Show A STREET CA STORY It was an embarrassing moment for Miss Bessie Lane when she seated herself in the horse car with her niece to see the young man she had been engaged to just opposite Clarence Porter did not like tho encounter 7 himself but he turned his head away and T began studying tho signs with great interest c In-terest Such interesting reading matter as was exposed in the cars I He read the notices concerning the fares of children getting get-ting on and off tho cars with asS as-S much apparent interest as i they had been imnortant electioneering announcements announce-ments and found a profound art lesson in the touching delineation of the S infant who wont be happy till ho get it Besides he passed fares diligently and was altogether a model passenger outwardly out-wardly very calm and composed and apparently ap-parently obiivipus of any unpleasantness Would he never gol queried the girl opposite op-posite She dared not move until ho was out Her limbs were shaking with nervous excitement as she sat still and she dared stil not tax them further The more excited she became the more did she talk in a high shrill voice till at last she could be heard all over the car Clarence mentally congratulated himself on his escape A wife with a voice like that impossible And et he remembered when it had been very soft and low Tie car stopped for another lady With delight he recognized an old acquaintance one who had been a favorite playmate in his childish days and later had hold a vague position along tho dim borderline which separates or unites friendship and love The pleasure at seeing him was evident evi-dent while his was unmistakable Poor little Bessies heart was almost broken She remembered how she had ltv r quite liked Miss Blessington Now Beeiiig this she fairly hated her What should she do She was already blocks pastS past-S her destination Little Nell was growing restless still that man would not go The child fidgeted impatiently with Bes sies parasol Clarence brushed by with fares Not glance did he vouchsafe her It was killing S I On his way back somehow ho stumbled J over the crooked handle of the parasol A grand effort to recover his balance a wile lunge forward and then right in Miss Bessies lap appeared a No9 boot which was speedily withdrawn as the owner scrambled to hIs feet Several passengers tittered including friend of his youth and Clarence was very I angry Canyou blame him Which of 1 you would enjoy being made ridiculous in the eyes of a sometime lady love At last they were at the junction Of I course she would go now with the other passengers He would remain A moments mo-ments observation convinced him that she S hud no such intention so he started for the tioor tioorA A sweet voice made him turn 1 hope you did ct hurt yourself said S little NelL lam sorry I tripped you with aunties parasol Then seeing she had an attentive listener she added Im having a 10wid time today Auntie promised to take me to tho matinee an instead she matnee makes me wide in these disereeblo cars disgreeble and hurt people Youre not cross wif me are you Who could be angry with such a dainty bit of humanity Clarence assured her that bo did not care a bit while his heartbeat S heart-beat joyfully at what she had told him Ho must speak to Bessie after this he I owed her an apology at least for the injury in-jury done her delicate summer gown Ho kept Nell near him Sho would furnish a pretext for speaking 5 At last they were alone in the car Bessie was deeply ied and confused con-fused he pale and embarrassed The child broke the silence with a cry of delicbt at an approaching balloon fin Clarence effected a hasty purchase irom tno car piatiorm ana opened a window t win-dow for the benefit of tho little damsel l Then he boldly crossed over and took seat by Bessie Why did you come to tho end of tho line he queried Bessie grew yet rosier but was silent Did you come for the same reason that I did I ho said meaningly I came because be-cause because because I loved you and he actually thought he was tolling the truth too to There was no answer for a moment but Bessie lifted nor eyes from that troublesome trouble-some parasol and met him bravely I dont know she murmured What an illogical and unaccountable creaturo a man in I The rather equivocal reply seemed most satisfactory for a radiant rad-iant look of content lit up his face And well of course it was not proper in a street car of all placesbut he certainly kissed her Just at this crisis little Nells balloon took a celestial fight of its own accord and she withdrew her head from the window win-dow Good gracious Aunt Bess she gacped It seemed to her Inexperienced mind that all the world bad gone mad and not even the promises of many new balloons and limitless matinee tickets could reconcile her to this strange event In fact it was not until she had come to years of discretion discre-tion herself that she fully appreciated her share in the romance which led to Aunt Bessies marra eDtit Kews |