The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1920-08-26

vault with giimmer of iiaht In It's
TOP and muttered the mcnacing and
caeaiistic words; two doilarsr'
I'm take itr' sighed Mis. Leeson.
sinking down upon the sauoaky from
bed
Every day Miss Lesson went out
To work. At night she brought homo
papers with handwriting on them
and made copies with her type
writer Sometimes she had no work
at night. and then she would sit on
the steps OF the high stoop with the
other roomcrs. Miss Loeson was not
intended for skyllght room when
the plans were drawn for her crca
ton. She was gay.hearted and full
OF tender. whimsical fsncies once
she let Mr.. Skidder read to her three
acts OF his great unpublished com.
edy. ITS No Kid: or. Tho Heir Of
the Subway
There was rejoicing among the
gentlemen rcomcrs whenever Miss
Lesson had time TO sit on the steps
for an hour or two. Rut Miss Long.
necker, the tall blonde who taught
In public school and said. We'll
really to everything you said. sat
on the top step and sniffed. And
Miss Dorm. who shot at the moving
ducks at concy every Sunday and
!, worked In a department store. sat
on the bottom step and shifted Mis-.
Lesson sat on the middle step and
the men would quickly group around
her.
Especially Mr.. skidder. who had
cast her In his mind for the star
part In a private. romantic fun.
spoken) drama In real life. And es-
peciaiiy Mr.. Hoover. who was Is.
fat. flush and foolish. And especially
very young MIR. Evans. who set up
hollow cough to induce her to ask
him to leave off cigarcts The men
voted her the funniest and joilicst
ever" but the shifts on tho top step
and the lower step were impiacable.
As Mrs. Parker's roomerz sat thus
one SUMMERS evening. Miss Lesson
looked up into the armament and
cried with her little gay laugh;
why. there's Billy Jackson, !
can SEQ htrn from down here. too
All looked up--some at the win
dows Of skyscrapers. some casting
about for an airship. Jackson.
guided
Its that star. explained Miss
Lesson. pointing with a tiny finger
Not the big one that twinkies-the
STEADY blue ono near u. ! can see
II every night thru my skylight
named u Billy Jackson"
Well. reaiiyr' said Miss Long
necker. II didn't know you were an
astronomer. Miss Lesson
'Oh. yes" said the small star
Ssrcr. II know as much as any Of
them about the style OF sleeves
they're going to wear nett fall In
Mara
"wcn. really said Miss Long
neckcr. The star you refer to Is
Gamma. OF the constellation Of Chs.
siopeia- II In nearly OF the second
magnitude. and It's meridian passage
is--"
oh said the very young Mr..
Evans. II think Billy Jackson In a
much better name for IT,"
Same here" said Mr. Hoover.
loudly. breathing defiance to Mis-.
Lonxnecker. II think Miss Lesson
has just as much right 10 name
stars a. any Of those old as,roiow-rs
had"
We'll. really said Miss Long
necker.
Il wonder whether It's shooting
star" remarked Miss Dorm. II hit
nine ducks and a rabbit out OF ten
In the gallery at Consy sunday"
"He doesn't show up very well
from down here" said Miss Lesson.
You ought to see him from my
room. You know you can see starr
even in the daytime from tho bot.
tom OF well At night my room Ia
like the shaft Of a coal mine, and IL
makes Billy Jackson look like the
big diamond pin tina, Night fastens
her kimono with"
There came q time after that
when Miss Leeson brought no for
midabie papers home TO copy. And
when she went from office to office
and let her heart melt away In the
drip Of cold refusais transmitted
thru insoient office boys This went
on.
There came an evening when she
wearily climbed Mrs. Parkcr's s,oop
at the hour when shc always re-
turned from her dinner Mt the res
tauranI But she had had no din
ner.
As she stepped into the han Mr..
Hoover met her and seized his
chance. He asked her to marry him.
and his fatness lowered above her
like an avalanche. She lodged. and
caught the balustrade. He tried for
her hand. and she raised IL and
su,otc him weakly In the face. Step
by step she went UP. dragging her
self by the railing. She passed Mr..
Skidder's door as he was red-inking
stage direction for Myrtle Delorme
Miss Lesson In his funacceptsd
comedy. to "pirouetts across stage
from l. to the side OF the Count"
Up the carpeted ladder she crawled
at last and opened the door Of the
skyiight room.
She was too weak TO Hight the
lamp or 10 undress. She fell upon
the iron cot. her fragile body
scarcely following the worn springs.
And In that Erebus OF room she
slowly raised her heavy eyelids. and
smiled.
For Billy Jackson WINS shining
down on her. calm and bright and
constant thru the skylight. There
was no world about her. She was
sunk in a pit OF darkness. with but
that small square OF pallid light
framing the star that she had 70
whirnsicaliy and oh. so Intellectually
named. Miss Longneckcr must be
right: IL was Gamma. Of the con.
steilation Cassiopcia, and not Billy
Jackson And yet she could not let
il be Gamma