Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-04-28
CHAPTER Ty-con,Inued.

His eyes affixed the point of interroga-
tion to the simple declarative.
She started nervously in response,
divided between impulses which she had
no longer sufficient wit to weigh Should
she confess, or try to lie out of It? Must
she believe this glibly simple and ade-
quate account or reject II on grounds of
pardonable skepticism?
II this man were what he professed to
be, surely he must recognize her bor-
rowed plumage as his sisters property.
True, that did not OF necessity follow;
men have 80 little understanding of
womens clothing; 1t pleases them or It
displeases, II thrust upon their attention,
but once withdrawn 1t Is forgotten utter
ly. Such might well be tho case in this
present instance; the man gave Sally, in
deed, every reason to believe him as
much bewlldered and mystified by her
as she was by him.
on the other hand, and even So
The infatuate impulse prevailed, to con-
fess and take the consequences.
I'm afraid" she began in a quaver.
mo need to be--none 1 know of, at
least" he volunteered promptly, II with
out moderating his exactng stare.
"You don't understand
She hesitated, sighed, plunged in des-
peration. ITS no use; there's nothing
for me to do but own up. What you were
not tonight Mr.. Savage, I was"
Sounds like riddle to me. What is
tho answer?'
you were Just make-believe I was
the real thing-a real thief. No, let me
go on it's easier If you don't interrupt
Yes, I'll tell you my name, but it won't
mean anything I'm nobody. I'm Sarah
Manvers. I'm shop-girl out of work"
"Still don't see"
I'm coming to that. 1 live on your
bloclt-the Lexington avenue end, Of
course-with two other girls. And this
afternoon-the studio was so hot and
stuffy and lonesome, with both my
friends away-I went up on the roof for
better air. and fell asleep there and got
caught by the storm. Somebody had
closed the scuttle, and I ran across roofs
looking for another that wasn't fastened
down, and when I found one-it was your
house-I was so frightened by the light
ming I hardly knew what l was doing. I
just tumbled in
And welcome, I'm sure" Blue Serge
interpolated.
She blundered on, unheeding: II went
all through the house, but there wasn't
anybody and-I was so wet and miser-
able that I-made myself at home-de-
cided to take q bath and-and borrow
some things to wear until my own were
dry. And then I thought"
She halted, confused, realizing how i'm
possible 1t would be to convince anybody
with the tale of her intention merely to
borrow the clothing for single night of
arabesque adventure finding it difficult
now to believe in on her own part, and
hurried breathlessly on to cover the
hiatus.
And then heard a noise on the roof.
had closed the scuttle but was fright
ened. And I crept downstairs and-saw
the light in the library and That's all"
And when he didn't reply promptly, she
added with a trace of challenge: $50
now you know!'
He started as from deep reverie.
But why call yourself a thief-for
that?"
"Because-because-" Her overstrung
nerves betrayed her in gusty confession
Because it's no good blinking facts;
that's what I was In my heart of hearts
Oh it's all very we'll to be generous, and
for me to pretend meant only TO borrow,
and-and all that! But the truth is, I did
steal-and never honestly meant to send
the things back. At first-yes: then
meant to return them, but never once
they were on my back. l told myself
did. believed l did; but deep down, all
along, 1 didn't, l didn't. I didn't! I'm a
liar as we'll as a thief"'
"Oh come now!" Blue Serge interjected
in a tone of mild remonstrance, loungtng
back and eying the girl intently, Don't
be so down on yourself"
"Well, everything I've said was true ex-
cept that one word borrow but that In
itself was a lie big enough to eclipse
every word of truth You see, but you'll
never understand-never! Men can't
They simply can't know what 1t is to be
hes-hungry--starving for something
At to wear-as have been for years and
years and years, as most of us in the
shops are all our lives long"
perhaps l understand, though" he
argued with an odd look. 'I know what
you mean, at any rate, even If I'm not
ready TO admit that shop-glrls are the
only people who ever know what 1t is to
desire the unattainable. Other people
want things. at times. just as hard as
you do clothes"
"Well, but" She stammered, unable |
10 refute this reasonable contention, but, |
womanlike. persistent to try TITS diff |
you've never had anything. |
Try to think what 1t must be to work |
from till 6-sometimes later-6 days a |
week. for just enough to keep alive on. II |
you call such an existence being alivel |
Why. In 10 years haven't seen the coun- |
Try or the sea-unless you count trips to |
Coney on crowded trolley-cars, and |
mighty few of them. 1 never could af- |
ford a vacation, though I've been idle |
1ften enough never earned more than /
10 dollars a week, and that not for many |
Uaeks toRAther. I've lived m as IIffIa a |