Middletown transcript., 1918-05-04
CHAPTER !.
Which Introduces a Lady and Two
Gentlemen.


Gentlemen.
Dressed in q plain white shirtwaist
and an equally plain black cloth SKIRT
Miss Hazel Weir. on weekdays. was
merely a unit in the Office of Harrlng-
ton & Bush. implement manufacturers.
Neither in personality nor in garD
would a casual glance have differentl'
ated her from the other female units.
occupied at various desks. A business
Office is no place for a woman to pa
rade her personal charms. The meas
ure Of her worth there is simply the
measure Of her efficiency at her ma
chine or ledgers. So that If any men,
Der of the firm had been asked what
sort of girl Miss Hazel Weir might
be. he would probably have replied
and with utmost truth-that Miss Weir
was capable stenographer.
But when Saturday evening released
Miss Hazel Weir from the plain brick
office building. she became. until she
dOnned her working clothes at Il. IN.
Monday morning. quite different sort
of person. In other words. she
chucked the plain shirtwaist and the
plain skirt into the discard, got into
such dress as normal girl OF
twenty-five delights to put on, and de-
voted half an hour or so to doing
he: hair. Miss Weir then became an
entity at which fev persons of either
sex failed to take second glance.
Upon a certain Saturday night Miss
Weir came home from an informal
little party escorted by young man.
They stopped at the front gate.
"I'll be here at ten sharp" said he.
sand you get good beauty sleep
tonight. Hazel. That COMPOUNDED Of
fee! l hate to think Of you drudging
away at it. I wish we were ready
to"
"Oh, bother the office!" she replied
lightly. Anyway, don't mind. 1t
doesn't tire me. l will be ready Mt
ten this time. Good night. dear"
"Good night. Hazie." he whispered.
"Here's kiss to dream on"
Miss Weir broke away from him
laughingly. ran along the path, and
up the steps. kissed her finger tips to
the lingering figure by the gate, and
went in.
"Bed." she soliloquized. sis the place
for me right quickly if I'm going to be
up and dressed and have that lunch
ready by ten o'clock. I wish l weren't
such a sleepyhead-or else that
weren't a pore wurrkin' CURL"
At which last conceit she laughed
softly. Because, for pore wurrkin'
gurl," Miss Weir was fairly well con-
tent with her lot. She had no one de-
pendent on her-R state of affairs
which. If it occasionally leads to lone
illness. has its compensations. Her
salary as stenographer amply COW
cred her living expenses, and even per-
mitted her to put by few dollars
monthly. She had grown up in Gran
Vile. She had her own circle Of
friends. So that she was comfortable,
even happy, in the present-and Jack
Barrow proposed to settle the prob
lem of her future; with youths Op-
timism, they two considered it already
settled. Six months more, and there
was to be a wedding, a three-weeks'
honeymoon. and final settling down
in a little cottage on the West side;
everybody in Granville who amounted
to anything lived on the West side.
Then she would have nothing to do
but make the home nest cOZy, while
Jack kept pace with real-estate bust
ness that was growing beyond his most
sanguine expectations.
She kissed her finger tips to him
again across the rooftops all grimed
with winters SCOT. and within fif-
teen minutes Miss Weir was sound
asleep.
.
She gave the lie. for once, to the say
ing that woman is never ready at the
appointed time. by being on the steps
n full ten minutes before Jack Barrow
appeared. They walked to the corner
and caught car. and in the span Of
half an hour got off at Granville park.
The city fathers, hampered in days
gone by with lack of municipal funds,
had left the observation-disclosures square
Of the park pretty much as nature
made it; that is to say, there was no
ornate parking, no attempt at land
scape gardening. Granville park was
q bit of the old Ontario woodland. and
ms such afforded pleasant place to
,oaf in the summer months.
When Jack Barrow and Hazel had
finished their lunch under the trees
IN company with little group of their
ocnuaintances, Hazel gathered scraps
of bread and cake into paper bag.
Rorrow whispered to her: Lets 90
dawn and feed the swans. I'd just as
soon be away from the crowd"
She nodded assent. and they depart
ed hastily lest some Of the others
sbould volunteer their company. 1t
+ook Int short time to reach the
nond They found n log close to the
waters edge, and, taking seat there,
tossed morsels to the birds and chat
tered to each other.
Look" she said suddenly; here's
ors of nv esteemed employers, If you
oiease. You'll notice that he's walking