Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-10-25

quite a. bad as that. He was ex-
pectinK someone. Vaguely h Won
dered whom, hoping that they wou!a
not come until after supper. y
seemed as II she could not move from
the rickety sofa, hard as It = a
footstep sounded on the stair.l -
mans step. It paused an instant owl
side, and every nerve IN her poay
ached at the thought OF bracing her-
self to arise. The step passed on,
mounting with fainter noises TO the
attic above. She sighed With relief
and wondered Il 1t was Tony, the
limpid-eyed italian, bootblack who
used To live there with his brother, or
IL SOME new tenant, blown by n
city's whirlwind to this grimy refuge
like a scrap Of refuse to a chink In a
d~ust-heap. A sweet, throaty tenor
voice, thinly muffled by the shoddy
walls. presently came dfifting down
from above. Yes. Mt was still Tony,
after all these months.
"Addio mi bella Napoli."
The tune wal liquid, plaintive,
Piercing. She did no know it's
meaning. but she wept, slow, hot
tears that had their source too deep
in the pain of living to be tagged with
a reason. but which brought a sort of
relief. Then the door opened. and
Red entered with his arms full OF
bundles.
He set out his purchases. sausages.
a tin Of salmon. pretzels and biscuits
with marshHallow on them, Tor Pearl:
and, strangely enough, q bottle OF
milk for Pearl, which he insisted upon
her drinking. At supper they talked
more. He ate little himself, talking
easily but with an undercurrent OF
nervousness which she was not slow
to detect, but which her physical ex-
haustion forbade her troubling about
very deeply. She watched his clumsy
preparation of the food without more
than a feeble offer to help, which ne
refused peremptorily, and Joined him
at the table only when all was ready.
1T was almost pathetic, she thought,
how-good he was to her, and how he
waited on her. She must look very
sick, she reflected, to have him>act
like this. And he must really love
her a lot to be so kind in spite Of 1t,
for Red was not one to notice ugly
women, and illness had greatly rava9-
ed her, or so she imagined. While
she ate, he questioned her a little.
"Been pretty SICK" he commented.
Eyes," said Pearl.
"Hospital?"
It was her opportunity. and she
seized it gratefully.
Eyes," she lied.
"Wouldn't keep you no longer?"
TN a lot BETTER" she said.
They're always crowded over there,
o know. Soon as you a walk, you
have to CO."
II get YOU" he replied ST guess
you've been pretty far gone. But
you've come to life. Everything's
goin' to be fine now"
Come back to ~life!"oshe burst out.
Eyes, that's it. And it makes me
mad. 1 been awful sick. Then I
commenced to get better. And I
after l got well. But it amt, You
go into a sickness, and you take off
your life. and put it away. And you
forget about it while you're sick. But
when you get well. there it is. waiting
for you like an old dress. Nobody's
mended the holes, because nobody
can. There it is. all raggedXand soiled
and stained with-with tears, and
you've got to put it on. You havn't
got>anything else to wear! You may
be haven't realized how dirty you
were getting it while you was we'll,
but you see that quick enough when
you come out clean and have to put.
it on again.
Red Lewis stared at her, his cigar
cite frozen halfway to his lipsA
~"Say!" said he. You're talkin'
ragtime, kid. You better go to bed.
Come on, hit the hay. You'll be bet
ter in the mornin'. Illsfx you a lit
tie dope SOS you'll sleep good. Come
on now"
: He helped her to arise, and opened
the door into the next room, notion
ing her to enter.
1t was the hall bedroom, and was