The Washington herald., 1920-09-04
By O. HENRY

eral results. But, anyhow, don't
you see that she's got to get back
home before night?"
And then | began TO feel that
dull. lraden. soul depressing sen
satiOn known as the sense OF
duty. Why should that sense fan
upon one as a weight and a bur
den? | knew that / was doomed
that day to give up the bulk Of
my store Of hard wrung coin to
the relief of this Ada Lowery.
But l SwOre to myself that
Trips whiskey dollar would not
be forthcoming. He might play
kRight-errsnt at my expense. but
he would indulge in no wassail
afterward, commemorating my
weakness and gullibility. In a
kind of chilly anger l put on my
coat and hat.
Trip, submissive, cringIng.
vainly endeavoring to please.
conducted me via the street cars
to the human pawnshOp of Moth
er McGinnis. l paid the fares. 1t
seemed that the collodion- scented
Don QuiXote and the smallest
minted coin were strangers.
Trip pulled the bell at the
door of the moldy red brick
boarding house. At its faint TIN
kle he paled, and crouched as a
rabbit makes. ready to spring
away at the sound of a hunting
dog. l guessed what a life he had
led, terror haunted by the coming
footsteps of landladies
Give me one of the dollars
quick he said
The door opened six inches.
Mother McGinnis stood there with
white eyes-they were white.
say-and a yellow face, holding
together at her throat with one
hand a dingy pink flannel dress
ing sack. Trip thrust the dol
lar through the space without a
word, and it brought us entry.
She's in the parlor." said the
McGinnis. turning the back Of
sack upon us.
In the dim parlor a girl sat at
the cracked marble comfortable.
weeping comfortably and eating
gumdrOps. She was a fawless
beauty. Crying had only made
her brilliant eyes brighter. When
she CrunChed a gumdrop you
thought only of the poetry of
motion, and envied the senseIess
cOnfection. Eve at the age Of
five minutes must have been a
ringer for Miss Ada Lowery at
nineteen or twenty / was intro
duced, and a gumdrop suffered
neglect while she conveyed to me
a naive interest. such as a puppy
dog "a prize winner might be
stow upon a crawling beetle or
a frog
Tripp took his stand by the
table. with the fingers of one hand
SPREAD upon it, as an attorney
or a master of ceremonies might
have stood. But he looked the
master of nothing. His faded
coat was buttoned high, as If it
sought to be charitable to def
cienCies of tie and linen. thought
of a Scotch terrier at the sight
of his shifty eyes in the glade be-
tween his tangled hair and beard.
For one ignoble moment | felt
ashamed of having been intro
duced as his friend in the pres
enCe of so much beauty in dis
tress. But evidently Tripp meant
to conduct the ceremonies, what
ever they might be. thought
l detected in his actions and pose
an intention of foisting the stu
alton upon me as material for a
newspaper story. in a lingering
hope of extracting from me his
whisky dollar.
My friend" q shuddered), Mr..
Chalmers" said Trip, will tell
you. Miss Lowery, the same that
l did. He's a reporter, and he can
hand out the talk better than
can. That's why / brought him
with me-" (Oh, Trip, wasn't it
the silver-tongued orator you
wanted?). He's wise to a lot
of things and he'll tell you now
what's best to do.
l stood on one foot. as 1t were,
as l sat in my rickety chair.
'Why-er-Miss Lowery," 1 be-
gan, secretly enraged at Trips
awkward opening. "I am at your
service, Of course, but-er-as 1
haven't been apprised of the cir
cumstauces of the case, I-er-"
oh" said Miss Lowery, beam
ing for a moment, "it amt as
bad as that-there amt any cir
cumstances. It's the first time
I've ever been in New York, ex-
cept once when 1 was five years
old, and I had no idea it was
such big town. And l met Mr..
MIR. Snip on the street and
asked him about a friend of mine.
and he brought me here and ask
ed me to wait"
81 advise you, Miss Lowery."
said Trip, ito tell Mr.. Chalmers
all. He's a friend OF mine" IL
was getting used to 1t by this
timel. and he'll give you the
right tip"
why, certainly" said Miss