Evening star., 1933-02-12

4 i extremely hungry, as Miss
Means had indulged in q deli
cacy she called "a stuffed hawg's NAV,
and Carroll had lost very real appetite
with one look. The stomach OF the
swine had been filled with bread which
was sometimes marked by Miss Mems
circular bite, and 1t was hardly
tempting.
an empty heart. can make trouble.
As Carroll reached her door and was
about to open it, Mr.. Todd opened his
door,
II have some old papers" he said.
"I've been cleaning UP little. Where
shall I put them? I don't want to
make you an extra trip downstairs"
"I'll put them In my room,' said Car
roll, land then I'll take them when I
go down"
"f1l carry them over for you" said
Mr.. Todd. There are an awful bunch.
1 was following the O'Grady killroy
case and I didn't read all OF 1t and !
thought maybe I'd get at it later"
Carroll felt sweep OF sickness, the
kind that produces black spots in usu-
ally clear air, and moist but clammily
cold brow.
"But I guess now," Mr.. Todd went
L
ing tomorrow, Miss Jones, and GER
tairlly am sorry to leave you here" He
ended in a cautious whisper.
They were at it again, Miss MeenS
realized. listening at the back stairs,
and whispering so q body couldn't hear
with all listening. And-he was going
into her rooml She heard that plain: :. .
She made cautious, stealthy way half
up the stair.
IT oughta be able to hear better
here" she thought.
Carroll had closed her door; Miss
Mems couldn't tell whether he was
behind the closed door with Carroll or
not. Miss Mems waited, grimly. She
wasn't going to be fooled by them and
have nothing on them when she ap-
peared She was going to be liked"
and able to send the girl trotting.
With Mr.. Todd, of course, it would be
different. You didn't send of people
who paid you good money for a room,
and, anyway, In Miss Mems delicate
mind, all men were "like that" but
women and girls were either hussies or,
like herself, good"
Carroll had not seen much about the
case; she had seen only the Dispatch
which had held, on a page sprinkled
with pictures portrait OF her mother
She had lined the lowest bureau drawer
with this page so that, by pushing aside
some diminutive step-ins and some
night wear, she could study the one
picture she had Of her mother, infa-
nous now, not famous. Each night
Carroll knelt before that open bureau
drawer. shivering from the pervasive
cold that Is embalmed In unheated
rooms, but unaware Of this cold. her
I.u - 1.<zixz
Sometimes she whispered, Il under
stand-do you know I understand?
love you'll" and always she thought this,
whispering it or not.
Now she stood looking down on her
cot on which Mr.. Todd had parked the
papers he wouldn't get through now
because he was going home. She had
said a stricken, "Oh, Mr.. Todd" to
that. but she had added quickly, "I'm
so glad for you'll" She was going to
miss him horribly. the one soul in that
well packed house who had been kind
but she was glad he was going home
He told her he had found job near
Memphis and that, while it paid less
money, he could be near his wife and
the boy, who were now with her peo-
pie.
Carroll turned a newspaper sheet;
7he saw that which was labeled the
salon of Jersey O'Grady's apartment
and then, picture captioned. The
Bodies as Found" and, seeing this, she
dropped to the floor with the heavy
thud that marks complete loss Of con-
sciousness. Mr.. Todd heard the fall
and he hurried into Carroll's room to
find her a tangled, white heap. When
Miss Mems appeared in the doorway
he was STOPPING above the cot on which
Carroll had made her sick cropping way
back to her tragic world.
"She tainted" said Mr.. Todd, who
always thought the best whenever he
possibly could and who was therefore
sometimes trifle handicapped on this
earth that holds too many Miss Meens
"I'll tend to her." said Miss Meens
and she smiled.
"Ill look in on you later" Mr.. Todd
said to Carroll. "I've got to 60 over
TO the office now to pick up some things
left in my desk"
He gave Carroll a smile and patted
her shoulder and he was gone.
When Miss Mems heard the door
close after him-she didn't want mo
row" with him-she ordered Carroll up
and out. At first Carroll couldn't un-
derstand, but when Miss Meens had
diagrammed the matter fully and In
English that was, to say the least
Eltzabethan, Carroll did understand
and for the first time in her young life
her face was bitterly hard.
She laughed. ''It Is not necessary tc
order me to 60" she stated. do you
think any decent person would stay
knowing you, in a house with you?
Diseased flesh Is one thing: rcnse-
quence sometimes of hunger. But a