The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1919-03-20

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acknowledged her entrance.
She went to her room in a state Of
foreboding misery. She had not paid
her board for several weeks. She had
not mentioned the fact to Mrs. Chivvis.
nor Mrs. Chivvis to her, though the
nonpayment of q board bill is one of
the self-evident truths that landladies
usually discuss with freedom.
A few minutes later Mrs. Chivvis
tapped on the door, her thimble max
ing a sharp clack. She brought her
sewing with her and sewed as she
said: MAY I sit down a momenti
Thank you" She kept her eyes on the
seam while she talked.
swell, Miss Kip, the war has reach
ed us also at last. My husband lost
his position today"
"Yes? Oh, how horriblel !" Daphne
gasped, with double sincerity.
"The office was closed Unexpectedly
by an involuntary petition in bankrupt
cy. His salary was not paid last week
nor this, and-well-we don't want
to Inconvenience you, but"
II understand" said Daphne. "TD
give you what I can"
She took her poor little wealth from
her handbag. She had paid ten Of the
fifty to the photographer as a deposit
She gave Mrs. Chivvis twenty-five dol
lars, and promised her more.
Mrs. Chivvis was very grateful and
went down the hall, smiling q little
over her seam.
Clay called that evening. He was
exhausted with a day Of tramping the
town, looking for work. He was too
! weary to talk and he fell asleep twice
during one Of Mr.. Chivvis' common
taries on the probable effects Of the
imminent capture Of Paris by the ir-
resistible Germans. The French gov
eminent had already moved to Bor-
deaux and But Clay had read it all
in a dozen different newspapers, and
he passed away.
Daphne vas restless. Mr.. Chivvis
was on her nerves.. Clay was not
pretty, asleep, sitting with his jaw
! dropped and his hands hanging down,
palms forward, like an apes. She was
enjoying another Of the woes Of mar
rage without it's privileges.
The Chivvises began to yawn, and
Mrs. Chivvis finally babe the startled
Clay "Good evening"" She had been
brought up to believe that it was in
delicate for a woman to bid a man
"Good-night."
Clay, left alone with Daphne, at
tempted a drowsy caress, but she felt
fnsulted and she snapped at him:
IF you're only walking in your sleep
you'd better walk yourself out Of here
and 60 to bed"
His apology was incoherent and she
was Indignantly curt with him at the
door. She went to her room and sat
at the window, staring down at the
dark swarm Of watchers before the
bulletin boards.
She had told her brother that she
did not have to starve or sin, because
she had a father, a brother, a lover
to protect her from want. And now
her father and her brother and her
lover were all in dire predicament,
staggering blindly in a fog Of debt.
Suppose her fathers train ran off
the track or into another train. A
spread rail, a block signal overlooked,
a switch left unlocked, might bring
doom upon his train as on so many
others. She shivered at the horror of
her fathers loss. She shivered again
at the thought Of what it would mean
to her.
Suppose the Chivvises turned her
out. Why should they feed her for
nothing when their own future was
endangered?
What could Bayard do for her? or
Clay? There was Mr.. Duane, Of
course; but she could not take his
money without paying him. And in
what coin could she pay him? She
trembled, and the breeze turned gla-
cial. u"
The next morning was another day
Of the same shoddy pattern. She rose
unrefreshed with only her fears re-
newed. She borrowed the Chivvises
newspaper and, skipping the horrid
advertisements of foreign barbarity
and American dismay, turned to the
last pages. The "Situations Wanted"
columns were eloquently numerous
and the "Help Wanted-Female" col.
umns were few; still, she made q list
Of such places as there were. She
wrote letters to all sorts Of people
who gave newspaper letter-box ad.
dresses, and she went out to call on
all sorts Of people who gave their
street numbers.
The letters she wrote were not an.
swered at all. She lost her postage A
she had lost her car fares. It seemed
as IL the end Of the world, or at least
the breakup Of its civilization, had ar
rived without warning and without
refuge.
X
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