Norwich bulletin., 1915-05-05
HELPLESS LITTLE GIRL

"She was a helpless little thing" unused the young man who sells auto mobiles. "One of the kind who makes your heart swell with the idee that you must be manly and protect her from the rough winds of life-the sort of girl the thought of whom impels a man to regard with wondering disgust the woman who hops on a street car
 unassisted or opens doors for herself You wonder why all women can't be like her. That Is, you do for awhile! Tt wasn't because she was helpless that I wished an automobile upon her. She hunted me up herself because she said she thought she would get along better with some one she knew, and she had danced with me at the club. Therefore she expected that l knew all about automobiles and she wanted
 runabout to drive herself. Did l have one that would look like seven pas senger limousine if one gave it just
 hasty glance passing down the boule-
 ward Of course, she didn't expect
 any one to take it for Elsie's French
 car, but she thought that maybe had
 some new patterns in.
 Passing hastily over the prelimin
 aries, I sold her a small car. l quite enjoyed teaching her to drive it. l did it myself, because she was an acquain- tance. It was real interesting to save
 her from suicide beneath trucks and to extricate the car fr0m the lamp posts it climbed under her guidance and to calm her frightened nerves.
 Really, there is no telling what might
 have happened to me if fate had not intervened.
 And that was why I was so mad
 when I arrived at Louise's Sunday afternoon and found Lem Bilcraft oc-
 cupying the best chair and acting as though he had come to stay. Louise
 had said that she wanted to motor out for tea at a friends, whose people
 this year are living for business req
 sons in a small town near here. and didn't I want to come along? l had jumped at the chance. Anyhow, she couldn't make the trip alone, so 1t was my duty to go along. I mentioned our prospective trip and I distinctly stated that the runabout was built to hold
 only two comfortably. But Lem stay
 ed on.
 That's the reason he's made a suc- cess in the world-if he wants to do a thing, neither dynamite no rharsh
 words nor scintillating snubs have any effect on him. His head is way above such distractions! And when we start ed blest if he didn't say that he'd come along. He said it as though he l were conferring a favor on the assem- blaze. I looked at Louise for sym pathy, but she was a little late with | it, because she had to finish off her | look of pleased, childish delight be- | slowed upon Lem.
 Tt was then that I began to have | that uncomfortable feeling that goes | with too much green apples, too ripe | lobster or dawning suspicious. That such an innocent eyed little thing as
 Louise could be playing two of us at
 time hadn't occurred to be before.
 Well, we started, and I let Louise drive
 where the city roads lasted and then | I took the wheel. I thought maybe I'd have a chance to spill Lem out rounding a curve. After I heard Lou | ise give him the same brand of girl ish, admiring laughter that she had | been dealing out to me the past few weeks, could have bounced him over l a railway track with good grace.
 And just as we got down in a dark, dismal spot, miles from anywhere with the shades of evening falling fast, something went wrong with the engine. I fused at it awhile and