Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1923-11-16
A Nve-andlTen
Episode
m-
BY WILL r. AMES
% BY Mcclure Newspaper syndicate,

EOYW Wy Yply PoEbOp " Ine l4fo
end tod store" who had any tise for
Lou Lan9ers was Bobby Mckay, the
window dresser.
"Tissup, pet" said Name Sloan to
the Knatx girl. who helped her at the
candy counter, she's got a bllmp bean,
that onA gauge she's had two years in
Commercial high. Geel Bess Nlver
lives on the same block with her, out
in dreendale, n she says old man
Landers aipf had days work since
4pril. And look at het shoes The
g 1,s:s . ..t ,s9s swelling herself
"Ain't It tust" agreed the Kaatz
girl, ringing W q dime,
II Louis rsbellious disQontent with
a lot that compelled her to spend her
entire vacation In TIE AvAand:ten
made her tar less than popular with
the other girls, It had the opposite ef-
feet on Bobby Mckay.
"She amt any more like this bunch
of flaps than money is like the Hetpies'
marks" he decided. Il pleased him
nightly to see her hold Herself aloof.
90 much 30 that when he discovered
the superior Miss Landets was bring
ing her lunch and was crossing over
to the common opposite to eat IL In the
shade Of one Of the old elms, instead
Of patroniEing the store restaurant,
Bobby promptly did likewise; though
he had to have the lunch put up at
the Greeks, being an unattached,
furnished room young mal.
At first BobbY's device succeeded ad-
mirably. The window trimmer Of a
Ave-and-ten may, by contrast With the
ruck OF the personnel, be 81 consider
able interest to lonely, discouraged
girl who feels herself above her Job,
her surroundings and her Involuntary
business comprehensive. For fort
night Of consistently fine days the
two ate their lunches In company, and
in company experienced the gripping
Of mutual magnetism.
Then. all at once, Lou woke up. Here
she was. doing the same thing exactly
that her mother had done, In spite of
all her desperate determination to do
nothing Of the kind. Hadn't her moth
er, at seventeen, fallen head over heels
In love with brisk young mechanic
and married him on Joint capital Of
thirty-five dollars?
And hadn't they pulled the devil by
the tall, so to speak, ever sinoe--never
getting ahead more than n few dollars
and every once In while being fiat
broke, like now7 And hadn't she
sworn long, solemn oath to herself
never to get caught in that kind Of a
mess herself?
II wasn't that Lou had aspirations
toward limousines and sables; envy
Of the rich never entered her head.
But she had learned the lesson Of her
parents hlggledy-piggledy existence,
and she didn't propose to live her own
life with just about one payday be-
tween her and restitution.
That's why she was so keen after
the commercial course which she felt
sure would make her future reason
ably secure. She wouldn't have to mar
y thS hiSl hhppy -BO-iuShJ liul ChLue
along and start housekeeping on the
lnstallment plan If she could finish
school and earn decent salary.
And here she was, she repeated, get
ting moony over boy who-she had
his own word for it-had had to quit
school because he hadn't nickel to go
on with and become a fve-and-ten-
cent window trimmer instead Of the
electrical engineer he had planned to
be. II she bet these mornings go on
as they had been, pretty soon Bobby
was going to think Of marriage and 50
would she And that would be the end
of every chance In the world for both
of them.
SO that very noon, when Bobby, all
broad smiles, lay in wait for her near
the door, Lou told him fat that she
didn't want him to go across to the
common with her that day
"But, what have I doneT protested
the dlsmayed Bobby.
mot thing, Bobby" Lou answered,
but I'd rather not"
Bobby was twenty. Bobby was in
love. Bobby half suspected the truth.
Naturally Bobby sulked and proposed
to show his independence. SO he
sauntered over to the common by him
self, rather grnndly ignoring Lou, and
sat himself down on the next bench
but one to hers, to eat his lunch, just
by way Of showing how little differ
ence girl more or less made In his
young life.
Also he picked up newspaper that
some predecessor had left behind and
buried himself In II as he abstractedly
ate his sandwiches. He pretended not
to look at Lou and Lou actually didn't
look at him-for quite q while. When
she did, she Witnessed an extraOrdl-
nary thing. Bobby was on his feet
anxiously looking first in one direction,
then another, all about the common
and the adjacent street, obviously seek
Ing some One-and obviously 1t wasn't
Lou, for she was In plain enough
sight.
A man arose from the bench on
which Bobby had been sitting and
started to move lelsurely away. Bobby,
instantly abandoning his survey Of the
neighbOrhood, started after the man,
put himself In front Of him and said
something. The man made a threaten
ing gesture, whereupon Bobby, still
holding the newspaper in one hand,
with the other seized the lapel Of the
strangers coat.
After that the action was like a
speed-camero film chase. The stranger
smashed Bobby In the face, tore loose