Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-12-07
&c CHARTS THE STORY

Plies thaa ' ,snt fho bundle Is a odt.
tsdrs aH| t,,,, reveals thdt she ts hun
ConVeTr,nL IL ,nLes her to q cdfe, dnd sh0-
pv: nn,,,r0 on her nort day. Return
gssnt N III Jashiondble dpaTtmsns, &c
~ ~. ASHTON, a. friend pnh 'onom & ~
rcd dnappofntp'ent. U2". az .,"t 49, ,,o,, % to
ct coot o6," say, Ashton, = """' w" "
soms out a0din"
,,oIrrr Now!S Look at the time. man.
" ~ know--it's only eleven no.
RI catching the "''"'
s]n.no+t ] what in the world.
Ut ,.Ston turned round and looked GOVT
u he Are with a ,se sort 0f he emUA said jerEiy.
.ohs's found OUT
eMN,sky looked puszled. , ..
tou" made an impatient gesture. he
Asnton. Good Looking man, with dark eyes
~ s.o,ld look all manner OF tnins'
M hh,,sovt in the lenat meaning tnem' at.
V'"atout that girl at .lo Earea Srov o. "'e % toid
h s't sbSlt her. Lord. man. don't look
,su ossnSfToundediy sST ignorant! t, t1ld ,S,,s you
sAcus ,r,d ne,' the mater, and this morning
sss WV he shrugged his shoulders.
been old Harry to pay sne
Inere r,s n didn't give her up sne' a Gu, "
.o!a out mt OF her will She %ouio' 'oo
r. added. in savage psremInew nn,, sayw
well! inoteS SmG gnns naround.
Ashton IL ali, what could say7
III Ssr I would, Of course.
To,s Az va was a sharp silence. -,
Intv y thought you liked the GIRL sa'd
hTw Ess otS other man WINGED. ~. ,
aqo 7 did---so l do. Ns
rotttn shame. ,,, r.e,,v
You You mean that you're going "'thou'
swTS.t w1ru ~ can do?-I went and saw her
,,,. rnorning-we had rotten scene; !
u.srt w. 10 tell her It was all up. pu,
smshow couldn't; I'm TOO dashed ,on1
q e. n'tc 10 see see her cry--it makes me feel
srss a cur, ."
''gn T. waited a moment. but Micky made
10 ~sn sS"',ls" ,be only thing Is to clear out. :,
I.tion went on jerkily. II cant afford
4" % %auarrel with the mater, you know
% :. He stpeped' peTeGp' "Aftsr sSr' all, Ss sSs
.,,t live forever" ne added brutaily.
80 Sol I'm Of, tonight" Ashton went on
,I,S an effort. II wanted to see YOU
knew 7 could trust you
Hsfumbled in a pocket; THERE'S a let;
:.ss,G' ;ss Sc her ss.'" we'll tnsy Ssrs i TT is
He threw the letter down on the table
YOU 40 and see her, old chap, and
rive her that" he asked W tn an effort
ETsIl her I-Oh, tell her what you like
h. went on nercely. Tell her that II
could afford it
He stopped again, and this time the
silence was unbroken for some minutes
up his coat. We'll. I must be getting
along. left my baggage at the sta
HI He looked at Micky. II suppose yor
mink I'm an Internal sweep, eh?" he
asked curtly.
NO" said Mcky.
He had always expected that Ash
toms romance would end like this. ant
10 felt vaguely sorry for the girl, though
/ Ne had never seen her. She must have
expected II, too, he thought. She mus
have known Ashton's position all along
He olowed his friend out of the room.
you haven't told me her address,
he said suddenly!
He decided that II would be better tc
her He hated a scene as much as Ash
ton did
Ashton was at the top OF the stairs.
ITS on the letter. What have yol
done with IT," There was an irritabl,
note IN his voice. Don't leave 1t lyint
here for that man of yours to see."
Micky went back into the room. The
letter lay on the table where Ashtor
mad thrown II down.
lie picked i up, glancing casually a
the written address as he did so. Ther
suddenly his tall figure stiffened, anC
z curiousy blank look filled his eyes
ior the name scrlbbled there In Ash
tons writing was-----
4. Miss Esther Shepstone." and, below
y, the number Of the very horrid board
ing house In the Brixton road.
CHAPTER II
4, Micky stood staring at the envelope ir
his hand He felt as II something haC
happened TO paralyze all power Of &C
because Of Ashton - :?
=. Ashton called to him impatiently from
:. What the deuce are you doing?
sna!i miss my train"
and, dropping the letter into his pocket I
went slowly, out Of the room; ne fel,
~ ~ u ne could not have hurried had his
we depended upon II there was ar
heart. -'u'u "''
The taxi turned into tho station yard
traffic, W ''e sohsesteu
III you could give Lall!e some money
ashton nshton said with a rush, I'd send her
s.;ne' -. put I've only just got enough tc
e. out OF the way with III paw YOU
ssnS SeS as soon as the mater condescends tc
eng me another check. :"
said Miely. ''"er'
Yes, but call her Lallie."
Miekey's face felt hot.
hasn't she-hasn't she got any
A.N m nc asked with an effort.
No--at least,-I promised her some
,h hnen ! saw her this morning. She
eu Eldred's, You see"-he drew
sbIs "a oreath--you see, hoped we'd be
vas NJ no seI married, and so-well, there
'"S ~ was worked to death, poor kid"
zee bis face. wv oouiu no.
.,,a1Sou 1ou understand. don't your' he said
tSUutafed tSswu by his silence, she owe,
shs iv u oit al tho boarding house wher,
Tor bsr" "t'ns' l promised to wipe It OF
Altered eyerytRns, 1 ;ater sns cutting so up rough
IVY mi TTould give her a little"
tina dnNS Sse 70 It," said Micky. He opened
Il wa S0or OF the taxi and got out befnr.
h,t "a az u Standstill. He took OF hi.
foSsSa!uu let the cold air play on bis no,
70 O' spesG lie could hardly trust himseI,
70 =, ~. was thankful when Ashton went "A
the statih's w ms luggage. He walked intr
stsrinS HCh a and found himself aimlessIS
rmemha al notice board. He couId no.,
tn'eF angry "hen he had felt so furiousIv
SsmntA S1Sn Ashton rejolned him.
Thsv up up The trains in"
loved h went along the platform ,,,
Isge, y Woa = porter with Ashton's bax. u
Ashton M'eky wsy looked at 1t resentfnIIs
himself Ms rs, evidently prepared To- entooy
"Yo%Sinma Sna iorgetfulness. mere SOL
Old man9Ho 10 me best you can, won't vou
bin eyes but Micky Vas s rsat not anxiety ir
Yea 80 iatmmawered stiffiy%o. Nv. '''N'hs al
"Sheu a 90 what l can"
9h Went soon 0O get another Job" Ash.
Tn sorsuh on with forced cor, consda Asn'
come 10 ~, she left Eldred's, now i,t,
APPEALED out how was l to Know p