The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-01-31
IS St. +, 7 4 A !!!;;'! (. R!GG z;7 Oh

not bear thinking of now, when she
was SO happy.
TT was q motion picture, finally,
Il which pointed a way out of her
difficulty. Out of work, she had
gone forlornly into movie theater
in an effort to forget her rather abb
surd troubles.
And she had seen on the screen a
timid, mousey. homely little secre-
tary with skinned back hair, ILL
fitting clothes and horn-rimmed
Spectacles, suddenly transform her
self into a beauty, SO that she might
win the love of her employer.
Ruth Lester laughed so hysteri-
cally that lovers of the silent drama
turned in their seats and gIared at
her.
The next day mouse like, timid
little creature, with golden hair
pulled tightly into a hard, unbecom-
ing knot on her neck, eyebrows
jerked back into scared-rabbit ex-
preston, blue eyes ohScured and
Trained of their color by enormous
yelloW-lensed, horn-rimmed specta-
Giles. longish, ill-fitting dark dress
iibeling her lovely small figure, had
presented herself at the offices of
Henry P. Borden, who had adver-
tiSed for a secretary.
And for four months, although
Handsome Harry Borden was notori-
ously fond of beautiful women, Ruth
had been permitted to work in peace.
Sometimes it had been cruelty
hard to keep her pose and
her deliberately achieved homeli-
ness, for Ruth found, to her sur
prise and disgust that she missed
the admiring glances of men and
women who passed her>in the street.
And those months had been the
1oneliest she had ever spent, for in
all that time no man had asked her
for a "date"-except Jack Hay
ward.
Ruth drew a deep breath of joy.
The pain of recalling the past had
been wiped out by the ecstasy Of ar
irving, inevitably, at Jack Hay
wards name. Her little high-heeled
pumps clicked a staccato accom-
paniment to her joy, as she turned
in at the bank
Reaching into the big inside
pocket of her fur coat she retrieved
her spectacles, straddled her small
nose with them, SO that the teller
could recognize her and make no
difficulty about cashing Borden's
check.
In the street again, on her way to
the station to buy two tickets and
drawing-room for Harry Borden
and the woman he was to take to
Winter Haven with him, Ruth had
five more precious minutes in which
to review her strange romance.
Pigeons! Involuntarily her blue
eyes, free of the spectacles again;
scanned the sky for a glimpse of
the birds which had brought her
happiness. She saw none.
Probably they were budding
against chimneys for warmth. The
poor darlings She hoped it would
not be too severe a winter, for their
sakeS. :.
CHE laughed softly as she remem-
y bered how she must have looked,
in her disguise" leaning out of
the window opening upon the air.
shaft, coaxing the black pigeon to
her with crumbs held i1vitingly in
the hollow of her palm.
But Jack Hayward, who had been
watching, had not laughed. He had
smiled, that tender, whimsical smile
which was so dear a part of him.
And she had smiled, forgetting for
the moment that the dimple must
be sternly repressed.
Two days later. when she was
feeding the whole greedy flock with
crumbs sprinkled upon the window
ledge, Jack Hayward had tried to
lure them away from her, with
crumbs of his own.
1t had become a game between