Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-05

An lowing morn. lay Sleeplly
WI awake. watching a sunbeam
on the ceiling of his bedroom
"A very bare apartment on
the third floor of the Grand Hotel
He lay upon q hard mattress ano ms
bedsteao was & plain iron one OF the
sort usually found in the servants quar-
ters Of large houses, There was
nlsin ash suite OF furniture in the
room. two texts on either SIDE Of the
roantelpiece and no further attempt
AZ sdolnment Thoughts framed them
selves cloudilv in his mind A dream T!
A Stupid dream His own fault tor
going incoming off instead OF VISITING
fhe nicture with Charlie Sands, he
hac the feeling Of a man who mas
6oze0 in paradise and Weakened III mis-
err The prospect Of his days work
depressed him Composition was get
ting keener every journey He was
fighting all the time against the con-
viction that his firm was slipping a
little behind Back again that surge OF
thought. strengthened overwhelming
Hastily he thrust his hand under the
pillow. II was there--the amazing
racket, He sat upright in the bed
and drew out a handful Of bank
notes-hundred- pound banknoteS. They
were all there. Ii was true. And there
we're the documents signed by the
doctor and the lawyer, every word OF
which he had read last night. With
SLOW. trembling fingers he pushed
everything back into the packet and lay
there for few moments, his heart
beating knock at the door In came
Anne. the chambermsid with smile
and battered tin can of hot water.
She glanced toward the bed in confident
anticipation of a word Of chatting
greeting.
Eight O'Clock. sir" she announced
as she drew The blinds. VIII YOU
have bath this morning."
He looked at her, more than ever
eazed Surely Anne belonged TO the
other world. And that bath. too: the
varI1ish stained. the enamel off in
great patches. an inadequate towel. a
thin. unsatisfactory stream Of water,
nothing but the oilcloth TO stand on
There were plenty of good bathrooms
downstairs. but they were for the cof-
fee-room customers.
"A bath!" he repeated Il don't
know. I think so. Yes"
Sure you wouldn't rather wait till
tonight" she ventured. The waters
running rather slow
He shook his head
"I7l have ii now" he decided.
She looked at him in surprise. Not
O smile. not light-hearted word!
All right I'll turn it on ther." she
asid I'm afraid you were up late
last night. Mr.. Barnes"
Il feel as though / had been, he
admitted
still not smile. She might as
well not have been in the room. and
he seemed ali the time to be clutch
ing something under the bedclothes.
She turned away with a little sfrug
of the shoulders Queer chaps. these
commercials! Up one day, down the
next No telling which way to take
them. Martin waited until she had
disappeared Then ne slipped out of
the bed i1ugging his packet thrust on
his oVercoat--f1e did not possess dress
ing gown-and made his way across
the bare corridor, guided by the sound
Of running water Half an hour later
he descended Outside the commercial
room he was met by the porter who
wheeled around the truckload Of sam
pies-a red-fsced, CHEEKY youth.
Where do we start this morning
sirs" he inquired. Shall 1 be getting
Il nipped along ahead We might get
In first at Claxton's,'
Martin stared al him little vaguely
OF course. he had meant to have
long, logged day.
I'm not sure that I shan't have to
60 back TO London this afternoon
Tom" he said. However. / needn't
60 till midday. so wen start as usual
III meet you up at Claxtons. Try to
ind out If Mr. Alworth is in the way"
Very good sir" the man replied
Martin took his place at the long
table In the commercial room, ordered
his accustomed breakfast-tea and ba-
con and eggs-and accepted the two
letters which the waiter handed him.
One was from his firm. signed by the
junior partner. Mr. Welshman. Things
xere slow in town-sloW everywhere
He had better. perhaps. put in an extra
Gay where ne was, and try for some
business. He smiled as ne thrust the
letter back into its envelope Then
hs opened the other after moments
hesitation. It was typed and also upon
the stationery Of the firm, but was OF
different character.
Dearest Martin
Just line hoping you are having
. successful Journey Things are very
SLOW mere and they are ali hoping that
yoU viii have some luck. Don't hurry
home. because / am going down 70
Efrsstham with mother tomorrow eve
ming and shant be back until late
So looking forward 10 seeing you
with love and kisses.
YOUR MAIsIE."
Ee thrust this letter too back intC
its envelope. curiougIy unmoyed by is
contents As he ate his breakfast and
sfterwsro when ne was looking through
- 4. f4e4n a.. H.. l.
found himself thinking more than once
of Maisie She had seemed 10 him yers
desirable the first day she had taken
her place Ia the outer Office Of Messrs
Enriyes 81 Welshman She cOnformed
entirely 10 type, but the fashion ri lhs
osg MAD made that type a peculiarl;
attractive one Her brown hair vas
neatly b0boed sne wore string of col
oTfo beaoz with earrings ~ match
her dress all IN one piece made th1
best of her slim. boyish body. There
vas great deal ~ silk stocking visible
?, times no doubt Whatever about TN
powder ~ which She made occa*iona
USE End very little about the SQUIRE
81 me c0l0r which ~ times made he
i5pE look almost 100 brilliant agalus
the pSlior 81 her CHEEKS She had en-
Esglng yet demUre manners an anus
Ing noN u small conversation. . dA
tinct penchant Tor carefully c0Hducle'
rlrtstlons she mad promised on on
warm and isnguoroas night. Ihonu
o. 50 ago when she bad ridden IN IN
kiGe Csf o. MS motor cycle 03&n
country lane near Gotham and EeEte
for time under tree, that AZ SoOI
1T he vas ready Ahe would mari
him H. found himself thinking thl
morning of her kisses and the euoear
nnentE which had 80 readily pecOm
almost habit With inperSonal. almos
cold criticism Already, ~ he had tire
easily Of most things IN life ezcep
cricket he wss d little tired 0I Malsi'
Not much hope Of release nov though
II was Characteristic NJ him that II
viewed the future without any idea {