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Show j I Ok Reign of Queen T$yl I 5 It. I ! i I S Olctt Burgess ami AVIU Trwln. SaTtOrifll ? . (Copyright, McClurc, Phllllns & Co,) Kj I By the tlmo Lsyl had reached home, H(j 1 dressed for tho street parade, and got Hjj I " back to the Pavilion, the procession waa H '. ready to start. As her float progressed, H!' there came up to lsyl from the crowd H j a murmur of Innumerable voices, com- H' - , ' ' blned in one strange sustained chord,, H j -while before her and behind the brisk music of military bands crashed In dls-Hj dls-Hj ; sonance. Handkerchiefs waved, an oc- Hf ( - casional cheer broke forth, and from Ht ' every possible window were men and Hlv . women, starlns. She was confused by Hl, the bewildering sights and sounds, and Hl' 1 embarrassed by the fcellne tlrnt she H' was a usurper. She had done her best H i ( to (lnd the true queen, but accldont had H) ' ' baffled her search. The mysterious T , stranger hnd left her again, and again she was alono In the face of gazing i ! thousands. She wished it were over, l The parade countermarched, and her ,i lloat, after returning down First street. 1 l came to a temporary halt near the floral H1 ' arch. Slie was looking absently Into L the packed second story windows along H the line of march, -when her eyes were Hjl drawn to a single face. 1 It was Norlne Almcrlc Though she had but an Instant's vision, lsyl waa sure of that. Torino stood a little back from a window, but from the height of Hj the Queen's throne she was plainly vlsl- ble. Her expression was that of a per-H per-H son In great dlsti-ess. lsyl had scarcely time to recognize Bi her, "however, when Norlne disappeared ' from the window, and at the same time the lloat lurched forward. A hundred I feet further tho procession halted I again, and lsyl looked down the street for someone to whom she could tell the 1 1 astonishing news. The Chamberlain, 1 i i who, riding at the head of the parade, 1 , had already finished the route and was returning to witness the pageant as a K1' spectator, was making his way toward H; her, nodding to various friends right and left. j lsyl caught his eye and beckoned to Hj him. He ran up and climbed one of tho wheels of the float to a whispering dls-tancc dls-tancc as she leaned to him. ' "I taw Norlne Almcrlc!" she called ' cautiously, so that her ladles might not hear. "She was In the window of n. H', j house over the Star billiard hall. Can't you go and see what It means? She 'may be kept there against her will!" ,. He nodded, jumped down and made his 1 I way back up the street. The colloquy hud. of course, been visible to every I tne. although it had not been over-heard, over-heard, and among the observers there I happened to be a special writer. The scene was not lost upon him. It might moan an Important story. So he too. elbowed his way through the crush, and rollowed the Chamberlain, i JuBt before the procession started again, Tsyl, looking over a board fence, which screened him from the street, tiw Tom Parrlsh run through a vacant vnrd in the direction of the house where 1 Norlne had appeared. She watched him iu surprise until the lloat carried , her out of sight, but Just before that he , entered a side door of the block. Then she was swept on down the street. BJ The Chamberlain, forcing his way H"4! through Ihe crowd, reached the Star i ' billiard parlors. Its doors were wide 1 open to the street, disclosing a row of I tables, a bar, and, In the rear, a glazed . door. Beside the street door there was ( I another leading Into a narrow hall from i . which stairs arose, and on the light of 1 this Jiall there was an entrance into the billiard parlors. H, Seeing that the parlors were deserted, Hl f i lie passed through this side entrance Bm ' and started upstairs to Investigate the I ' second story, passing a sign which read -I "Star Hotel Rooms by the Day or H' j AVeek " Half way up, he was met by a" Tnan descending. The stranger was a well-formed H, Englishman with a smooth face dressed In gray tweeds; a Jolly, muscu-H: muscu-H: lnr looldnir man of 2S or so. He stood Hl blocking the passage and said, good- Hy naturedly enough; r1 ' , "I say, old chap, what d'you happen Hl( ' to be looking for, If you don't mind?" ' , "That's none of your business that I H, , know of," said the Chamberlain, at- Hji I tempting to force his way pasL "Who I are you, anyway?" I "I might make the. same retort, don't H,i you know, but I won't. Here's my card. H': Here's my card, if you like, but I'm H'i ( afraid you mayn't go upstairs just now, ' you know.' I wouldn't insist. If I were , "What's .going to prevent my going up?!' said the Chamberlain, hesitating. "My word, what do you expect I'm 1 j. standing here for, bid chap?" said the Briton. "What right have you to prevent 'I me?" the Chamberlain blustered, but ' without attempting to set foot on the. Hj . 