Evening star., 1926-04-11

I then. The window beside him was
| open, for though 1t was only March
| the wind was from the West and
warm; the night with its hint Of
| Spring and the eternally disturbing
might have been in May.
In Maine, whence he had come.
| they would have said he had Spring
fever and dosed him with sulphur and
molasses. But what allied him was
spiritual, not physical.
| X S* X
ITO Marge, wording late this same
l. night, there had come that same
undefinable unrest, that Spring ever
distils. But of this undercurrent
| there was no indication In her ac-
| tivity. In the glow Of her desk lamp
she was typing q score OF letters
| which, when finished. would bear the
signature of one Edward Dodge. a
| client Of long standing whom she liked
and thoroughly esteemed.
Esteemed was precisely the word.
. When the switchboard operator tried
to jolly Marge about Edward Dodge
she got no rise out of her.
Hes a cagey old bird" she had as
sured Marge. "But I'll bet If you
played your cards right you'd get
him.
II wouldn't play my cards to get
any man." Marge had retorted. "Be-
sides. he's old enough to be my
father"
Nevertheless, though she scoffed at
it, the idea that Edward Dodge-well,
esteemed her, too, did not displease
her. He kept an apartment in the
hotel the year around, though he was
often away. He had a correspond
ence that opened many vistas-pic-
turesque, imagination-quickenin ad-
dresses like the one she was now typ
ing. "Halsey House, Red Lion Square,
London, w. C. J." She had glimpses
of his apartment-he occasionally
telegraphed asking her to get some
book and send it to him-she knew,
from the many casual signs of luxury,
that he had money enough to finance
many whimS.
And-there is no denying it-there
were moments, even after she met
Jimmy, when she pictured herself sit
ting in one of the luxurious leather
chairs beside the reading table. or in
the window embrasure. But never in
her widest dreams did she suspect
that he had occasionally pictured the
same thing.
And SO now as she saw him coming
toward her she smiled cordially and
without coquetry.
"I'm sorry to have kept you." he
apologized, in his nice voice. ut was
good Of you to push the work
through"
He seated himself at her desk. At
the temples, his hair was as gray as
her fathers. But there all resep-
blance ended. Edward Dodge's head
was lean and soldierly, as was the
man himself.
III seal and mail them," he assured
her. II shan't keep you for that" !"
The hall clock in the foyer chimed
melodiously, and then sounded the
hour. Eight o'clock he exclaimed.
I'm ashamed Of myself. I think it
only right that I send you home in
a taxi. Please don't refuse-it's only
your due! And I'll feel less con-
science-stricken
Ever so briefly Marge hesitated,
then Thanks" she said, gratefully.
"I am tired. It's been almost as
warm as Summer today, don't you
think?" The taxi was no broken
down limousine, but a sleek-motored,
luxurious affair. The sense Of swift,
silent movement soothed her, and to it
she relaxed.
This thought she, 'is the life"
From that point her thoughts lodged
haphazardly about without continuity.
She thought of Jimmy, probably work
ing hard. She pictured him so, but
somehow he did not fit her mood to-
night Just to think there
were people like Edward Dodge to
whom taxis were as common as street
cars to other people! Oh, gosh, If
Jimmys carburetor would only car.