Show rft Ki j Lessol vtk Thanh hcavln for that id I hud just taken my seat In a third smoker and was opening up my even ing1 paper when the above exclamation caused me to look up Jn surprise The speaker who when I got In had been ji hidden bchlhd a nlaincd and crumpled r newspaper was a sallowfaced young man of tho outatelbows description t S and he spoke in a tone of such fervency that 1 concluded he must have some Q prcsIng appointment and was Impatient 1t Impa-tient at the trains stoppage 1 was tt nbout to aslc him 1C this was so when ho anticipated me Pardon my hagitailon sir he said wiping his brow with a colored handkerchief n hand-kerchief but JC yon only knew what I HUh Ive endured this fast arfhour IIRtII Then smiled for T remembered that qfI a plump goodlooking young woman t with three smull children each armed II IJ11J Avllh a monster stick of gaudilystriped s toffee had got out of the carriage m at the last station indeed 1 had given the young woman a lift with the children t chil-dren with the result that there were + 4444j live distinct Impressions of sticky fingers fin-gers on my coal sloovo You dont care for children I said p It wasnt the childer bless you my 14 companion returned It was their L O mother I nearly ad a fit drectly C VI saw cr makln for the door an Id only lime to Ide behind the noospaper I when hln she gels with the kids The young man paused here and drew out a short clay pipe I UKctf xo know eryou sec sir he resumed helpinghimself toy tobacco i I Jn fact we were swjoethetirtsi LcriTme Ii1i see Itll be cghr ear1 ago now Id a I good jo at that time as Assistant to a pawnbroker mi1 i 1 should ha been I there yol an jnuqiun df the shop for old Flints lcji Jif It adnt been for er mid lie fjpwncd gloymily ShP alfcrtreatpd you badly I observed ob-served i fr Noo I dont Kuppose youd nay that z What Khc did she did simply out of revenge Ah she ad me proper You us see L was always what you might calla call-a practical chap I looked after number 3t one an1 on one thing Id mudc up my PUij1 nindI meant to marry well Id a good st c job with a prospect of a rise 1 was a ICES amartlsh young feller I could cut most of em out with the gals an 1 saw no G reason why I shouldnt marry some one et a with a bit of property or even with money in the funds That > vas what I mount to do What I did do was to get roglar gone on cr directly I set eyes bros on er which was one bank ollday at Ulackpoo I 1t It was at the Tower I dropped JI across cr She was standln1 In the ballroom splendid place that aint It PFIC vatchln the dancers She took my 1 fancy at once for she was one of the AljLPi plumplah sort with rosy cheeks and thWZ bright eyes an such n fringe right Into I Ar er eyes an she was dressed all in white with a row of pearls around her neck a big at trimmed with red roses E an yellow sand shoes I was no end of I a Loft myself for Id Just bought myself I a regla Hash getup white trousers Asir an a striped Jacket crimson an black an u new straw at LTLifl Well J edged near cr an after a bit b j I cauglvt cr eye Then I smiled an ir4 Veil she amiled back You know the the way Then I went up an raised my at an asked or if shed ave a turn im she said she JJdnt mind an in another SATE3I an-other minute we was atrlppin on the thE1c light fantastic After it was over I took cr to ave a small lemon Then wed another vt tdr dance an after that we went an1 sat iIgem c down to cool I asked er er name but she only laughed an said she adnt got one But I know yours she ses Bet yer dont sea I What Is fit1 3 I It begins with a Jyour Christian l name she ses Your other begins with q aS er Well J stared then for she was right my name being Joseph Scarratt E CJIt Ow did you know it I KCS 0s Well do you know Miss Hop kins I Very well1 I scs She comes from 1Ep9 where ldp 4 Yes she seg an so do I 1 Go on ses I youre aklddln me 3 O well you neednt believe me un less you like she seen < see-n Well in a bit I found that it was 7 1 the truth Sho workedat Ribbon anTOn an-TOn Chiffons an the reason I adnt seen LLW4 cr before was that she lived a bit out CiTTt1 pf the town fin went by train night an mornln Well I Tnct er again the next morn 3 irs iii an I spent the rest of the week with r cr for 1 was avln my olidays at the time I spent a lot of money on er isT too one way an another I bought Vr 7 hico creams an choelates an I paid rAT for er avln er fortune told by the Ohl gypsies They said shed marry a good I looking young man with hauburn airS air-S D12 an she said afterward It was very funny that they should say hauburn City air for my airs that color as I dare 6 say youll ave noticed Mr Scarrutl paused a moment here 1 to relight his plpt and I made a reply rJi that was polite rather than truthful I think even the longestcadcd folk ca lose their cads at the seaside he went 4 I on I know I lost mine for that came 3 I afternoon there was a chap on tile 2no lan