New Britain herald., 1926-01-04

The trip vas the most dcllGh'tul one that Barbara had known She lay back in Il chair oN th" ohselHo- ton platform and watched Il SeIio" moon come up far across the hills,
 Toward midnight sine went 10 l"a and slept blissfully all night, r".aN~ cd from the know, lEc Una; for " lew hours ut leabt no Aun@y p.,Ss was waiting for her copy Breakfast was q new pleasure. Barbara ordered fruI, and eRgs and honey and mufiins and sat r"sc!in& in the gicaInIns linen and stlv"rwUr", She had never lost her rhild's J". light ia eating on the diner, She had slipped little volume "i Anat0ie France in her purse. but she was too happy to read. SAe won dcred if perfect happiness dij not consist of one long journey like tnis after another. But th" JaIql trNrl- ing men around her bolicd the il",. Al the convention city the st3tion WAS throngrd, Shr found q ;aXi and drove 10 the ho'eI. Is lobby was still more crowded han tAu station
 The room hal been held. to her 1 great relief. She unpack,d the new dresses and lay down for nap There would be nothing to do ill 1u- morrow.
 At dinner in the bronze room. yi.r met several other newspaper women. ThrJ accepted her easily ns one of the tribe.
 very thin woman with suappy
 black eyes leaned across the table
 to speak 10 her. "It's going 70 b"
 q great picnic my dear. If you've
 never done t i"fore, you'd better
 stick close to me"
 Barbara smiled back at her. q
 shall probably need your help.
 What paper do you write for"
 The older woman flushed. "Nu
 special paper now. I'm free lance"
 Barbara thought shc caught il
 flicker Of amusement across the
 faces Of the two women who over
 heard the remark.
 After dinner. the women rNenortr1s
 went sight seeing. They wandered
 through the oii public square, where
 fountains played and ran down
 little cascades over lilly pads.
 The spot or green was shut in by
 high gray buildings.
 Molly Perkins. the hlack-cyed
 woman, walked beside Barbara. She talked constantly, telling anecdotes, quoting witty sayings. cnumcntiup
 on life. with always a faint strain of defiant hraggadocio. Barbara lis tened, wonderingly. Part Of the crowd decided upon mouon pictures for rptertainmeDt.
 Barbara and several others declined . to go.
 Come back to fhc hotel with me, Miss Hawley," said Miss Perkins.
 "Ne1l go up 10 my room and have ] q good talk
 Barbara assented, somewhat un- | willingly.
 Miss Perkins room proved an = enigma It was cluttered with monde script articles. There were two mag
 $, q II bottle, m array Of high -heeled slip pers. a broken fan on a chair and much battered old trunk in one ' corner.
 You see before you tho solc 5 fruits Of misspent life," said Miss Perkins. Anybody that'd choose u newspaper work deserves what he
 al :, isn't so bad for those of us who | make success" 5 Barbara looked at the woman's
 shabby shoes and at the lines be- II tween the sharp black eyes. ' Yes continued Molly, It's going !. to be a great game this time. l can It show you the ropes if you like I'll ' sell my stuff to several of my reg
 ular magazines and syndicates. A. $ ways market for it. you know. And if you wish, I'd be glad to u conduct you around" 'i Barbara fidgeted slightly. "Ihans ,. you, l fear you'll be too busy 10 y bother with me. But I may call for 'u help"
 " The woman frightened. I've been v n in the game 20 long years, my dear" . she said
 Again Barbara glanced at the clut-
 tered room and the old trunk. The :. shivered ever so slightly and rose to s. go. T think I'll so to bed. Miss ., Perkins. I'm very tired" ~ Molly Perkins relucta ntly followed 's her to the door. As Barbara put her ,a hand on the knob. the other woman lp said. "Oh, by the way could you lend me ten dollars until Saturday ! j, ought 10 have q draft that hash, uo got here yet" sspp Barbara looked in her purse. 'l '.' haven't 1t in cash but I'll go down ,n, , and get travellers check cashed for be' you"
 oos The woman's smile was brilliant W Thank you so much" Barbara caught an elevator. The .a lobby was still crowded with laugh 'S ing groups of women. Barbara aa caught glimpses of several faces M nf known to the national eye. sh,
 walked along. fascinated with tn, IA novelty ol the experience. -,,. As she neared tho cashiers win ,J dow. man came hurrying Arount s a corner. His face was Sleek and hi eyes were uneasy. .on Barbara stared at him. Then sh | hastened 10 the hotel register. Tn,
 clerk opened the recent pages fo T her, and she ran her finger dow ,n the column of arrivals. ,,no me She stopped at the name, Twin
 throp R. Mannering."
 ..i Then she rushed to the telegrap ,ad booth near the elevator, She found ,va pad and pencil.
 In a moment sine handed a ns@ scrawled message to the man behin
 the counter. Rush that through,