The Mena weekly star., 1919-01-02
oHAPrER xll.
4 Woman with a Mission.

Felipe Alvarado, explaining briefly tn,
disastrous failure of his Cuban trip.
I feared as much" the doctor told
him. "You were lucky to escape witt
vour life
"Weli. I'm going back. Won't You in
tercede Tor me with the iunta? They'r,
consta1 tly sending parties"
FIN not quite so often as that.
slYarado was silent for moment
then he said "Dlne with lac tonight
and wen talk it over Tin eager fol
news Of my brothers and-there i.
some one ! wish you to meet. She /,
interested in our cause"
sA'Y A woman27
"Yes and an unusual woman. She
has contributed literally to our cause
| would like you TO meet her."
Every well; Dut I've only one suit O,
clothes. and it looks as il I'd slept II
it."
"oh, bother the clothes! !" laughed
the physician. tive given most Of my
own to my destitute countrymen.
Don't expect too much to eat, either
every extra dollar, you know, g.,
ne same way Is my extra trou
sers. 1t will be a sort of patriotic
poverty party Come at seven
| please"
That evening O'Reilly anticipated
his dinner engagement by few mo-
ments IN order to have word alone
with Alyarado.
This lady who Is coming here to-
night has influence with Enriquez," Al
varado told him. you remember /
told you that she has contributed lib
orally. She might help you"
O'Reilly had met women with ideals,
with purposes, with avocations, ana
his opinion of them was low. Women
who had Emissions" were always tire
some, he had discovered. This one, II
appeared, was unusual only in that she
had adopted a particularly exacting
form of charitable work. Nursing,
! even as rich woman's diversion,
must be anything but agreeable.
| O'Reilly pictured this Evans person In
HIS mind-a large, plain, elderly crea-
ture, obsessed with impractical ideas
OF uplifting the masses She would
undoubtedly bore him stiff with stories
of her work; she would reproach him
with neglect Of his duties to the suf-
fering. Johnnie was too poor to be
charitable and too deeply engrossed
at the moment with his own troubles
to care anything whatever about the
masses" And she was a "miss."
That meant that she wore thick glasses
and probably kept cats.
A ringing laugh from the cramped
hallway interrupted these reflections
then a moment later Doctor Alvarado
was introducing o'Reilly to q young
woman so completely out Of the pic
ture, so utterly the opposite of his
preconceived notions. that he was mo-
mentarily at a loss. Johnnie found
himself looking into pair Of frank
gray eyes, and felt his hand seized by
firm, almost masculine grasp. Miss
Evans, according to his first dazzli7 g
| impression, was about the most fetch
ing creature he had ever seen and
about the last person by whom any
young man could be bored. The girl
and she was a girl-had brought into
the room an electric vitality, a breezi-
ness hard to describe. Altogether she
was such vision of healthy, unaffect-
ed and srnartly gotten-up young WON
anhood that O'Reilly could only STAN
mer his acknowledgment of the intro
duction, inwardly berating himself for
his awkwardness.
Alvarado placed an affectionate
hand upon Miss Evans shoulder.
"O'Reilly, this girl has done more for
| Cuba than any of us. She has spent
a small fortune for medical supplies"
| said he.
"Those poor men must live on qui-
nine" the girl exclaimed. Anyone
who can bear to take the stun ought
to have all he wants. I've perfect
passion for giving pills"
O'Reilly liked this girl. he had liked
her the instant she favored him with
her friendly smile. and so, trusting
| fatuously to his masculine powers of
| observation, he tried to analyze her.
He could not guess her age, for an ex-
| pensive ladies' tailor can battle the
| most discriminating eye. Certainly,
however, she was not old-he had an
idea that she would tell him her exact
age IL he asked her. While he could
not call her beautiful, she was some
thing immensely better-she was alive,
human, interesting and interested.
The fact that sne did not take her
emission" overseriously proved that
she was also sensible beyond most
women. Yes, that was 1t. Miss No
rine Evans was perfectly sensible.
unspoiled young person, who showed
the admirable effects OF clean living
and clean thinking coupled with nor
NAL. sturdy constitution. O'Reilly told
himself that here was girl who could
pour tea, nurse a sick man, or throw
a baseball.
And she was as good as her promise.
She did not interrupt when. during
dinner. Alvarado led Johnnie to talk
about his latest experience in Cuba,
mt on the contrary her unfagging In
terest induced q 1.,iily to address ms
talk more often to her than to the uoc'
tor He socn discovered that she un.
derstood the Cuban situation as wen
as or better than he, and that her sym
rotbies were keen. She was genuineis
e" a,, ~, tba gallant struggle of the