The Washington herald., 1914-09-20
tCopyight. lsll.)

- OF autOmO0ileS from tnc superb
1 = or height of a NOTORIOUS 1t
amused him to see how little people
lose of the childhood spirit of truancy
and adventure All this grown-up, So
phisticated world seemed to be run like
a school, with joyous deviltry when
ever and wherever the teachers back
was turned, but woe to whose was
caught; every one winking at guilt till
authority detected it, then every one
solemnly approving the punishment.
Mr.. Forbes had not seen Fifth ave
nue. since the pathetic old horse-coaches
were changed to the terrific motor
stages. He had not seen the Avenue
since it was widened-by the simple
process of slicing off the sidewalks and
repairing their losses at the expense
of the houses. The residences on both
sides of the once so stately corridor
looked to him as if giant had drawn
a huge carving knife along the walls,
looping away all the porticos, columns,
stoops and normal approaches, and
leaving the inhabitants to improvlse
such exits as they might.
AS far as Forbes could see north and
south, the roadway was glutted from
curb to curb with automobiles. And
their number astonished him even less
than their luxury.
From his swaying eerie he seemed to
be completely lost in current OF idle
wealth. The throng, except for the
chauffeurs, the policemen and a Jew
men whose trades evidently fetched
them to this lane of pleasure-the
throng was almost altogether women.
And to Forbes eye, unused to city
standards, almost all the women were
princesses.
At first, as his glance fell on each
radiant creature, his heart would cry:
There is one l could Lowell l never
shall forget her beauty And before
the VOW of eternal memory was finished
il was forgotten for the next.
There was one woman, however, that
he could not forget, because he could
not find out what she was like. In the
slow and fitful progress up the Avenue
it CHANGED that his stage kept close IN
the wake of an open landaulet. The
stage never fell far behind, and never
quite won alongside.
A Young woman was alone in the
tonneau. At least, he Judged that she
was Young, though his documents were
scant. Her head was completely hid
den from his view by hat that was
Just exactly big enough to accomplish
that work of spite.
He grew eager and more eager to see
what fiower-face was hidden under that
overturned straw fower-pot of a hat
Now and then, as the stage pushed
forward. he would be near enough to
make out the cunning architecture OF
1.st nd
Gus felicity of her left arm. Seen thus
detached, they fascinated him and kin
died his curiosity. BY and by he was
swept near enough to glimpse one
rounded knee crossed over the other,
and one straight shin creasIng hght
skirt, and high-domed lnstep, and the
peak OF one slim shoe.
And once, when the traffic was sud
denly arrested, he was close enough to
be wildly tempted to bend down and
snatch off that irritating hat He was
a fearless soldier, but he was not so
daring as all that. Still, he heard her
voice as she gossiped to a momentary
neighbor who raised his hat in touring
car held up abeam her own
Her voice did not especially please
him: it was almost shrill, and It had the
metallic glitter OF the New York voice:
Her words, too. were trife hard, and
as unpoetic as possible.
We had a rotten time," she said. Il
was bored stiff. You ought to have
been there"
And then she laughed little at the
malice implied The policeman's whls-
tie blew and the cars lurched forward.
And the stage numbered after them like
4 green hippopotamus. Forbes began
to feel a gnawing anxiety to see what
was under that paradise feather.
II became a matter OF desperate ne
cessity to overtake that will-o -the-wlsp
chauffeur and observe his passenger.
Great expectations seemed to be Justl-
fed by the fact that nearly every police
man saluted her and smiled so pleasant
" and so pleasedly that the smile lin
gered after she was far past.
Forbes noted, too, that the people
she bowed to in other cars or on the
sidewalk seemed to be important peo-
pie. and vet to be proud when her hat
gave d little wren-like nod in their dl-
rections.
At Fifty-frst street, in front Of the
affable gray cathedral, there was long
and democratic delay while a contemp-
tuous teamster. perched atop a huge
steel girder. drove six naughty stations
across the Avenue; drove them slowly,
and puffed deliberate smoke in the face
of the impatient aristocracy.
Here a dismounted mounted police
man paced up and down. followed by a
demure horse with kindly eyes. This
officer paused to pass the time Of day
with the mysterious woman, and the
horse put his nose into the car and ac-
cepted a caress from her little gloved
hand. Again Forbes heard her voice;
You poor old dear, wish l had a
lump of sugar
1t was to the horse that she spoke,
but the officer answered:
The sight of you, ma am, is enough
for um."
Evidently he came from where most
policemen come from. The lady laughed
again. She was evidently not afraid of
4 compliment. But the policeman was.
He blushed and stammerd:
81 beg your pardon, Miss +
He gulped the name and motioned
the traffic forward. Forbes was con- !
graduating himself that at least she
was not Mrs" Somebody, and his in
terest redoubled just as the young
woman leaned forward to speak to her
chauffeur She had plainly seen that I
their was a policeless space ahead of
her. for the driver put on such speed /