The Dolores star., 1924-03-28
would. If he didn't. .h. though. per.


But the mere sight Of him wss dis
concerting. Shed never seen him be-
fore In an ordinary straw hat and
regular civilian clothes, and certain
air which she'd regarded as INSOFAR
able from him was gone. 1t would be
little too much to say that he looked
cheap, but lie would never, for a fact,
have served. like this. as lay figure
TO hang romances about a disguised
prince upon. She suspected, too. that
she had somewhat impaired herself
with him. arriving afoot. hot and
flushed and fiecked with SCOT from
the vomiting tunnels of the little ex-
| cursion steamers.
The pair fonnd a corner where they
| could sit in the shade. The fact that
| they loved each other got itself de-
clared and accepted as a basis almost
at once. He put his arm around her
half of the paired people out here
were linked that way-Hnd during
moment of fortuitous privacy they
4 kissed.
| But the feel of the adventure was
| pedestrian, not aerial. George point
ed out that he hadn't a job, and, lie
added with n manner which struck
| her as little unnatural, practically
no money. She had nearly four hun
| dred dollars of her own, she said
with her; but he told her hotly that,
when they ran away to get married, It
wouldn't be upon her money that they
did it. She didn't contest the point:
| lacked the spirit to do it. somehow.
Anyway he went on TO say they'd
| have to come down eventually to liv-
| ing on what he could earn Mr.. Greer
/ would do nothing for them, even in
the way OF making an opening for
him. Forlornly she conceded this. too
\ She knew how implacable her fathers
resentments were. though she was
rather surprised that her lover should
| see so clearly.
II they'd been sitting, while they
had this talk in the big roadster, skim
ming swallow-like along some white
ribbon of road, or pulled up in the
shade OF some secluded lane. she
might have been able to romanticize
the idea of poverty with her lover and
insist upon embracing II. A tiny cot
| tage, a single room, anything that
sheltered the pair of them together
would be enough.
But out here on the pier this couldn't
be done. There were too many object
lessons all about. Shrill children car
rying all-day suckers on sticks,
harassed mothers, sheepish father
here and there. peremptory denials of
any more pennies for the slot-machnes
this was pleasure! This was red
| letter day.
Her courage WASN'T equal to It, nor
| his, either, the truth was. For the
! present they'd have TO give it up. II
piece of luck came Georges way
He had a plan in mind, but wouldn't
tell her now what 1t was.
They exchanged some promises that
| day: she, never to have ANYTHING
more to do with Ware or his bunch.
or any one like them. and to quit
drinking-as he had done, absolutely,
two months before: he, never to take
another job as chauffeur, but stick 1t
out for something that looked toward
| tlIt iutuie anu Hot 10 lose lllinSelT
where she couldn't find hm-if she
needed him.
| They parted mournfully enough,
| but comforted somewhat by the meet
ing. for all that. He'd never distrust
her again, he said. whatever happened.
He had thought when her father fired
him, that night on the way. to the
train, that she might have thrown
him Over-made him the goat.
Il never told him anything-about
you." Trix asserted. "How do you
suppose he found out?"
1t must have been Miss Macarthur,
then. George had talked TO her. He'd
had so much on his chest that night
that he'd had to blow off to somebody.
| He'd realized he was giving himself
away more or less, but had thought
Jennie too good n friend to take ad-
vantage. SO the warmest emotion
Trix went home with that afternoon
was lively hatred of Jennie.
This was short-lived, of course, for
II was on that very evening that Jen-
ME offered her treaty and won a vic
tory. This might, il is easy to be-
lieve have been much more complete
than it turned out to be for, after all,
Jennie failed.
Beatrice saw George, for the first
time since their parting, the day she
read in the paper of his having got a
job as pilot in the air-mail service
They had an afternoon together, in
the car again, revisiting some old
Haunts OF theirs, but despite the ro-
mantle accessories it was not very
happy time. I'e pressed her hotly
how to marry him and said some pret-
~ bitter things when she refused to
promise anything. Wasn't the job
good enough to suit her? He got a
base pay Of fifty week and five cents
a mile. On the Cleveland run this
figured nearly fifty a week more. And
between round trips, one day each
| ha I,aI