fomtygmaplis IS tantut trV OF to take us together said wed make the prettiest plctur ed ever took Sime La seemed inclined for It an so we went OITtik in an were took er aslttlng down me ulamlln up A bob It cost me I thought it was cheap at the time but g well it was the maddest thing I ever ID 1 > P did Of course before the week waa t out Id reglarly pro psea to or an that although I knew tte cr father waa only a joiner an er mother took In Tif sewln 4 Perhaps youd think aa when I cob II back to the shop an began work again Co 1 should come to my senses and back 1 out but not a bit of it I was art orf my dot about cr an used fairly to I look forward to Sundays when I took or wnlkn Very mcwmi 1started yoln to the ouse to tea Although they was rlfr 1 t what you would call In umble circumstances circum-stances they waa very respectable an theyd nice front a imrlnrwhcro re an EDt1 Polly used to Hit on the sofa Well things went on pretty smooth lyllke for ohic > lime an then one line ATIOL inornln1 old Flint surprised me by tell I big mo cd a niece acomin to keep ip i q OUKC for im Is old nilusls gettln1 too old to do much an as shed ad a fancy ill education c said shed be able to clve us a and wtth the books 1 Vcll it waa a bit of a novelty mis iv to ave jv Judy clerk but when I told 1 Polly she didnt art seem to like Itt It-t Shell be wanlln to flirt with Vou arC er tlini I knov she sos o Shell ave to want then scs I an then of course she mado me promise cffiLI not to tirry on with er Glrla Is awCul i jealous of one another As for me 1 j never thought of nothln of tho sort for the fact wax Id got It Into my oaii 3 aho wouldnt by up to much for old tl Flint i n In miKsIs were not what you would oftll good lookln J 1 Owevcr as things turned outI tI4 was mistook ror once for though siic e ze wiHnt unywayfi equal lo Polly yet rv t PCen far worse lookln galH ShC wn I de big an tall with black eys1mne eyei dr iI they wen an from the very Jlrst she stormed disposed to make eraelf harfa s ble Of course I always did the polftc v to a lady but I wasnt more than po lll < though I could see abe was ready ei enough to lake on an1 what IK more I S It j soon struck me that old Flint ad no objection lo It either for whenever e Ie found ue uhutiln c said noihln I soon found f was right about thin for one day c actually nuked me If Id come to tea Ihr folfolng Sunday AV luclt would ZLC It Polly couldnt sea 1 me that divy as or mother an cr were t kuJn to HOC a haunt who WhIZ IU on o CO 1 saId Id b < > very pleased OC course I tlldnt tell Polly 1 It was ti lot better cvenln than I 1tiIc expected Wed a mrc i Bpreud chicken 0 an rim an all sorts of cakes art Jams an Loo was rcglarly toffcd up an looked better than I thought It possible possi-ble After tea sho played for us an tho could play all the latest comic songs an1 I gay em When My Air Began to Curl It fairly knocked em the old chap especially You must como an sing for UK again Joe c sea when 1 was goln Me an the missis Is very fond of a bit of real good alngln and LOO will always al-ways play your accompaniments A day or two after that the old man drawn me aside very conlldcntlal like Joe SCH e that nlpco of mine IH a fine player on the pialnny ant she Very line sos I Ah shes a nice girl too < scs e next Very nice sos TAn T-An nll bo i a lucky man what Gets cr BOS e I An ell be a lucky mah what gets I Jumped for It occurred to me what e was a drivln at A day or two Jitter e conies lo me again I Joe c set after a bit theres SLomethln J want to say to you this afternoon an as Im n plain man Ill ay It in plain words Its this moan mo-an the missis ave took a fancy to you an we want you to marry Loo Shes well worth marryln for when were gone rfhell ave all there Is Now If youll cay yes Im ready to make the business over to you for Im think In of tahiti things a bit easier an you Can be married drectly Come what do you say Well I could otily stammer an um an aw Ah I see I took you by surprise e ces so Ill give you a bit to think it over Let me know bytomonow morn InV I I didnt sleep much thai night Ill tell you A poor beggar at Iwentjflve bob a wWk doesnt get such a hotter evtry day an 1 shouldnt ave best taicd a second If It adnt beon for Polly The business was a good one an when < the old folks pegged out I should drop in for a big lump I knew for thir old chap ad money hi n vested in mote than one concern 1 was in two minds as you might say I liked Polly the best but then when you can get a wife with a bit of tin Well Id always plenty of common sense an Jhe next day I told the old man 1 was wlllln And then bless me If e didnt lake mo by the arm and drag me to the parlor Loos ere by erself e sos Go In a settle It at once and there was nothln for it but lo do as e said an1 when I came out of that parlor I was engaged to two clrls Pretty pickle wasnt it An T made up my mind Id bu out of It as soon as T could for if old