, 1921-10-06
Down the Dumb
waiter Shaft
BY FREDERICK HART.

Tears STOOD In pretty Mary DAVIS
eyes. She had had little enough trou-
Bile in her life in the Belladonna
apartments, but h gas stove seemed
always to be a thing endowed with Il
malignant, devilish spirit that defied
her, try as she would to regulate it.
And now, when she had such II nice
supper ready to prepare, the thing
light at all or exploded with a vicious
bang that frightened Mary nearly to
death. She stamped her foot
81 hope you blow up and-and
smash yourself to pieces!' she cried,
addressing the inanimate cause of her
troubles. She knew that it was no
good appealing to the janitor-that
worthy lurked low in a den where
only the boldest tenant dared tread,
and Mary had no desire to meet him
in argument. She wiped her eyes.
IF l only knew something about
stoves" she walled aloud. But 1
don't, and l can't cool any supper, and
and"
She sank on the bed and gave her
self to tears.
A knock on her door startled her.
h sprang to her feet, hastily dabbed
at her eyes, and opened the door: In
the hall toe a young man, difident,
yet smiling.
81 believe you have something
wrong with your gas stove" he began.
"Oh, l have-indeed / havel Are
you a." She paused, not sure of
the name for men who repaired gas
stoves. The young man took her up.
I'm not-that is to say, I'm not a
regular gas-stove expert" he said.
But I've lived in apartments long
enough to know something about their
little habits and tricks. And 1 thought
as he spoke, and Mary looked at him
for the first time in clear light. He
was handsome, she decided at cnce,
and he had nice eyes and an engaging
smile. And surely he had come as
opportunely as an angel from heaven /!
There it is" she said, pointing out
the horrid object. 81 can't do any
thing with it."
The young man approached the
stove without a tremOr, as one who
has no ear. He twiddled its valves
with contemptuous familiarity. trying
to light 1t once or twice. Then he
reached into his pocket, extracted a
pair of pliers and loosened a joint or
two, poking into pipes with a match
stick. At last he Strengthened him
| self.
II think it'll work all right now
he said. Let me try it. Have o a
match?"
He turned the valve, struck the
match she had given him and applied
the fire to the burner. A little pop ~
sounded, and the clear blue flame of a
perfectly functioning gas range re-
warded him. Mary gave a little cry
of joy.
"Oh, you are clever !" she cried. "It's
all right now, isn't it?" How can 1
ever thank your" A chilling thought
entered her mind. "Do I-how much
is it-does 1t cost?"
The young man Strengthened his
back, cramped from STOPPING.
well, there's no charge. But II
you have a bit Of salt t spare you
might let me borrow a PINCH" he re-
piled. II haven't a scrap of salt In
my place"
"of course I'll let you have the
salt" she said. hurrying to open a
paper bag. But 1 wish you'd let me
give you something for your trouble"
ut wasn't n trouble-lt was a
pleasure replied the young man, and
bowed. And then he kept on bowling
farther and farther, till he tumbled to
the floor and lay still.
Mary kept her head; got water and
dabbed 1t on his forehead and laid
him In an easier position. And then
she saw what she had not noticed be-
fore-that his face was pinched and
white and his cheeks were hollow.
At last he opened his eyes.
"Tm-Pm dreadfully sorryl" he
stammered. II don't know what was
the matter with mel just sort OF
tainted, / guess-I1l go now"
you'll do nothing OF the sort. Tell
me, how long is 1t since you've eaten7'
1.-TWO days" confessed the young
a II have a job hat will pay me
well. but l don't go to work till tomor-
row. and I've been living all this week
OF a loaf OF bread. That's what I
wanted the salt fort makes you
thirsty and then you drink a lot OF
water, and then you don't feel so
empty"
Mary's hands were flying among
the packages.
"You're going to stay and have sup
per with me-" she said calmly. 'If 1t
hadn't been for you / wouldn't have
been able to cook anything. Now you
sit down and let me tend to my cook
ing"
He obeyed. and as she prepared
the meal he told her his story-how
he had tried to draw and had struggled