Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-12-12
THE EVENING STORY.
TEN DOLLARS.
tCopyright. 1918. by W. werner.)

(COpyriglt, 1910. py W. NefHeI.I
Kathrine had put the ten-dollar bill in
the small inside pocket of her blue serge
coat She was sure of that. There was
a walk of four lonely blocks between the
IL" station and her rooming house. and
she was afraid of ho'd-ups; so she car
ried just the loose change in her purse
and with a stout pin fastened the inner
flap of the pocket over the bill And
then, two days later, she deliberately left
the coat in the cleaners shop. and left
the bill In it. It made h r heartsick.
She had been two long months saving the
$40 Eight dollars week left small mar
gin for saving after room rent, car
fare and meals had been accounted for,
and it had vexed her to break into il to
paw for cleaning the coat. She would
never again sit beside Myrtle in a cafe
terra. Myrtle was at the notions
counter which adjoined the hosiery,
where Kathrine was stationed, and Myr-
tie always spilled something at lunch.
Once it was her coffee; but that time she
only damaged her own clothes. Mostly
il WAS bread or cookies. which are not
Injurious. This time it had been tomato
SOUP. She had turned suddenly TO look
at Clara's new style of couture, and
swept the bowl of red, greasy compound
straisht at kathrine. 1t splattered the
entire front of her coat. Myrtle cried
and offered to pay for the cleaning, but
Kathrine knew Myrtles finances too well
TO dream of allowing her.
If Kathrine hadn't been so upset over
il she would have remembered about the
hill. But she didn't remember until she
was taking off her shoes that night for
fban
she went to work in the morning the
cleaning shop was not open. Kathrine
couldn't risk being late by waiting. She
reflected wrathfully that cleaning shop
wasn't much of a place to keep its doors
closed till $50, and she waited on Gus
toners that day in an absent-m-nded
fashion that was twice reported to a
fioorwalker. :
That night she hurried from the car to
the shop and a most breathlessly demand
ed of the ia |, thin, dark-eyed young fell
low to whom she remembered giving the
coat, Ibid you find that SO in the
pocket"
II never looked in the pocket" ne said
courteously. but l will now" and went
swiftly to the back room. separated from
the front by a partition of glazed glass
He came out moment later with the
coat. She saw by his face that he had
not found it. Mechanically she ran her
fingers into the deep but narrow pocket.
doubtfully-
Absolutely" she cried. so Loudly that
a small gray-haired man sitting at
desk at the side of the store looked up
curiously.
The young fellow cast queer glance
over his shoulder at him. and lowered
his voice. TN make inquiries" he said,
hastily. only two or three peop'e have
touched the coat since il was brought
In. If you left it there, 1 am sure it
will he found"
And then Kathrine. rather to her sur
prise, found herself bowed out the door
into the street. There she had a notion
to go back. He had been too curt about
ending the affair. She went to the room
ing house that had been her only home
since the death of an aunt. Her parents
had died long before. The $40 was to
have been devoted to a new suit. Now
she would have to save again. She shud-
dered with dismay at the many weeks
that she had already been saving. She
was tired saving, scrimping, planning.
Presently she forgot her personal affairs
in another angle of the affair. She re-
membered the quick, suspicious glance
from the old man. who was evidently the
proprietor. And the young fellow had
acted Queerly. Why, he didn't seem to