Flint got to know 1 knew ccl cut up rough Well 1 soon found out that this wasnt so easy In the first place Loo was one of the jealous sort an1 grew suspicious If 1 couldnt spend every evenln with er which was Impossible I Impossi-ble to do when there was Polly to see It was a queer game T carried on for a bit 1 used lo send Polly nolea sayin I was workln late an on Sundays I said Id 10 see a huncle who was very badThis This acted all right for n while but of course there soon came a time when Polly got suspicious an one day I gets a note from er nskln me to come upon up-on Sunday night She said shed Fomethlnv very particular to say tome to-me an1 if I didnt come she should come for me Well I told Loo the story about the uncle who was bad this time an I wroto to Polly jtellin er that Id be sure lo turn up an I decided Id settle the affair one way OP another for I was on quicksilver as you might say t Polly opened the door an led the way Into the parler I couldnt help wlshin that she ad the tin Instead of Loo for when it came to looks Loo wasnt In It On this particular night she looked better than ever an I couldnt elp klssln cr though Id meant not to Owevcr she soon stopped me at that Ere rdont be a klssln me slid ses I want an explanation I do Whatabout this MlssFllnt youre a Inashm 7 i 1 T Who told you I was mashln crIses cr-Ises sesOh come Joe that wont do sho scs Tkri6w all about It You cant deceive tyc i suppose its cr money youre after Well Poll I ses ill be plain with you1t Is er money You see Ive been thlnkinf ttems over a bit lately an Ive come to the conclusion that Im a doln wrong In askln you to wait for me seem that Ive no reasonable rea-sonable prospects of gettln married an you can do so much better for yourself I ope youll see this In a proper light nn let us part friends Id found It Jolly aid work to any this Ill tell you for I was afraid there be a scene but to my surprise she took It better than I thought I dont want to spoil your chances In life Joe she ses only tell me one thing you dont care for er aa you do for me do you Care for er as I do for you I ses You w6uldnt ask that If you could see er Er airs the color of carrots an shes as freckled as a butterwoman As I spoke there was a curious noise In the corner behind a screen Its only the cat Poll sos Shes after a mouse See eras all your letters let-ters an yrcsQnls youd better take em with you1 and she undertime a little parcel ready done kup You seem to ave known what f was comln about JUscs I ad an idea sos she and theres nothln like beln in time I think youll find em all right An now 1 wont keep you any longer Well to say that cr coolness staggered stag-gered me Is to put it mildly but I did my best to carry It oft in the same fashion Your a sensible lass Poll 1 ses an Im glad to see you look at this inn aprcfper 1 llghu 1 > ilksVtVDiUH er yln1 ovgr split milk she HCH A e you got your at Ill let you outjl atl she led the tay an I opened thpjoor just fqr alL the world as 1C shed be n lettin out some ordinary ordi-nary visitor instead or the man who loved unmight never see again As T shook ands I wan about to kiss er but she wasnt uvJn any 4 I can car the bat she ses I believe be-lieve shes caught that mouse an she slams the door lo un T walked off fooling atrlllo puzxlcd us you may say for Inovertlmaylned Polly ud give mo up so coolly Owrtver it was some tiallsf action lo know Id scaled it After all a girl with 09pocta like LQOH was bettor than a Joiners daughter any day When I reached the shop next mornln thu old man asked me If Id step In the parler a mlnnlt or two 1 followed Mm won denim what wan wrong an I wondered more when I found Loo there with a look on er face that made me stare Whats to do I HCP Well then Mho began an what whc raid fairly took my breath away She knew all about Polly In fact shed been present at our Interview the previous pre-vious evcnlii When Him said that f alaml tit Jer like one mooTituruek flou war Uioic I seeR se-eR ses she I wan the cat I card everything Jin thank goodness T did1 1 didnt say nolhln1 It seemed as If there wasnt nothln I could say I just stood an Untuned like one dazed while they both told me what they thought of me Of course 1 ad to clear out at once an clear out I did that very day Next inornln1 I ad a letter from Polly Shc saId Pd be glad to oar that the eat ad caught the mouse She told me other things too ow shed gone to Loo an asked cr to come an 9dO cr telling er shed open cr eyes on to my real character She also said or aunt was dead an ad Ifeft er live undrod pound an that site thought whod soon be able to buy usweetheart I with It Ail so she did for six months later she married a welltodo grocer t You wont wonder at my agitation now 1 daresay The sight of er brought U all back as If It udbocn yesterday The train waa stopping now and I got out leaving 7 ir Scarratt to reflect on the bitter past Washington Mirror |