'next step. Instead, lie glanced at the ! card, which read "-Mr. Montgomery ! ' Lee." 1 "I have the right of superior biceps I and a good old-fashioned desire to make Hn ,' trouble with them for you, if you Insist Hj 1 M on being an ass;" was the reply. "Is Miss Almcrlc up thero? If chc lsr I want to see her," the Chamberlain de-muuded. de-muuded. H1 "MIhs Almcrlc is not up there. I give , you my word for that. But If she were, Hp you couldn't see her: I give you my J word for that, too. It's my opinion you're, pretty jolly Impertinent, you , At this moment the reporter, still on the trail of the Chamberlain, appeared at the door below. The Chamberlain Instantly changed his attitude, for It would not do for the papers to get hold , rj lof this Information. The idea seemed to strlko J. Montgomery Lee, at the Hl, came time. He winked, and, with IiIh Hi tacit understanding, the two descended i the stairH. H I "What's up?" said the reporter. 1 , "Nothing thnt I know of, except the H price of purple bunting," said Lee. i j i "Why?" H'1 "Oh, we saw the Queen send his Jags H,t off here on some errand In a hurry, and it looked like a story to me. Say, put Hi i me wise! The more we get about this H) tdiow the more free advertising you UW. It L'cL" j i Lee escorted him into the billiard par- ') lors with a little forcible politeness, 1 ' t handling him by the elbow. The Cham- H, ' , berlain followed, noticing that the door i In the partition had a window through Hf i which any one who descended the stairs H; i'1 could be easily seen The three men i j, took seats in a corner and Lee offered Hh Ids companions cigars. I u "The fact is," he Raid, "there Is a i ' small story, though I must say I'm I ! Borry you've discovered It. If you'll l '(, promise to hold it back till tomorrow or ';,) next day. I'll give you the scoop, and f I'll see that none of the other papers H. set it. But, really, you know, it's not li y much. I'd prefer you wouldn't use It." H ,4' "Well, you go ahead with the news, H1 , '1 nnd I'll hold it out," said the reporter. H; j J "You understand I'm not a common or- H' i dlnary reporter, I'm a special writer H i cent down Jlere to do the general fluff and flim-flam of the Fiesta from the sidewalk point of view. But if thiH is newts, wc have to have It, and wo'U handle It a3 conflldorately as possible." "Thnt's very decent of you, really," said J. Montgomery Lee. "You see I fa no end of a delicate matter to me, and I'd be pretty badly cut up If the thing got out, at least If it were published directly. Tho fact Is, my wife'R upstairs with two trained nurse., nnd she's a bit out of her head,' don't you know. She'o had nervous prostration, and her braln'H .slightly aftccted. She thinks she's a Queen. I expect that reading about all this Fiesta rot. and the election elec-tion and such poppycock rather got on her nerves. When they began to decorate deco-rate the town she got the idea that it was all on her account, don't you know, and so I rented a room here just to humor her and see the parade. She was quiet enough till the queen's float camo by, and then she had a 'crlse de ncrfs.' I'm going to take her up to Agnews tomorrow, whore she enn he nursed, and I rather hope the attack will pass ofl. She's very delicate and high strung, that's all." The reporter smiled at tho Chamberlain. Chamber-lain. "It'o too bad I" he said. He turned to Mr. Lee. "What did you say your name was?" "Parker, Thaddcus Q." "If you don't mind, I'll take a note of It," said tho special writer. "Oh, you're welcome to," said Lee, and he stood up, intimating that the Interview Inter-view was finished. The reporter, however, made no move to go. It was evident that he was not so easily deceived as Mr. Lee had hoped. The truth was he didn't fall to notice tho fact that the Chamberlain had been watching the door In the partition ever since they entered the parlors. So he put his feet on a chair and thoughtfully examined the lighted end of his cigar. "I expect that's about all I have to eay," said Lee, Anally. "Oh, there's no hurry: I have nothing to do for a while," the reporter answered, an-swered, yawning. Things were thus at a deadlock, the Chamberlain watching Lee, Lee watching watch-ing tho Chamberlain and tho reporter watching both, and all three with one eye on the glazed door, when a man entered en-tered the billiard parlors from tho rear. He had, red hair. As he reached Lee's chair he tapped that person on the back twice. "Well. Gummy, what's doing?" he asked, inspecting the two others. "Plenty," Lee. replied. "Here's a reporter re-porter has got hold of the story of my wife's Insanity already, and I hud to give him the details." "Ohi" said Tom Parrlsh, "and our little friend In tho Incredible regalia here?" "He seems to be equally inquisitive," said Lee. "You seem to take your wife's trouble rather calmly," the reporter remarked, chewing his cigar. "Gummy Leo Is a Briton, my friend and scribe," said Tom Parrlsh, "and he prides himself on never having been surprised but once In his life. That was when he was taken for an American at the Moulin Rouge." "You fellows are all right Tho only trouble with Mr. Lee Is that he shorts too many ptwudonyms. Lost I heard of him his name was Parker." The reporter re-porter awaited a reply, with his arms folded. 