Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-09-06
'AONE-NAN
.WOMAN
CHAPTER VI
FVET. RHN. E.A ~
~ H/ZEL UETC O/7ICHLC
1921 q PUBLIC LEDGER co

A FTER thinking it over Harriet
i N decided that it was best to &C
i "A down to dinner. She had made
up her mind to stay at Mrs
Bakers, whether it was taking a
chance or not, and once having de-
cided she began to feel more settled
in her mind.
She spent the afternoon going
+, through the want columns in all the
papers she had bought, hoping
Harmon & Graves would be adver-
Using for stenographer, but she
was doomed to disappointment and
it was with a heavy heart that she
descended into the basement of the
thre-story brown front house at 6
! o'clock that evening, and found her
self seated between an anemic look
a tired-faced man who stolidly kept
HIS mind on his food and had moth
ing to say.
Mrs. Baxter sat at the head of the
table. She had combed her heavy
oily-looking hair and had donned a
black skirt and none too clean
white shirtwaist, and as Harriet ap-
matically:
Ladies and gentlemen, this is
Miss Taylor. She As a stranger in
New York, and 1 hope you will all
be kind to her"
Harriet slid into her seat after
flashing shy smile around 1.-The Ia
BILE, and in silence began to taste
her rather watery looking soup, Miss
Putnam, who sat on her right, SEEM
ed disposed to be friendly, and be-
gan to ask some rather embarrassing
questions as to what Harriet did and
where she came from, but to Har-
riet's relief the talk about the table
soon became general, and gradually
drifted to the nevis Of the day.
''Too bad about that young clerk
who stole $4,000" remarked a fat,
across the table from Harriet. Il
wonder his wife really made away
with the money"
Harriet sat as If turned to stone,
her heart racing in her breast like
a mad thing. She was conscious
lsuspicion on her. She must appear
as unconcerned as possible, and she
forced herself to raise her eyes in
quiringly to the woman who had
spoken.
Mrs. Slocum was widow with a
small income and nothing to do.
She read ali the scandal in the pa
of prominent people who had figured
in scandals of one kind or another
for five years back. Before she
could make another remark a thin
girl wiz, glasses snapI l out vici-
ously:
tOf course, she took the money,
and I don't blame her. I suppose
she and her husband tried to exc
out an existence on starvation wages
until they simply couldn't withstand
temptation"
"Oh, but my dear Miss Watson, it
was stealing! You don't seem to
realize what you are saying" Mrs.
Slocum tsaid in a shocked tone of
voice.
The girl called Miss Watson shrug-
ged her shoulders, and the man on
Harriet's left looked up from his dubi-
Gus roast veal long enough } re-
mark tentatively:
"The boy has a good reputation in
the place: he may not have stolen the
money"
ooh, but NY dear Mr.. Jones" ex-
potstulated Mrs. Slocum, "the disap-
pearance of the wife proves his guilt
beyond any doubt. The papers seem
agreed on that.
Mr.. Jones returned to his roast
veal and Mrs. Slocum went on tri-
umphantly:
"Of course, they'll lind the VIM
an; she can't hope to escape the
police once they get on her trail"
Harriet felt an insane desire to
laugh. In spite her danger and
the sickening feeling that after all
she had not done the right thing for
Barry in running away, she could
not help wondering what Mrs. Slo-
cum would say if she knew that
that very moment sitting opposite her
at dionprt