The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-12-09
The Story l of
 Julia Page By Kathleen Norriis
(Continued from Page One )


 steadily at five dollars a day, George was roofers assistant and earned eighty dollars a month. and Chester worked in plumbers shop, and at eighteen was paid sixty-f1ve dollars. Emeline could only conclude that three hundred dollars a month was scolding, miserable meals, and an in- cessant atmosphere of warm soap suds.
 Presently she outraged her father by going into ''Delphine's'' millinery store. Debphine was really a stout, bleached woman named lizzie Clarke. although nobody knew anything definite against her. She had a double store on Market Street near Eleventh, dreary place, with dusty models in the windows, torn Noting ham curtains draped behind them, and "Delphine" scrawled in gold across the dusty windows in front. Emeline used to wonder, in the days when she and her giggling associates passed "Delphine'S' window, who ever bought the dreadful hats in the left hand window, although they admitted a certain attraction on the right. Here would be sign: ''Any Hat in led by cheap, dust-grained felts, gau- Fdily trimmed, or coarse straws fwreathed with cotton flowers. Once ipr twice Emeline and her friends went Mn, and one day when 8 card in the Window informed the passers-by that hn experienced saIeslady was warreed. hhe girl, sick of the situation at home. band longing for novelty boldly ap- Eiied for the position. Miss Clarke s@ngaged her at once.
 Emeline met, she had expected, "a storm at home, but she weathered 1t aArd kept her position. It was nard- lEork, and poorly paid, but the girls h1resams gilded everything. and she Aoved the excitement of making sales, Ebame eagerly to the gossip and joking su1 her fellow-workers every morning, lAnd really felt herself to be in the e. In-
 Miss Clarke was no better than her ;eeputation, and would have willingly fhelped her young saleswoman into a different sort of life. But Emeline's aAtt1e streak of shrewd selfshness saved her. Emeline indulged in a hundred little coarsenesses and indiscretions, she would not. Nobody was going to get the better of her. she boast ed. She used rouge and lip red. She ''net fellers'' under flaming gas jets, and went to dance halls with then.i and to the Sunday ptcnics that were her fathers especial aboninatlon; she shyly told vile stories and tfmfdly used strong words, but there it end Perhaps some tattered remnant of the golden dream still hung before her eyes; perhaps she still clung to the hope of a dim, wonderful time to come.
 More than that, the boys she knew were mot vicious lot; the Jimmies and Johnnies. the Dams and Eds, were for the most part neishbors, no more anxious to antagonfze Emeltne's father than she was. They might kiss her goodnight at her door, they might deliberately try to get the girls to miss the last train home from the picnic, but their spirit was of idle mischief rather than malice, and stinging slap from Eme1ine's hand afforded them, it did her, a cer- tain shamed satisfaction.
 George Page came into "Delphine's" on windy summer afternoon when Emeline had been there for nearly five years. He was a salesman for some lines of tailored hats. Sam York wholesale house. Emeline chanced to be alone in the place, for Miss Clarke was sick in bed, and the other saleswoman away on a. va cation. The trimmers. glancing out through a plush curtain at the rear, saw Miss Cox and the drummer" absorbed in a three hours conversa- ton. From two to five o'clock they talked the drummer watching her in obvious admiration when an occa, sional customer interrupted. and when Miss Cox went home the drum mer escorted her. Emeline had left the parental roof some two years be- fore; she was rooming. now. with mild and virtuous girl named Regina Lynch, in Howard street. Regina was the sort of girl frequently select ed by girl of Emeline's type for confidante and companion: umtd, @ ! and admire Regina consented to go to dinner with Emehne and MT. Page. and as she later refused to go ! to the theatre. Emeline would not go either; they all walked out Market street from the restaurant, and reached the Howard street house at about 9 o'clock. Regina went straight : upstairs, but Emeline and George Page sat on the steps an hour longer, ! under the bright summer moon, and when Emeline went upstairs she woke her roommate up. and announc- ed her engagement
 George came into the store at g o'clock the next morning, to radi- antly confirm all that they had said the night before. and with great slm- plicity the two began to plan for their future; from that time they had breakfast, lunch. and dinner together every day; they were both utterly sat- isfied; they never questioned their fate. In October George had to go to San Diego, and 8, dozen little cities en route for the firm. and Emeline went, too. They were married in the little church of Saint Charles in Eighteenth street, only hour or two before they started for San Jose, the first stop in Georges itinery. Emeline s mother and sisters came to her we'd ding but the men of the family were 1 working on this weekday afternoon. The bride looked excited and happy, colour burned scarlet in her cheeks. under her outrageous hat; she wore a brown travelling gown, and the lem on-coloured gloves that were popular in that day. Emelfne felt that she was leaving everything unpleasanI III life behind her. George was the hus- band of her dreams-or perhaps her dreams had temporarily adapted themselves to George.
 But, indeed, he was an exception ally good fellow He was handsome big dashingly dressed. He was steady and successful in his work, do- rnestic in his tastes, and tenderly- and perhaps today a little pity1ngly- devoted to this pretty, clever girl wine loved him so, and had such faith 1T hi Jis had kent him @, ROOC deal among men, and rather coarse men; he had had to do more drinking than he cared to do, to play good deal of poker, to listen to gooS a great relief that this was over; he wanted a home, O wife, children.
 (Continued Tomorrow.)