Evening star., 1927-11-13

the slight figure that lay in the
i sagging bed. His wife, he was
telling himself, should sleep for
an hour, perhaps little longer than
that. Before she should stir unhap
PLY and call him to her he would be
back from his errand. Give him an
hour. he thought, as he listened to
Sara s labored breathing.
His exact planning, carried through
out the long day at the bedside in
the sickroom and in and out of the
boarding house, led now to its climax.
He felt very sure of the job that he
needed so badly, if only he could get
The collar.
1t was Allen who had told him
about the iobsin the first place; had
spoken of it practically as certainty;
but he had stressed the collar. his eye
resting for a moment on Bedford s
soiled shirt and open neckband as they
stood talking in the hall under the
dim light.
You might say that there Is only
one job open in the city" Allen had
said. Allen had come from the county
in West Virginia that had been the
home of Bedford and Sara Pride and
he thought their thoughts and spoke
their language.
THE old man won't advertise It,"
he said, because he doesn't want a
thousand fellows storming his place
Of business and disturbing him, but
you show up at S o'clock and say you
hear he is looking for good man.
Be sure that you look very clean and
neat. Shave yourself carefully and
wear a clean collar. He is awfully
funny that way-wants everybody
about him looking neat and tidy. The
job will probably pay $25 week, and
maybe a little more"
Bedford Pride had listened in a daze
to Aliens words. When Allen had
left he stood fumbling the soiled piece
of paper with its penciled address.
He had wanted to ask Allen for 25
cents with which to buy a collar;
wanted to borrow one from him; but,
somehow, he couldn't bring himself
then and there to admit that he and
Sara had descended as low as all that.
Besides, Sara, now three days in
bed with an attack Of influenza, was
very decided about such things. Pride
knew only too we'll what she would
say. She was so independent If she
were well she would wash and iron a
collar Tor him in no time at all. She
wouldn't listen to borrowing a collar
from John Allen, however. She would
say that the letter from her father
would come tomorrow and that there
would be a check in it. take John
Aliens quarter back to him." Sara
would say.
The letter had already come two
Gays ago and without a check. In
stead 1t contained a brief reminder
to Sara that she and Bedford Pride
couid expect no help whatever from
Charles Town.
BflnG h. lzAI
nail OF the shabby boarding house on
the morning that Saras Temperatures
nad peen SO high. He did not think
IL wise 10 let her see it. She was still
counting on help from her father and
hoplng that he would be friendly.
But Pride knew that that hone wa
vain. The only thing that would
save the situation now was a lob and
wages: Pride had to get that job.
he had spent his last dime for a
coupe or lemons. In a newspa per
ne had read that hot lemonade was
very good for, people with influenza
The sugar for 1t he had managed to
smuggle from the table, despite the
wary eye of Mrs. Harris. always on
the alert for such thefts by her
poarders. It just happened that there
was sugar famine, and Mrs. Harris
watched the sugar bowl closer than
anything else.
He closed the bedroom door verv
quietly and passed like a shadow
down the long, dimly lighted hall. At
the head of the staircase he stopped.
reviewing in detail his preparatious
for his short absence and wondering
whether he had forgotten anything.
somewhere, in the darkness of the
floors above. door blew shut with
q terrific noise, and he jerked, as a
man does whose nerves have been un.
DER severe strain. He wondered
whether the noise had wakened Sara.
and he waited a minute, expecting To
hear her call.
After listening until he was as.
sured that it was safe for him to go
on, he went down the long flight of
stairs, relic of the days when tim.
Der and labor were cheap and hurried
to the double front doors. Mrs. Har.
r1s' boarding house was one Of the
many mansions in the town that
dated from the leisurely seventies and
that now found itself in a district
that city planners designate as a
blighted section" Commerce had
destroyed residence values there, with
out destroying the residences.
The first-f1oor windows Of such
houses are tall and dismal, with soiled
USpO
to hnd in the cheaper type Of Ameri.
can-plan hotels. All in all, such
boarding houses are places to which
people go only if driven, no matter
what the city. And Mrs. Harris was
no exception. All her dodgers were
driven people
One walked past blocks of these
dismal houses to Federal street. hur
rled under the elevated railroad tracks
and. in moment, passed fragrant and
inviting German restaurants.
At the corners, one passed drus
stores that sparkled like steamboat
chandeliers. 1t was then but ster
to the bridge, where the wind blew
in bad humor: but. with the dark
depths of the river behind, the rapid
walker was passing, in a minute or
two, Penn avenue, and coming into
the heart of the downtown night life
Bedford Pride. as he hurried along
through the cold Of the early evening
wanted to cross all this by the mos,
direct route and arrive at the point
he had fixed in his mind. He arrived
at the old hotel, where as boy, he
had eaten oysters and listened TO the
orchestra play The Evening Star
song. But he could not bear to think
OF such things tonight-things that
reminded him Of the days before he
had mustered up enough courage r.
ask Sara to run away from home and
marry him. He dashed across Liberty
avenue, crowded with its half-past
six traffic. and plunged into Marke,
street, pulling his coat collar up an6
the brim- Of his hat down, as a pre-
caution against meeting some com
Portable and inquisitive acquainta nee
On Fifth avenue he turned east and
taking care 10 keep close to the curl
farthcst from the lighted windows
reached Wood street and headed solitf
toward the dark blocks Of the town.
financial district.
At Fourth avenue he turned ca :
nd - II. .i,,.e