Evening star., 1922-06-18

and her body began to bend and
twitch in response to the call of the
jazz. Come on" she said, Its a
fox"
Stephen avoided meeting her eyes.
Awful mob out there" he ventured.
Think it's safe to lead a farmer like
me into such traffic.?
iii take a chance" she challenged.
She was standing now. waiting for
him.
Obediently, he rose and followed
her onto the floor. 1t seemed to him
every person there must be watching
them, and never had Lily thrown her
self with such abandon Of motion into
a dance She was deliberately show
ing off. II was a ridiculous act OF
defiance toward a society that did
not even know she existed, brave
gesture in the face of a great indif-
ference.
At the end of the dance the little
group Of explorers gathered. with
the rowdyism permitted only the well
bred. in the refreshment parlor. and
to reach their old table Lily and Ste
phen had to pass by. Dumbly. Ste
phen started to follow his partner.
AS luck would have il, they encoun-
tered David Sargent en- route from
the Prussian doorkeeper with new
installment of dance tickets. Lily was
Intoxicated with the drama Of her
defiance. She was a Jeanne dare, her
spear in the rest against all those
privileged ones who had turned her
world suddenly into a shabby thing.
who had made her appear ridiculous
to the man she cared for. to herself.
Suddenly Lily stopped and accosted
the correct young gentleman before
her. Hello" she said. Giving the
lower classes the once over. are your
1t was evident from his expression
David Sargent did not recognize in
this hard-eyed. angry woman the
erstwhile solver or his arithmetic
that he was going to retort. Then he
reconsidered and passed them by with
the most remote and frigid nod con-
sistent with good breeding. 1t was a
rebuf more singing than a blow.
and, although stephen had never met
David Sargent, he felt curious and
sudden partisanship with Lily.
Polite, talkative young man. amt
he?" In anger Lily lapsed back into
the jargon Of her native alley. "won-
Ger If Miss Truman ever noticed it?'
The modulatioh of Lily's voice was
never low, and It seemed to Stephen
now that every person there must
have overheard. Somewhere, on the
other side OF that fantastic barrier
Constance Truman was listening
Judging Well, he didn't care what
she thought.
Come on, Lily" he said. and slipped
his arm through hers. More power
to you-antl this is a fox trot."
For a second she hesitated. then he
sion and even admiration. but tender.
ness was new sensation. 'fStev0-'
All her anger was burned out now
She was a child suddenly hurt and
tired and defeated. "Stevie." she re-
peated. II know the evenin's only q
pup. but I'm dead tired. Would you
mind if we pushed along?'
I'm With you" He didn't look al
her. Someway, he realized the kindes,
thing was to be casual. Its hotter
than the devil here. anyway
X + X +
A LII the way home they chatted Al
- though nothing had happened
At the door of Lily's boarding house
stephen said goodnight. They shook
hands slowly, and Lily felt, someway
it was more than formality. 10 was
a compact, the two of them against
those others. After all, he, too. war
up from nowhere. He had gutter
farther than she only because Il WON.
an, back on that farm in Greer
Mountain. had sacrificed for him
There had been no HkphEibah Preston
to sacrifice for Lilly.
How about next fhalrsday" he Of.
ferkd.
In the darkness she looked up al
him. Suits me-" she sad.
t obC. AllS SosSS wac hoff Va SSt
viction. Good night"
For many houSs Lily Sedelmeye,
made no battle to captase sleep. II
was pleasant just to lie thAEe and day
dream. There would be Tomorrow
ard tomorrow and then ,khHrsday
THURSDAY. Finally she slept.
But tomorrow brought the unex'
pected. That jag1ier Of nhulicipaI
politics, that fashtoner Of caresas .,
bankers and mayors and juatesA tht
man for whom Stephen Douglas wa.
running his Saturday afternoons. ~as
about to appear. Michael Higgins 81
Chicago was coming to town.
The entire, office was rife with gos-
sip and endless speculation, but il
was Lily who divalsed the judges
plans for the dinner party.
"Class," she exclaimed. "jast the
carfingtons, the mayor and his wife.
the Beacons, the Judge, Of COURSE
and his daughtet."