The Little River news., 1920-01-14

| been in the office E1~;e had stndied her carefully. She had made note of her slangy talk. her vapid manner isniS
 As first step, Elsie called at the store where she had just bought a simple little evening gown. Think il too extreme at the neck. she or dered it altered. This alteration she ,.HnteIed Next she went up to the top floor.
 Here, to the dangling of a thin-ton- cd piano, a young man. through a meg arhone improvised from sheet music, proclaimed in syncopated measure: Just take 1t from me. Just take it from me. You cant shimmy all night, On a cup of tea. This musical gem and others of a like nature she bought. and when she left the store she had also acquired a lip stick. an eye pencil and. to these. she added package of cigarettes.
 Come right in. Phil," Elsie gushed as she met him at the door. "1 have got some of the swellest new music you'll just love 1t to death." Perplexed. Phil followed into the smoke Elsies brother had followed instructions. The room reeked of cigarettes. Deliberately Elsie took a half smoked cigarette from off the key board and tossed it into the fire, slip ping the partly-used package into the bodice of her dress.
 Vivaciously she ran through the mu- sic. dispersing the interludes with slangy comment. thanks. too. to her brothers coaching. On and on she prattled. but Phil Darts usual quiet mood became ominous. Suddenly it dawned upon Elsie. It was still the other woman-the real vampire-he did not care for this pitifuI little im- itation. She had failed. Oh. the bit terness of ito lose him to such a woman. Oh. the awfulness of her trying to hold him in this shameless manner-and still failing.
 She could not help it: her face went down into her hands.
 "Elsie. you are crying" He was at her side.
 Sobbingiy she blurted out the whole thing.
 "Why, you dear, silly. little goose" he said quite softly. ''don't you know men don't love women of that type7 They do attract us-just as poster printed in red ink attracts you. But you wouldn't choose the poster to bring home and hang on your wall instead of a beautiful water color, would you?
 .Now. please go up and wash that paint off your face and come right back. because there is something I wanted to say-and just can't say it to painted lady"
 Elsie did go upstairs. She came back with a silk scarf thrown about her shoulders and her face all pink with the glow of health.
 And Phil delivered his little speech. It was pretty speech. too. And why shouldn't 1t be? Hadn't he been think ing about 1t all week, and about noth- ing much else? It had to dO-this speech-with the month of June. and 1t touched on the housing problem and it discussed the relative joys to be derived from trip on the great lakes as compared with one to Washington and down the Potomac. In all her life Elsie had never heard such speech-nO, never.
 Isn't it just too wonderful?" In the white quietness of her bed she whispered this question to ring held close to her cool cheek. And from it's point of vantage-third finger. left hand-a solitary white diamond caught a vagrant moonbeam, and in the marvellous heliography of love flashed back the answer: "Wonder- full, wonderful