
dance, but was determined to make
Jack bend to her will Then, too, as
she told him, she felt her pride insult
ed by his assuming that she would
dance the modern dances in any except
proper form"
And now this confounded hat hat
flashed past him to remind him thai
the girl under it was no longer his
sweetheart He wondered IL Laura ha6
AOI lOIElFcA AALl ILLS IL cl1s
was not sorry. Perhaps II he met hel
casually-in the corridor Of this build
ing, for instance-she might betray hel
real feelings.
Lingering In the vestibule, staring
senselessly up at the directory on the
marble wall. the impulse came to him
suddenly. He would go up to the TWEEN
tieth floor again and perhaps meet her
He would walk all the way downstairs
and perhaps see her In one of the cor.
ridors. Like many impulses, it was q
foolish one. Nevertheless he entered
an elevator and went skyward-
At the top floor he got out, walked
down the long deserted corridor to It's
end, came back and slowly descended
the stairs. The corridor of the nine
teenth floor was equally deserted, and
he laughed at himself for his folly.
She might have passed him In the ele-
vator as he came up. She might be
going down in any one Of the elevators
that glided up and down.
On the eighteenth floor he was re-
warded for his folly. He had paced
to the farthest end of the corridor and
was coming back, approaching the ele-
vators, when a door opened and the
smart little hat came out. Jack Della.
field would know Laura's graceful fig
ure anywhere. She always wore some
shade Of gray, and the tailor gown
she had on now fitted to perfection.
She walked rapidly ahead of him, her
heels tapping the polished floor, and
he FASTENED to overtake her. The least
she could do would be to throw him
another Of her killingly naughty
glances, and as she had already broken
his heart once it was immune now
He neared her and said eagerly.
'Laurar'
She stopped suddenly, half turned,
slipped on the glittering floor and sat
down in an ignominious heap at his
feet. She tilted back the alluring hat
and turned lovely, indignant counte-
nance toward him-the face of per-
feet strangerI
'T-beg -your -pardonP' Moderated
Jack humbly. IT really thought it was
somebody else. VIII you permit me to
assist you"
'No; thank you" she said icily. "You
look like gentleman" she added cut
tingly
Jack placed his hat on his head and
damned it down. "Of course I'll go If
you want me to-" he said, "only as |
am responsible for your being down
there l should like to be assured that
you are not injured Permit me to re
peat my apologies"
He went on down the corridor, call
ing himself all sorts of names for his
asinine behavior He heard a sliding.
slipping sound and an exclamation of
pain and FASTENED back to where the
girl sat on the floor Her face was
quite pale now.
II believe l twisted my ankle when
went down." she murmured.
Without a word Jack leaned over
and lifted her to her feet. She sway
ed and leaned against him.
This is DREADFUL It's the right
foot II you can assist me downstairs
Ill take car nome.
take cab you mean," corrected
Jack in a repressed tone II wish
there were words enough to tell you
how badly I feel about this" BE
slipped his walking stick into her
hand, and, supporting her on the other
side, they reached the elevator and
went down to the lower floor.
Accidents will happen" said the
girl, with faint SMILE II suppose
anybody would say it was the fault of
my high heeled Shoes"
Jack Delatield looked down at the
sweet face so near his arm and mar
veled at the fineness Of her clear skin,
the soft brown Of her eyes, with their
sweeping dark lashes; the mist of
black hair against her white forehead.
She was the loveliest girl he had ever
seen, and Laura HaZen's mere pretti-
ness seemed artificial by comparison.
He beckoned a taxicab and placed
her inside II hope you will permit
me to inquire after the injured foot.
feel in great measure responsible
for the accident" he said, with an
anxious frown knitting his handsome
brow. You see, l thought / recog-
nized the hat and believed it belong
ed to Miss Hazen. That Is my only
excuse for addressing you" He spoke
pleadingly and did not understand the
laughter that came into her eyes and
the pink flush that returned to her
cheek.
'aThe hat did belong to Laura Ha-
xen," she laughed 80 did the gown.
So you cannot be blamed for recogniz-
ing them, can you? Laura Hazen is
my cousin, and-well, Pm the country