'Tom Parrlsh grinned. "By Jove. Gum- ' my, I didn't know you had that much Imagination. I am positively proud of you. What was the fairy tale?" "Never mind, It didn't fool me a little bit," said the reporter. "Only I've found that a man with several names to spare usually has a good story up his sleeve, and I want 11." The Chamberlain had come to the conclusion that Miss Almerlc, if she had been In the house, was now safely away, and he rose to go. "I hope I'll meet you again, Mr. Lee," he said, giving giv-ing that man a meaning look. Then he left to find the Queen. The reporter, howevt-r, not knowing the tenor of Isyl's communication to tho Chamberlain, preferred to wait and watch the two friends, for he had transferred trans-ferred his suspicions to the Briton. lie began, therefon to talk volubly. In the desire to ingratiate hlinpclf with these men, and, if possible by patient waiting to wittiest) the development of the situation. situa-tion. Something, he was sure, had happened hap-pened In that building, or who about to happen, or they would not remain.. He watched the retreating form of the Chamberlain with a smile. "Funny how some men like dress." he remarked. "It's natural for women to want to light themselves up, hut when a man gets tho clothes habit there's generally gen-erally a rcrew loose somewhere. Vanity Van-ity doesn't account for It. There's been a great deal of cjlsreusslon In the papers about whether women drew? for women or for men. It's my opinion they dress for themselves. But when a man begins be-gins to watch the fashion tips, he does it with malice aforethought. It reminds re-minds me of a rather queer example of that I ran across In San Francisco once." Ills two auditors manifested a mild curiosity to hear tlif narrative, and he succeeded In delaying them for a quarter quar-ter of an hour with the story of "The Matinee Parade, or Love's Sartorial." There was a chap In Snn Francisco named Timothy Cobb. He worked In a chandelier factory on Mission street ao a brass spinner, and he wa a good one, too. He was as ordinary and as harm-Icsk harm-Icsk a guy as any workman In the shop until he began to read tho clothing store ads In the newspapers and then he emerged from the chrysalis and became a wonder. It came about this way: livery city, more or less, has its pet particular show, where you go to see and bo seen. There's the church parade in Hyde Park Sunday mornings, and the Broadway Rlalto In New York, for Instance. In-stance. But the pride and the Joy and the glory and the boast of middle-class; San Francisco Is the matinee parade every Saturday afternoon from 1:30 to C down Market street from Powell, and up Kearney street o tBuoh. and back again Here's where you find out what San Francisco women look like when they have their war paint on, and what the cheap sports about town think of 'em. It's ns good a show of beauty and Impertinence and vanity and clothes ns you can And on the continent of North America, and it Isn't Waif appreciated, except by the loafers that hang up in front of the cigar shops on the line of march. Now when the Brass-Workers' union succeeded In getting Saturday afternoon after-noon ofl, Tim Cobb began to haunt the parade and pick favorites in the beauty contest, like the rest of the rounders. He had, like a good many San Fran- ; cIsco boys who have never been out of the State, an Idet. that the visible axis of the universe stuck out at Lotta's fountain, at tho corner of Market and Kearney, and his highest ambition at that time was to have a room over the dentist's oflice at the Geary street gore, and see life out of his window, night and day, as It Is lived In tho giddiest town in the United States. Now, about this time there was a girl who carried off all the honors In tho parade by universal consent. She was tho limit In feminine apparel, and a looker, with a figure Into the bargain. She was the wlthout-which-ls-noth-Ing of the show, the blue ribbon entry of the parade, and so well known to the cigar stand loafers and tho curbstone rubbers that they called her "The Latest." La-test." The women that passed her In the line would stare over their shoulders shoul-ders for ns long as she was In sight, looking her up and down and making mental memoranda of her outfit, the way women will. She always walked alone and never looked right nor left, The very newest things In female'togs always came out on "The Latest" before be-fore any other woman had so much as a chance. If the fashion notes said big hats were coming In, she'd appear next Saturday In tho biggest one on the street. If sleeves grew littler, she'd beat any girl In the parade, and, in fact, most of the time she was about two Jumps ahead