The Washington herald., 1914-09-15
DAILY SHORT STORY.
AN EMPTY sToRERooM.
By joins PHILIP oRTH.

| There was nothing IN thls TACT 10 TURF
out the FIRE department. or to send fol
an ambulance.
People who figured little on the mat.
ter with pencil and paper discovered
that exactly 10000. 900. $50 OOO.154 couple,
had been engaged since Adam met Eve
in the Garden. and he told her that he
sort O. loved her, and that IL she was
half a good cook they would get sphced
and go to living on something besides
bananas.
Harold Winters was portrait painter
May Evans was sculptor.
They both had studios in the same
building, and they both boarded with the
same landlady.
/ All this would not have attracted as
much attention as a raise in the price
OF dIll pickles but for the fact that they
| were always In a quarrel. II he criti-
| cised her work or she his, folks could
i understand why there might beNrancor,
But they never criticised in that direc-
ton.
Miss MAY would look at a portrait he
had finished and note that the fingers
| were too long. ears too large, the chin
/ unnatural and the eyes on the blink,
but would she advise her true love to
go and hunt a job painting an icehouse
Certainly not!
| And when she modelled, a Venus and
he stood before 1t and said TO him
self that he could do better with hoe
and 100 pounds OF dough. did he forget
himself and speak aloud? Not. by a
jugfull
What they quarreIed about and what
surprised all their friends was a fea-
ture Of crime-mysterious disappearance.
! A burglary or murder did not hold their
| interest a little bit. II a Black Hander
had blown up their studios they wouldn't
/ have wasted a minute wondering what
he looked ike or what he had to eat
next morning for his breakfast. 1t was
when the newspapers announced that
| So-and-So, man or woman, had mysteri-
| ously disappeared under certain circum-
| stances and the police had sent out a
/ general alarm that the artists dropped
their work and fished for a theory, and
then began to quarrel as to who was
right.
II is fair to say that Mr.. Winters was
right three times where Miss Evans was
once. That was because he knew hu-
man nature better than she did. though
she would never admit II. They would
! read in the papers that a girl was sent
| to the store or started out to her work,
and had been missing for two days. The
| earth had swallowed her up. She was
not dissatisfied with her home life and
| had had nothing to depress her. Then
Miss Evans would deduce:
Some villain has kidnapped her"
She has been coaxed into an elope-
| ment''
She went to Coney Island and was
drowned while bathing"
| lin hx- arrtn
Sometimes Miss Evans would telephone
these pointers to the police and some
| times she would be satisfied with calling
them a lot of fools. Then Mr.. Winters
| would deduce:
The girl was kept under restraint at
| home, and was dissatisfied. She was not
allowed to use any OF her money for
her diversion. The mother lies about
it"
Very likely the girl was advibed by
| other girls to assert her independence"
''She may have been invited to stay
at the house OF one of them while the
two Of them ran around together for a
good time
They will eat peanuts, chew gum and
take in the movies
in two or three days the missing girl
! will walk INTO her home with a defiant
| air"
Once in a while the missing girl was
found drowned. but II was so rare, and
Mr.. Winters was right so often. that
| there was hardly a peaceful day in the
| week for them.
One day the owner Of a new studio
| building called to ask them to inspect
his new apartments with a view to a
change. Both were satisfied to remain
where they were. but Of course Miss
Evans had a curiosity to see the place.
I Without a word to any one she set on.
and after a street car ride Of a mile she
reached the place. OF course there was
a Janitor. He should have beep sitting
in a chair by the front door and reading
a newspaper. but II happened that he
wasn't. On the contrary. he was in a
SALOON around the corner with his foot
on the bar railing. His argument was
that man was born before the monkey.
and that Darwin be hanged. and after
waiting for a couple OF minutes Miss
Evans passed up stairs. There were four
floors and no elevators running.
She went to the top floor at once. and
she was Immediately interested. She
had looked about for a quarter Of an hour
when she attempted to open a door which
she found locked. 1t was a spring lock
however. and after a moment she had II
open. There was a large closet at the
dows. She was wondering what it was
designed for. and she stepped in as she
wondered
Bang
A pun of wind from an open window
closed the door on her. and the spring
lock did the rest. She pushed and bat
tered and kicked and shouted. but moth
ing came OF It.
It would be a long night and 1t might
be long day on the morrow. Were
there rats? Were those ghosts?
SI deduce that it will be afternoon to-
morrow before am released" said the
girl as she sat down on the floor 'I
called Harold an idiot this morning. and
he will deduce from my absence that
have gone home with Flora Day to stay
all night just to bother him. love
Harold. but he does vex me with his
deductions.
Although their studios were side by
side Mr.. Winters land Miss Evans did
not always walk home together. On
| this occasion he saw that she was out
when he was ready to go, and he went
along by himself. As he did not see
her at the house he reasoned that she
was in her room. and it was only when
she did not appear at the dinner table
that she was asked after.
'I saw her on a Vine avenue car two
hours ago" said young man.
"And I saw her walking on Myrtle
street about that time" added a young
lady.
Mr.. Winters wanted to go to the club
that evening. but he had hung of until
late in the hope of seeing Miss Evans.
When she had called him a fool he had
4, al To- 1av,r \