The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1917-08-15
BY OSCAR cox

L
not know. Where is my hat?"
You shall know. | shall punish you
by telling you. Answer me. Weren't
you and Dick Trimmingham riding in
a trolley yesterday on College street,
Il was"
and who was the third person of
the party?"
I'VE had a skeleton with us, We
were taking it to our rooms"
and who was the person you called
Billy?"
why. that was what we called the
skeleton"
so, indeed. you called it Billy? And
who put the cigarette between its jaws
and said, Don't smoke. Billy; 1t isn't
allowedT"
"Oh, you must have been told this
yarn by some mean, contemptible"-
Not a bit of it. No one told me-"
''Then how did you get on TO it?'
Never mind that. Was it necessary
that you should put a nickel between
the horrid things finger bones and say,
Here, Billy. pay your fare like a
| mann"
did we do that?"
Yes, you did
You mean Dick did it."
''It doesn't matter which of you did
it. You were both acting like ghouls.
And if you didn't do it you did some
thing equally frightful'
what was that?"
You said: Billy, you ought to have
worn your overcoat. You'll catch
cold"
IL was thinking of the real person
| the skeleton was before he died"
ooh, you were! Then why did you
laugh when Dick said, He slipped out
the back door and got away from his
poor old mother, who was chasing him
with his rubbersP"
Did laugh at thatT'
"You know very well you laughed at
it."
'It wasn't funny at all, was itT'
Funny! 1t was shocking"
"Well, Dick, he
ooh, yes; it's always Dick, he
That's the way you crawl out of every
thing Whose hat was on the things
headF'
'T put my hat on 1t. but only for a
minute
and said, There's too much draft
for bald head"
THAT wasn't funny either"
at was revoltingw
A pause.
II wish you'd tell me how you got
on to all this"
perhaps you don't remember a girl
who got into the car with a thick veil
over her face to protect her from the
storm and hung on to a strap. The
thing was sitting on your lap
"Oh, my
"And you said-what did you say?"
81 don't remember"
Don't remember! You said, Get up,
Billy, and give the lady your seat"
A pause-a dreadful pause.
What did you do?'
What did do? l know what
wanted to do. | wanted to tell the
conductor to let me get off, but just
then a gentleman-a real gentleman,
such as / always supposed you to be
arose and gave me his seat. 1 shut my
eyes to keep from looking at the grin
ming ghost opposite"
! A pause, in which the young man
looks at the ceiling, the floor, the
walls, anything, everything except the
girl; then he gulps sorrowfully:
II suppose it's all over between us?''
81 should think So"
This evening I'll not have you by
me, as usual. You'll not sit on my lap;
my heart'H not beat against yours. I'll
sit alone In my room, with no one to
comfort me except
Who'll comfort your
None but Billy"
You don't deserve any one-I mean
anything
It'll be awful lonesome sitting there
that way"
| What way?"
| with nobody but Billy
| An ominOus pause.
Suppose l promise never to do so
any mOre?"
II No answer.
| You know I've always loved you,
never any one else in the world It's
pretty hard to have no real person to
love, only "a
II No encouragement
"Goodby."
II He takes her hand. and she makes a
feint at withdrawing it.
| Just one kiss before we part"
Not single one"
I'll never, never do anything to Of
fend you again
II Silence.
Wont you forgive me? If l go to
that awful room with that awful thing
there | do believe I'll blow out my
= brains
He draws her down into his lap.
Curtain