of the first authentic re-portH re-portH on styles. Y'ou could tell, or a woman wo-man could, by looking at her on Saturday Satur-day afternoon, just what the women's pages In the Sunday supplements would have pictures of next day. If she didn't eIiow up till late, all the matinee girls , in the procession would wait till she hove in sight before they'd dare to go home. When TlmothJ- saw her, In tho first automobile coat of the season, holding her skirts through the,pocket, the way the Sunday papers told how, he surrendered. surren-dered. Ho went crnzy over that girl, though ho recognized thnt she was way out of ills class, and he began to play for her. Looking himself over In a calm. Impersonal Im-personal way, he came to the conclusion that he couldn't qualify for such a queen as 'The Latest." He'd been wearing wear-ing a rather shiny black diagonal cutaway cut-away and his necktie wns tho come-ensy. come-ensy. ready-made stripe. He decided he'd have to make a brace. Nbw, you know, advertising goes In streaks, one firm trying to beat another. an-other. Sometimes the papers arc full of tobacco ads, and sometimes it's breakfast break-fast mush poems, and sometimes It's furniture Jollies. At this lime the ready-made- clothing shops were splurging splurg-ing big. and the write-ups and pictures road like circus posters. And so Timothy Timo-thy got the tip. The Reager Brothers certainly had an ad writer who could hurl rhetoric. Th- firm wan then pushing push-ing an overcoat called tho Rambler, tho newest thing for swell dressers, for J12.7S. One Blanco at tho parade was enough to show that they were selling 'em fast. Tho Rambler had a nifty little lit-tle diagonal pocket that tipped off the brund, and there was no mistaking It a block away. Every sclf-reepectlng goat in tho line had blown himself for the proper shell. By giving up the theater for next ... j, ll rt 1., weerc ;uiu buuiuiub uh ui iuuuuij Timothy managed to hold out $12.78 on pay day, and at 4 o'clock he wns a thoroughbred tho-roughbred Rambler, as far aa outsldes went, for a long overcoat covers a multitude mul-titude of sartorial sins. But when he looked in the glass he had to acknowledge acknowl-edge that his derby hadn't that catchy flare shown In the windows of tho swell est hatters, and his shoes, bought at a bargain sale, were months behind the proper thing. He almost gave up In despair, but the sight of his inaccessible inaccessi-ble queen In a plaid tunic made him determine de-termine to be worthy of her. That week he took up Reager Brothers' Broth-ers' section of the paper, and he read an argument something like this: "Why not get one of our snappy, dashing Blackenwhlte effects? A brisk, iityllsh, cleverly-tailored suit for $9C6! It has a hang and a swing to It, a set and a go about it that satisfies the smartest dressers In town. It has the broad-shouldered cut, nnd the wide-rollcd-lapel rovers that are the rage this season. Modeled on tho most exclusive lines of the latest mode, and built of the sauciest suitings, finished with style by artists In every particular. Only 9.6C while they last, and It won't be long!" Timothy bought a Blackenwhlte effect ef-fect next Saturday, and had but twelve cents left. He borrowed from a chap In the shop and contemplated his queen at a respectful distance. But alas! "The Rambler" had now been superseded super-seded by tho "Beau Brummel" spring topper overcoat, with four pockets and buttons. Moreover, his hat and shoos were anachronistic. The swell dressers dress-ers were buying Alpines with Panama rolls, and for footwear the popular choice of tho real-thing sports was the opera-toed oak tan bluchers. Timothy now began to work In the factory as he had never worked before. Inspired by the desire to gain worship In the eyes of the "Latest." he became a llend at the turning lathe. He worked during noori hours, ho worked overtime at night, in spite of all the rules of the Brassworkors' union. He went without cigarettes, and he walked back and forth from tho factory. He left his boarding-house, took a hall bedroom and ate at a Japanese restaurant. But he could never quite keep up with the styles. He sold his "Rambler" to a second-hand clothing dealer for $3.50 and bought a "Beau Brummel" topper. Just then the "Blackenwhlte effects" gave vay to the reign of "Scotch i greens," nnd a suit of this popular and j modish worsted cost him S13.