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Show I he Girl Who Came Back .. 1 CHAPTER I The orchestra at the large, new Crunadu dance hull had reached that etage when th-i Individual members composing it were rather beginning to enjoy their own exertions. There was a pause. A man with a mega phone mounted the platform. "When yer all alone." he begun determinedly, de-terminedly, "by da telephone, 'd dere's no one dere but youoooooo " Must of thi.se composing the large crowd of dancers who hud stopped and crowded around the plutform to listen to the singer eyed hi in rather cynically, cynical-ly, uot. apparently. In the least touched by the poignant words of the popului eong of the moment. One little girl watched the fat singer sing-er as though the words of his song were affecting hei. She turned to her male companion, a sllra youth with glazed hulr. She put a small, cool hand Into one of his. "It would be terrible, wouldn't It," she asserted rather than asked, "to he really all alone, especially after you'd loved some one!" The young man grinned down at tier reassuringly. "Try and get rid ot me," he said airily. "And we'll be married very soon now?" she went on wistfully, talking to make herself not so clearly bear the words of the song. "Inside of six months." Ills eyes did not meet hers as he replied and be shifted his position slight ly. The girl glanced down at the diamond ring upon the fourth linger of her left hand. It sparkled up at her bravely ns It caught and held a concentrated rellertlon from the multicolored lights In the Immense room. "flood Lord, bow much longer Is that guy going to sing?" the young man shot out Impatiently ; 'It's nearly near-ly one o'clock ; only a coupla more danc es to come." "There I He's finished now," said I.olltn. Almost before the words were out ot her mouth the orchestra had started nd she was whirled Instant Iv awav to become a part of the swirling, hopping prancing mass upon the large floor. It proved, however, to be the last dance, for presently the popular strains changed to the old familiar tune of "Home, Sweet Home." lazzlly syncopated. Very few however, stopped tt finish the dance. There was a mad rush for the clonk rooms. Lolita ound a place before one of the long mirrors In the "Ladles' Jtoom," and started to adjust her hat. tucking her short red curls "arelessly under the brim. The glass told her that she was very pretty, especially us compared to the other girls who stood about the room, making ready to meet their men. Stie was not, however, quite happy. A little lit-tle fear tugged at her heart and would riot be dispelled. The song had somehow some-how started It. She was twenty-two years old. and markedly different from most of the oilier girls In the room. She was the only child of an exceedingly expert, but exceedingly underpaid watchmak er who worked In one of the large watch factories In Elgin. He had managed to put her through the Elgin grammar schools and the high school, and even a six month's business col lege course. He bad wanted some-' some-' how to send her on to college, but she would not hear of It. but had Insist- . ed upon goin, to Chicago to find a position, so that she might be an asset as-set rather than a liability to him. Shortly after coming to Chicago she had found the position and become engaged. She had written glowing accounts ot her fiance to her father, and he had replied warmly. Harvey Torrence had met Lolita at the department store where she worked. He wus eight years her senior, a slightly blase product of the city, making excellent money as a real estate salesman, and having no particular Intentions of being deliber ntely captious. But he had wanted Lolita the moment that evei he laid eyes upon her. and he had somehow managed to "sell" himsell to her. Although the accepting of him. on his own terms, had cajsed Lolita many a frightened hour alone with herself In her little hall bedroom, her loneliness and desire for sympathetic compan lonshlp had overcame a very staunch set of scruples, and she had yielded to him. laving yielded she would willingly have laid down her very life for him. had he asked her to do so. and she waited, with what patience she could summon foi that day when a remarkably dilatory jude should grant hliu a divorce from a former wife who had lamentably "failed to understand him " "lu Just about a month, now, I ought to get my decree," he had told her at first, six months ago Month after month bad passed, and no de cree had been forthcoming. However. Lolita loved him, and she was sure that where such a great, warm feel Ing of love Inside ot her existed noth Ing could possibly he wrong. After the first few hours ot mental clashing when the Ideals which her mother, who had died when Lolita was thirteen, had insiilled into her. and her father's franker explanations of the philosophy ot living, had met with Harvey's mure faille philosophy, she bad stopped worrying, closed part of ber mind, and given the rest to Harvey Har-vey to manipulate as he saw tit-She tit-She turned from the mirror, about to c when a girl who had beeD work- i By Jack Woodford W. N. U. Servic Copyright Ing at the Emporium at the time she had met Harvey, and who had left shortly after that, walked up to her "Hello, Lolita I" she said carelessly. "how's the kid? Still plugging along down at the Emporium?" "Yes, but I'm to be married shortly "You're going to be married What the devil are you going to do that for?" "Because I'm In love." "Well, that's about the surest way I know of to get out of love. Grad uate from nine nours a day at the Emporium to twenty-four-hour duty In a flat I thought you bad more brains than that." Lolita turned to go. with a concill atory smile; vaguely she could under stand why a girl who had made "othei lilf Lolita Had Been Listening Helplessly arangemeuts." should speak dispar aglngly of marriage. The other, however, how-ever, held her with a question. "Who you engaged to? Anybody I know?" "Well, 1 think you had seen him cnll for me at the store once or