Evening star., 1923-05-30
Thirteen buttons.

luStrated.
She put the clipping In a portfolio.
which she then locked in her trunk,
! aud the picture she placed on her
| dresser.
That night she went to the lecture.
| She went alone, for Gordon Lockwood
did not reappear and no one else
knew Of her going.
Shall ] have key, or will you be
up" she asked Of Mrs. Adams. AS she
| left the house.
! oh. wc'll he ur" The round.
shrewd eyes looked at her kindly.
You're lucky to get ticket DIR.
| Warnings lectures are crowded"
Good night" said Miss Austin. and
went away.
The lecture room was partly filed
when she arrived. and her ticket en-
titled her to seat near the front.
Being seated. she fell into a brown
study, or, at least. sat motionless and
apparently in deep thought.
! Gordon Lockwood. already there.
! saw her come in. and after she was
| in her place. he quietly arose and
went across the room, taking a seat
directly behind her.
| OF this she was quite unaware. and
! the student of human nature gave
| himself up TO scrutiny of the
stranger.
dark. almost black hair surmounted
Ly a small turban shaped hat. or
taupe colored velvet. with a curly
ostrich tip nesting over one ear.
Not that her ears were visible. for
Miss Austin was smartly groomed
! and her whole effect modish.
She had removed her coat. which
she held in her lap. Her frock was
taupe colored. of a soft woolen ma
terial. oruamented with many small
I s,,x- E,.Sf fnt Il
two rows down her hack. from either
shoulder to the waist line. and they
also formed a border round the sailor
collar.
They were. perhaps. Lockwood de-
cided. little balls. rather than but
tons. and he idly counted them as
! he sat watching her.
| He hoped she would turn her head
| trifle. but she sat as motionless as
J Il. human being may.
He marveled at her stiffness. and
! impatiently waited for the lecture to
! begin that he might note her in
terest.
! AT last Or. Waring appeared on
/ the platform. and as the applause re-
! sounded all over the room. Lockwood
was almost startled to observe Miss
IA ustins actions.
She clasped her hands together as
fif she had received a sudden shock
Shelf il hadn't seemed too absurd
| he would have said that she trembled
I At any rate she was little agitated.
! and il was with an effort that she
! preserved her calm. No one else no
| ticed her. and Lockwood would not
/ have done 50. save for his close
watching.
] Throughout the lecture. Miss Aus
! tins gaze seemed never to leave the
| face of the speaker. and Lockwood
marveled that Waring himself was
not drawn to notice her.
But Warnings calm gaze. though it
! Travelled over the audience. never
rested definitly on any one face. and
Lockwood concluded he recognized
nobody.
Miss Mystery" Gordon Lockwood
said to himself II wonder who and
what you are. Probably a complex
nature. psychic and imaginative. You
think it interesting 10 come up here
and pretend to be A mystery. But
you're too young and too innocent TO
be-Tm not so sure of the innocent.
though-and AS TO youth-well.
dent believe you're much older than
you look. anyway. And you're con-
foundedly pretty beautiful, rather,
you've too much in your face TO caUl
il merely pretty. I've never seer.
/ such possibilities of character. You're
either deep one or your looks belle
you"
Lockwood heard no word of the
! lecture. nor did he wish to; he had
/ helped in the writing of 1t. and al
! most knew 1t by heart anyway. But
! he was really intrigued by this mys-
terious girl. and he determined to
get to know her.
He had been told. of course. of the
! futile attempts of the other boarders
{ to make friends with her. but he had
! faith in his own attractiveness and
! in his methods of procedure.
| Pinky Payne. too. had told of the
interview he had on the bridge. His
account of the girls beauty and
charm had first reused Lockwood's
| interest. and now he was making
; study of the whole situation.
/ Idly he counted the buttons again.
There were thirteen across the collar.
The vertical rows he could not be
i sure of as the back of the seat cut off
their view.
Thirteen" he unused: IAN unlucky
number. And the poor child looks un-
lucky. There's a sadness in her eyes
; that must mean something. Yet
there's more than sadness-there's
| hint of cruelty-a possibility of des-
perate deeds.
| And then Lockwood laughed at
himself. To romance thus about
/ girl to whom he had not said half a
dozen sentences in his life. Yet he
knew he was not mistaken. All that
he had read in Anita Austin's face. he
was sure was there. He knew physi-
ognomy. and rarely if ever. was mis-
taken in his reading thereof.
After the lecture was over Miss
Austin went home as quickly as pos
sible.
Lockwood would have liked to es-
cort her but he had to remain to re-
port to DIR. Waring. who might have
some orders for him.
There were none. however, and
after short interview with his en-
! pIoyer. Gordon Lockwood went home.
| AS he went softly upstairs to his
room in the Adams house. he passed
the door of what he knew to be Miss
Austin's room. He fancied he heard
[ stifled sob come from behind that
closed door, and instinctively paused
| to listen a. moment.
Yes. he was not mistaken. Another
sob followed. quickly suppressed. but
he could have no doubt the girl was
crying.
| For a moment Lockwood was
tempted to go back and ask Mrs.
Adams to come and tap at the girls
door.
Then he realized that it was not
| his affair. If the girl was in sorrow
or If she wanted to cry for any rea-
son, 1t was not his place to send some
one to intrude UPON her. He went to
his own room, but he sat up for
| long time thinking over the strange
young woman in the house.
| He remembered that she had paid
undertaking attention to the lecture.
quite evidently following the speaker
with attention and interest. He re-
membered every detail of her ap-
peara nee. her pretty dark hair show
the absurd buttons. on the back of
| her frock. y
That will do. Gordon, old man."
| he told himself at last. Better let her
! alone. She's siren all right but
-