Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-07

which characterized the girls advance,
and chirped cheerfully.
Hello, Sylvy." ..,
unfairly shrank, but checked herself IN
stantly She was such miserable tall-
ure. herself. What right had had she 10 10
shrink from any one? Besides-that d,s
honor for one might be noble virtue in
another. 1t all depended upon cireum.
stances and conditions. Sylvy had let
She let another go by the board as she
responded in cordial tones, Hello
Bertha 80 ,,,
Want to go to a dance tonight; kid?,
There was undoubtedly something IN
Bertha's voice that attracted: 1t had
a coaxing purr in it, and she was
arm-hearted. generous girl. .,- por
Sylvy smiled family, but Shook her
head. though somewhat indeclsiVeiy; ,
you do but you don't, eh?' OWNED
Bertha. and assumed a motherly tone as
she went on with: We'll, you Just VIII,
The White Lily Sociais tonight ana ana
look tired out though. Come to my room
and have a rest. Then | can doll you
up sufficient with some Of my thlngs'
SOS you won't have to go home:
doubted If the girl had clothes at nome
that would have made her presentable
for a dance. but Sylvy confessed readily
to weariness.
u,
thing" she said drearily, I would go
| home with you for an hour. just to put
off going to my own
II get you, kid" responded Bertha.
I've had 'em myself, but I'm out for
the eats now / know, a hole in the
ground down here where you can feed
| like a mllionairess for forty cents"
Forty cents For one meal. Sylvy
oh. | couldn't she objected, hold
ing back. , ..,, r,o,,.r, .,
hand through the tired girls unresisting
arm and led her to Kopozynski's.
Appetite and weakness triumphed over
scruples Sylvy ate the meal. 1t was
d'hote, all the way from soup to ice
cream, and it tasted. oh. so good.
At first extremely self-conscious,
Sylvy sat with eyes fixed on her plate or
but with the progress of the meal TINS
shyness wore off. Venturing to look
about her she saw many others dining
as cheerfully as Bertha. There was
stimulus. Soon she talked and laughed
and tried to appear as happy as the
others.
once the memory of her mother wait
ing dinner for her struck her with a
pang. and she spoke of II to Bertha.
What does she want to wait for you
| for? That amt love. that's selfishness
Makes you feel as If you ought to be
| there. You got to break away some time,
amt you? You can't always be tied
TO her apron strings. Why not let this
be the time?"
1t was strange how skillfully Bertha
| succeeded in appealing to something ir
the girl that had been smoldering, but
had never yet flamed out in expression
II guess | will :" decided Sylvy,
At the end of the meal, Bertha paio
| for it, from a mass of crumpled dollar
| bills which she dug out of her bag, ano
| tipped the waiter grandly to the extent
| Of ten cents for each of them.
Svlvy marveled at the affluence which
| could cast away twenty cents without
| so much as backward look, as she
marveled at the gaudiness Of the chair
! anG locket about Bertha's neck. and al
| the thickness of color she had dared tc
! lay upon her cheeks.
| "But-but don't you live at home?
| inquired Sylvy in surprise, when they
passed the mattress making shop oi
Joseph Kopel, over which his family
| lived.
Nope Too slow for me there. Too
much bossing, ! got room of my own.
Bertha turned in under a cheap trans
parent glass sign which read: Rooms
Transient. thirty-fve cents"
Bertha's room was up two fights OF
dimly lighted stairs and back along
many yards of twisting ill-ventilated
corridors but once gained proved sur.
prisngly attractive. 1t was tiny and
crowded with no other open space thar