The Press., 1922-10-26
The Turquoise
 Frame
By JESSIE DOUGLAS

@. ls22. by Mcclure Newspaper syndicate
 Nellie had seen him a number of times becore he spoke to her. But at last. meeting him on the fourth land ing. he said 'Good-morning !" and passed on down the stairs. That was what he always did, pass
 Nellie shook her head pertly and said, wen seeI" But the strange part of 1t was the man on the floor be- low continued to speak when he saw her, and continued to pass her by.
 It was puzzling. She was the pret- tiest girl that worked in Johnson & Hughes offices. And she knew 1t. Almost without exception every clerk had made some kind of advance to her. She could go Ont every night if she chose, and even old Mir. Johnson him. self had given her theater tickets.
 The girls in the office enyied her in their quiet way. She had the palest, fiuffiest hair, and she did" it in the most elaborate style, so that any one would have stopped to admire its in- tricacies alone. She rOuged, of course. Perhaps a little too much, but habit dulls perception. Her light blue eyes were the color of forget-me-nOts, ner Iashes gOld-tipped, but Nellie Dwight saw that they came out jetty black.
 Her lips were pretty and soft. if slightly aided by art. She was pretty, startlingly pretty. and she would have been a foolish virgin If she had not known it. There was never the slight est doubt in Nellie's mind about her charm, and she played up to it every second of her life. Her blOuses were the most elaborate. her stockings the sheerest she could buy.
 So 1t was no wonder that she lifted one pIucked eyebrow a trifie and eyed AskanCe the girl who had just knocked at her bedroom door.
 According to Nellie's standards. she was worse than plain. regular old maid, not a bit Of makeup, and her blouse, of irreproachable cut, was opaque. Her hair, 1t was true, had a beautiful luster, but it was arranged so simply that anyone could have done tiff she had time and patience.
 "I beg your pardon" the girl at the door said, "I realize it's rather queer of me, but my brother and have seen you so often on the stairs that almost feel know youI Pm going away for two weeks and I'd be grateful if you'd keep this picture for me"
 She held out a picture in a turquoise frame and Nellie, without looking at 1t. laid it on her bureau and answered, "Glad to, I'm sure" and then con- tinued to rouge her other cheek with the greatest nonehalanee.
 Nellie did not really bother to look at the picture until she came in from fhe movies that night. She saw that 1t was a photograph of a low stone house, ivy-girdled, with a charming view of garden and woodland behind, and she guessed shrewdly that 1t was the girls home. The little frame of oddly cut fiat turquoise was fascinat- ing in itself; and then she realized with a shock the girl had said, Her brother" Why, that must mean the man on the stRirSi
 Nellie put the frame in the center of | her bureau and eyed 1t with fresh in- crest. But something was the matter. It didn't seem somehow to go with her bright pink bureau set nor with the artificial geranium that she had stuck n her hatpin holder.
 Slowly she removed the geranium and still studied the effect. Some thing was still wrong.
 She had decided to buy herself one | of those new green hair ornaments, | but that noon she found herself In- stead at the toilet goods counter That ivory set would go well with the tur- quOIse frame-she hesltated and then she found herself wait ing for the five o'clock whistle.
 It did go we'll! Somehow the tur- quOise frame seemed to rest against that creamy background, and Nellie, cycling the bureau critically. realized | that something still was the matter. The imitation lace cover, with the pink sateen underbOdy. struck a wrong note.
 It was queer what happened in the next week; first Nellie had to get a linen cover to suit her bureau. instead i of the green slipper buckles she had | been counting on. Then her keen eye | saw the bureau stood out like an l island In her tawdry room. The pie lures on the wall somehow did not | it that calendar with the black-eyed | cherub that advertised John and | the chromO of roses and pan- sies that was so gaily colored. seemed to hurt the quiet bureau. She took l down her pictures. But now the room was too quiet.
 Another noon found her purchasing chintz with quaint pink blossoms on a cream ground, and when she had made B curtain for her window and some cushions for her coach. even a hack for her wicker chair. she glanced hur- rIedly over at the turquoise frame The right keynote had been struck Now 1t looked as though 1t belonged there
 She gave a pleased sigh of seIf- and went over 10 the bureau to look In al her pretty face. She could see reflected as well, her soft gray walls with its gay back Star ing still at herself it almost seemed as though she did not beIong-aS | continued to look in at her surprised. pretty face with the tOO-pink cheeks.
 What was the matter with herself? Wasn't she just as pretty as she had always been-she Inoked long and re sentfully about her; something wiIS either the matter with the room or with her; and 1t couldn't be with her Suddenly she saw It. She did not be- Ong with the room, the room needed a quiet person like the girl with ! smooth shining hair and the smooth pale cheeks.
 Laughing a little. Nellie ran the water into her basin and dashed of he rouge on her face, and then slow ; and painstakingIy she took out the hair pins that were neces- lary to her hair dress and began to put 1t up very simply very smoothly