-10. He ) achieved opera toes just as the fashion changed to "Walkabout" heels, and ills . lato Imitation Panama roll for $2.13 appeared ap-peared just as the parade donned the "Florodora" pearl felt headpieces with out bands or ribbon. Meanwhile, llv queen of his desire walked alone.gownef i In "Tho Latest" bell skirt with military blouse and raglan, remote from possibility, possi-bility, lie followed her, dumbly paying her homage. Once, iu a tit of ambition consequent upon a purchase of a buff canvqs waistcoat, he ventured to nod to her. He was not quite sure whether or not she answered the salute. But Timothy's zeal at the factory was not unnoticed. His devotion and Industry Indus-try soon caused him to bo promoted to a stock clerk and assistant foreman, and his salary was increased by $7 weekly. Every cent of It went into the till of Reager Brothers. He was now almost able to keep up with the latest novelties In dress, and every Saturday he had a talk with one ( of Reagcr's salesmen to obtain the first tip on new Importations. He still lived in the hall bedroom and dined at the Japanese restaurant, but the dazzling prospect of being the best dressed man In the Saturday afternoon parade seemed near at hand. Ho was made foreman of the shop, with another raise of salary, -and then he began to welter In clothes. Ho had a fine contempt, by this time, for tailor-made raiment. You never saw-tailors' saw-tailors' advertlHomonts In the Sunday papers how could one tell what was what If you went to an obscure shop without a show window and were secretly se-cretly measured for a aultV Every ono who read the papers knew that Reager Brothers were "world beaters for overcoats," over-coats," that they employed only tho highest priced union labor, and handled han-dled only tho most exclusive designs. Their tas In the neckband of a suit made that suit absolutely correct. He was pointed out now by the lookers-on at the parade as one of the stars. Ho began to be a bit orlglnnl, selecting ties a shade different from those tho Reagcrs showed In their coses, and. to his delight, his choice was copied. Girls would smile at him and whisper as he went by. And then, to make his success assured, "The Latest" began bowing to him regularly as she passed him. But both still walked alono. He dreamed of her when he slept, but even yet he dared not actually address her. One day while he was. as usual, In Jumper and overalls, helping an apprentice ap-prentice at the lathe, the epeaklng tube whistled and word was called up that a woman was coming upstairs to pick out a chandelier In the stockroom. He met her at tho elevator and wilted with mortification. It was "The Latest." She was all smiles and good graces, and never seemed to notice his greasy working clothes, and he managed to find the chandelier she wished, hardly daring dar-ing to look her In the eye. she who was the ideal of his wildest fancies, the' stylish fashion plate of the matinee parade. pa-rade. She fpoke to him as to an old friend, even as to an equal, and to his surprise, handed him a card when she left and asked him to call on her. He read the Inscription, "Miss Gerty Baggo. 200C O'Farrell street," in a d.ozet and he resolved to call on her that very night, to remove the loathsome Impression Impres-sion that he knew his overalls had made on her. He went to his room, and looked over his clothes as a general inspects his battalions. He selected first one of his refined shirtings and adjusted to It a nobby collar of the exact height recommended recom-mended that week by the favorite haberdasher. hab-erdasher. This he garnished with a tie described In the show window of the same shop as "ultramondalnc," He drew his trousers from beneath the mattress, where they had been pressing, press-ing, he picked out one of five fancy waistcoats, and donned a Reager coat, cut with the latest round hip effect. Then he sallied forth, a bit uncertain still as to his attire. He could not be qutyc sure that his forty-eight-cent pin dotted openwork black hose had not been superseded since Saturday. He called at 2006 O'Farrell street and was shown Into the boardlng-houBO parlor by the landlady. She took his printed card and soon returned, saying that Miss Baggo would be right down. This gave Tim Cobb time for a awlft look Into the mirror over tho mantel. Then he arranged himself as gracefully as possible upon a sofa, stretched the creaee in his trousers tight, ran his hand across his hair, and pulled down his cuffs so that they showed about three-quarters of an Inch of Imported fancy twilled madrae. Miss Baggo came at last. Timothy, giving her time for an ImpresBion before be-fore he rose, greeted her In undisguised amazement. She wore an old gray wrapper; her hair was in kid curl papers; her feet were incased in red knit worsted sllp- pcrs. It is very much toiT'i ' credit that ho still though t hi' V, W ful. His queen could d0S noS V "How do do." she said ' !A "Why I thought, of coSS t T your old clothes! Why dkhVtV5 1 J Timothy was speechleS V went on, aa she seated ntS tt'i fc' him like an old friend: r,elt m I Just do get ao tlrd of s . dress up; it's a relief to bo ahU?nr what I please. In any wmfo5&J it way. and I thought yotff l L Tomorrow Stitcher & BattTL' ff new fall styles, and they'll nl ' than ever. I'm awfully 8ck oMvttW?' aren't you?" otkW Ho was Btarlng at her In a i she stopped and looked at hiJ?' 6Jfr "Why!" she said. "I havK. It4 mistake, have I? Don't yXiJS the Reager Brothers? I thn? I-'8 course they hired you!" "QD3Jit qmfa |