Middletown transcript., 1914-04-25
CQsNaGHE q. XGlG QNLANCasIqIH ColzSl

! She nodded. She was rather glaC
to feel that it was right for her to nod
She would have shrunk from reVela
tions of the sorrow which would Ger
tainly have filed her heart if it hac
transpired, now, that Broadway was
not to remain In Jonesville. She ever
shrank from an acknowledgment Of
this in her own heart.
"The business will need your atten
tton," she said gravely.
He waved a hand which he tried to
make appear as If dispensing privf
leges, but which, he knew, seemed
more that Of a shirker.
60 right on with the business. Don't
pay any attention to me-"
She looked at him very gravely.
Then, dropping her eyes, she took
some papers from the desk, went to a
filing cabinet, deposited them with
care in their allotted places, and slow
ly went back to her desk. AS she re-
turned she did not again raise her eyes
to his.
Have you thought OF what we
talked about last night?" she asked.
She made him most uncomfortable.
He had begun to wonder, for the first
time in his life, if, possibly, he did not
have a conscience. He had never ta-
ken any obligation very seriously; sud-
denly it seemed necessary for him to
consider many things with solemn,
pondering mind. He did not like it. It
distinctly made him nervous. What
was the use of being heir to all his
uncle's property If riches brought the
very thing which he had thought they
might preserve him from-dull care?
Had he thought of what she had
said last night? He had thought of lit
tie else! Had that train of thought
been started by any human being other
than herself, he would have bitterly
resented the intense discomfort it had
caused him. Even now his voice was
peevtsh when he answered..
Have thought of 1t! All l dreamed
about last night was poverty stricken
families crying for their food. Thou
sands of men, women and children
chased me through the streets, out of
the town and into wild forest-where
there was nothing but chewing-gum
trees"
She let her head fall back, and
laughed. He was SO funny! Yet she
plainly felt that there was truth in his
complaint. She believed he really had
passed a most uncomfortable night
Perhaps she was not very sorry that
he had.
"Oh, had an awful night" he
nOurned. II could have slept this
morning, but the Ladies' Aid began to
rehearse their minstrel show across
the street, SO got up and ordered
breakfast"
Having gone thus far he stopped. as
if there could be nothing further to be
said. but she did not understand the
reason for his sudden silence.
'Yes?" she inquired.
did you ever breakfast at the
Grand?" he asked pathetically.
mo-" she smiled.
Il dare you to-" he challenged.
IL . LnO UC6k AOLC4 III lOMus All tu6
theatrical troupes stop there"
He nodded grimly. 'The troupes
that play in Jonesville probably de-
serve it."
She did not quite approve of this.
She was sure that she had seen some
wondrous acting there in Jonesville.
Had she not wept her eyes out over a
new play, entitled EAST Lynne" the
previous winter? Had not another
which the bills announced |
came straight to JonesVille from a |
run of many weeks, and |
which was known as The Two Or
phans," held her spellbound for an |
evening? Had not the leading men In |
these productions been invariably very |
different In their appearance from any |
of the Jonesville youth, and therefore |
attractive; had not the
leading women worn enormous jewels
and extraordinary, yellow hair which
she had envied fiercely? Her own hair
was rich, dark brown.
She looked at him somewhat coldly.
It was plainly time to turn from gos-
sip to pure business.
I've worked all the morning with
the auditor upon statement which
shows the years business up to the
first of this month";" she notified him
gravely. From an upper drawer of the
big desk at which she had been seated
she secured a long, formidable-looking
paper and, rising, approached him with
It. "Do you care to go over it now?"
He eyed it askance, as If it might
have been a dangerous thing and liable
to sting. Business! Should he ever
really discover how to feel the slight
sst interest in it or understanding Of
It? What a tiresome looking thing it
was
mo; not right now" he told her. al
most shivering. 'T-Mr. Wallace prom
sed to do all that for me-