twice." "You don't mean Harvey Torrence?" "Yes." "Oh I my G d !" the girl let out a raucous laugh which caused others In the room to turn. "Oh ! my G d !" she repented and laughed again "Harvey Torrence. Engaged to blra! You make me laugh. That's all you ever will be Just 'engaged' to him : that's his regular game. 1 was en gnged to him once myself." "We are going to be married," said Lolita st'ffiy, "Just as soon as Harvey can get his divorce." This time the girl did not laugh. She turned sud denly, almost fiercely, and grasped the other by both arms. "Listen, kid ; you're not like the rest of us. You've got a break. You look different Anybody would know you was Innocent. You got a good chance yet. Don't pay any attention to what I said about that marriage stuff. I only laugh at It because I can't have It ever, and I know It ; but you you're O. K. Stay that way Let me tell you something, hot off the pan. Harvey Torrence has never been married In his Ufa Don't let him kid you with engagement stuff or has lie already kidded you?" She stopped and looked searchingly Into the other girl's eyes. "So that's how it is." she said disappointedly after a minute. "Oh well; you'll have to do the best you can, then; but honestly, yon don't look it. You look Just as Innocent as yi u ever did. Better grab off some biro while you've got the chance, and for heaven's sake lay off of Harvey Married I H II He wouldn't marry unless he could cop out somebody with dough, and lots of It- Married huh!" She laughed again, shrilly. It was a happy laugh, as though hei belief In herself had somehow been strengthened by the knowledge of the other's condition in life. Lolita had been listening helplessly She felt as though she could not open her mouth, or move her limbs She wondered if the girls about them had -j beard and understood. She could feel her face burning She fell as though she could never poss-ibiy leave the room, horrid as it had now become, with its smell of cheap cosmetics, Its grotesque sights. Girls, exposing their bosoms to be powdered, other girls pulling their clothes up to urruuge their garters, utterly oblivious to the vulgarity of display. Girls telling each other filthy anecdotes; accusing each other of intended in-tended indiscretions . . . laughing In maudlin abandon at unmentionable things. Heretofore she bad not minded It. bui now, suddenly, she fell Irresistibly a part of them, druwD to them by a .-'inister bond never to be severed. She turned and walked from the room, out Into the uow deserted dance hull, with untidy streamers of confetti ahoul the I lloor, the dimmed lights making it seem like some huge, malign cavern. What the girl had said was not true she told herself us she walked toward the door. She missed into rhp niohi air, and the crash of tratlic upon Flor ence avenue; turned toward the place where Harvey uad parked his neat ronuVter when they hail arrived sev eral hours before. He was sitting In j the driver's seat smoking a cigarette. Calmly she climbed in beside lilm Without even looking ut her he automatically auto-matically went through the motions ot starting the car. They drove for a time in silence. Lolita could see that there was a bright moon hanging over the lake. Suddenly without any very definite idea she said to him: "Turn down one of the cross streets to the lake; i want to talk to you fur awhile before we go home." He turned and looked at her in protest, his lips framing the words "It's lute." But something about her manner caused him to turn and run a block east to the water s edge and stop. The moon made a pathway of gold directly to the car, leading off across the dark silent waters Into a blue-black oblivion which somehow heartened Lolita. She hud to force herself to speak calmly, fighting down the terrifying pain at her heart. "Harvey," she said. In calm, level tones; "you have never been married." mar-ried." He swung about to face her angrily, but something in her direct gaze cowed hiia Almost visibly he fortified himself to bluff things out. "I suppose somebody's been talking to you about me; well, what of It? I love you, and you love me; what difference dif-ference does the rest make? Kiss me, and forget about what you've been bearing." He reached for her, but she moved as far away from him as possible, pos-sible, to the farthest corner of the seat. "I can spend the night with' a girl from the store who lives in the Grantham Gran-tham apartments; tomorrow I'll not go to the store, I'll find another room somewhere. Will you take me over to the Grantham, or shall I get out now and walk?" "Say! What's come over you? Suppose Sup-pose I'm not married; what of It? 1 haven't been stringing you along all this time. I've really loved you. I've always Intended to come clean with you ; only 1 Just wanted to wait and be sure. I'll marry you." "Thanks, very much," she said bitterly, bit-terly, "but I don't want the honor now." "You was keen about It as late as two or three hours back ; what's come over you?" "Why did you keep telling me that lie about getting a divorce? Why did you lie and lie and lie? Oh! Harvey, it makee it all seem so small and cheap and tawdry ; why I'd even rather have had yon come to me at first and have I old me the truth, that it was only passion, not the sort of thing you led me to believe it was ihat prompted you to " "But listen. I'm telling you I'll marry mar-ry you. now tomorrow first thing in the morning. On t lie square. I'm noi kidding now at all. Honest. Lolita. I've always been crazy about you: only well 1 thought maybe we might not get along as well as I expected and I made up my mind to sort of try things out for awhile. Aw. come on. kid. try to get me straight; we've been such good pals. Don't spoil everything now." She wus near to the breaking point. Most maddening, most Heartbreaking Heart-breaking was the fact that he could not see. could not at all understand what she felt, and there was no way to put it Into words. Nevertheless, she tried despairingly. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |