Evening star., 1922-06-18

in the library of Judge VIII
mont frumans law office. All
theamen had gone for the day except
one very young man, .gray-eyed ana
shabhAv dressed and incredibly ear
nest. Judge Truman's offices always
wore an air of twilight. A delicate
veil of soft coal SCOT covered the
windows and tempered even the sun
of midday Against the walls stood
the judges bookcases. no one of
which resembled its fellow. They
had been grrdgingly added to from
time to time whenever the pile of
books in the corners became .uncom-
fortabIy pretentiouS.
Facing the windows stood black
onyx fireplace beautiful and digniied.
and over it. tipped slightly askew,
hung a steel sut of Alexander ,Hamil-
ton with Il background of marble
pillar and lugubrious stage curtain.
In spite of the shiftiessness of his
office, Judge Truman was the ablest
lawyer in the county. possibly in the
state and the most meager of posi-
tions in his firm was not without Sig
niticance. Even the dingy rooms. un-
modern and drafty, possessed curl
Gus charm. In the middle west one
finds seldom place that has acquired
a sense of distinction because men
have worked we'll within 1t. Two
governors and a supreme court JUS
tice had read their Blackstone anu
scribbled and dreamed beneath the
same complaining gas lamp where
now scrubbed Stephen Douglas
Eleven years before Stephen Doug
las had been placed out" on Zeke
Preston's farm. near Green Mountain,
Iowa. But the ambitions of youth are
not bounded by fortune or logic or
probability They are as real as the
wish behind thenl--and Stephen Doug
las was valiant wisher.
X x x
CUDDENLY the door to the judges
~ private sanctum .screeched open.
and Lily Sedelneyer stood In the
doorway. She looked at the young
man an instant with a half-amused
annoyance and her eyes narrowed.
81 take 1t your hearts in your
work"
The blush that crimsoned the boys
cheeks deepened with evaporation
because he knew he was blushfug.
"Sorry." he said. Did you want to
shut up the shop?
She came couple of steps nearer
and looked at the lit;ier or papers.
Traction case"'
He nodded.
Lily sedeimeyer shrugged her
shoulders.
Lord" she snapped. you didn't
think you could settle that tonight.
did YOU? It's been hanging around
here ever since I came-fffteen years
ago"
This time it was she who blushed.
and flush of anger crept painfully
from her high, roused cheek bones
down her too thin neck where the
cords had already begun to show. She
had been a fool to give away her age
like that.
Stephen looked up at her and
srinned.
Seems that something that hap
pened back in 'S7-Selby County VS..
The Mississippi Valley Traction Com
pany-is awfully important, and I've
been detailed to look it up" He
DO1nIeO 10 Tie piAe VI poofAS va sA-S
floor beside him. You'd think any
dodo could find the thing-its only a
court decision-but I can't.
Back of the lightness of his words
was an undeniable note of pleading.
He was, of course, ridiculously young
and earnest-and good-looking.
Lily Sedelneyer hesitated a mo-
ment 1t was late and she was tired
and she had a date. But life. some
way. is seldom logical.
Let's have a look" she said at
last. "angel baby"
Lily Sedelmeyer had worked fifteen
years for Wilmont Truman. When
she first arrived she was seventeen.
fresh from a school of stenography,
and she was long-leEged and hard
eyed and bitter. At twenty-five she
rad looked distinctly hard boiled"
and there had already been gossip
about her" But she was smart.
"Lily's worth fifteen Phi Beta
Kappas," the judge explained once,
land she's almost as cheap" When
ever any insinuating remark reached
his cars he raised her salary and re-
iterated his faith in her ability.
What was it Lincoln said about
Grants liquor?" he once demanded.
And the conversation was dropped.
Accordingly, Lily's position re-
mained as unchallenged as her eff
cheney She possessed the intense.
clear-headed. narrow ability that de-
vefops in persons upon whom circum-
stances have forced an early matu-
rity. At nineteen Lily was completely
supporting her brother, little Bennie'
Sedelmeyer. darning his stockings
and seeing he got off to school on
time.
WHEN Lily was twenty-four Ben
w ME died of scarlet fever. The
"Sedelmeyer kids" were orphans and
boarded around, SO the funeral was
held in the front room of Mrs. Will
sons select lodging house. Judge
Truman had gone, and he took with
him his seventeen -year-old daughter.
Constance, upon whom, since his
wife's death, he had allowed himself
to depend. If he had Thought twice,
he would have decided to shield Con-
stance from the depression this trag-
edy would surely cause a sensitive
and young person. But he didn't
think. He was sorry for Lily, and
something had to be done about it
something a little more human than
the paying of the undertakeris fee.
Constance Truman, sitting on the