OCR Text |
Show 1 HER LAST CALL. mk BY KEITH GORDON. Copyright, 1W, by Mary McKeon.) J T'S THE LAST call for ilk I dinner in the dining-car, my '95 I dear girl," said Jcrrold, ndjust-J-5 5 ing his speech to their, surround-j surround-j 5 with c somewhat grim humor. . 3 'ill you. or will you not, undertake- love, honor and obey my unworthy tfjuntll 0:1? of the D's-preferably dh-dlvldcs us? Because," he Ted, thoughtfully, "If: the third A Je I've asked you, and -I make it a s int.-iwwr.lo ask any..w.oman more ,jj in thrc-fc times!" ft "Any woman'" she gasped, .the color ifc m inl "er cn?eks and I,er pTes f Skiing '"any woman!- So I am" ;t ilie slopped m abruptly that Jerrold Jsjcomlcally reminded of a fractious 'I ffit l:or?c he had once owned which W! terminate a mad run with the Jj me abruptness, planting his fore-;f fore-;f as rigidly as pokers. At last he ijtouchfd a responsive chord. W JIou were about to remark?'.' he . raplcd Invitingly Ethel Pixley, her E j? the picture of annoyance, expe-i expe-i Ewd a sharp shock at her own heat. 'f Bnce .he had refused him twice and il every intention of doing ?o again, r in h realized the Inconsistency of ; Cjtiulck resentment. She did not love -. B-ot course not; and yet well one ,1 isn't like to think of a rejected suitor i shaving offered himaelf to other light I ask just where I occur. In series! ' she inquired at last, in a whosv exaggerated Indifference ,Wi f 'soothing to Jerrold as the heat 'ft a moment before had been. 'J, Vt Kttled hlnjself more comfortably A his chair, wheeled it about so that :L Jprainanded that view of her profile f n lie had como to regard as one- of j ilKOlH Jojs of a tleetlng cxintcnee, jj answered her with cheerful rcaJi- ' feu are the fourth," he announced Swalejsly, and at the words her eyes Woinlo lus again Involuntarily, and .Oicame lost In a great contentment. h K1V she refused hint i?o differently. ui ?as: 'irou. ace, I don't love, you in uj 4 way, though I want you for a & f-sd. Somewhere there is a nice Sj wailing for you and we'll" find her 0 SWwr 1 Jurtold gloated inwardly at allies' In which the tables had turned llrA?'011 at hi3 own stupidity. TL,E1L a 1,vel' ensc of fellowship . wo,'ni tiiat turne.d flowing In J B' pw After months of iLbieclness. IK,D8lw with the consciousness that SBfard v.as hlnuf again, and no HmTu 1 mn raa(1 weakly Indulgent im ve In 1,10 HuUerint; fJc her jpvms he could read the anger and ipftnimtnt that was surging through m he ound the lGhL cxhllarat- B- Phe was In sad need of yubjugct-, yubjugct-, m this Katherine of his, and he ap-Jlr1 ap-Jlr1 1 lusclf to the task with a keener IK h& natl fcver bt'fore c-xpe-'J.Kv) " Thei, Ava3 3ust a hint of 'M'ffl. h hie tone wlien next he ad-iBJMc ad-iBJMc her. 5Lcour80'" 1,e continued,' a3 if the winutes of tense alienee that hnd Mja since hi last remark iviui tl'e i K. JIU,'11 t'(? in the world, "it itKhtnl re,y AVlth 'ou whether 'to be tl n. '' 'fonchided' ishalbbe wrlt-.,lini. wrlt-.,lini. .A'11" Ult? rourth chapter." SlKvJW'teration of his speech was' SBfcnfi' and lnt" darkening landscape aE?.,Mai t0 abHOrb a11 of Mlt 8Eiit,,lUciU,on- She turned toward 'Kwni Cin,cred croaui-e. Prepared .tfK LJ,ut;lt tne Presslon of his jBeath fl? eu,'u uched her heart. MtLi 1 h "oncholauce ?lte had ex-rVjKfJ? ex-rVjKfJ? d!E,iov so Blgn of feel--tm Indication of the vatm-ns-fcthfr thrit hnd looked plSln-Kh,h',(yM,on plSln-Kh,h',(yM,on othcr occasions ne had Hpoken of his love. 'Sr.0, with a certain amount iB n ,nLlll,lulBcnce unon the ,iijr8f willful child. n',in5tantiy feU as if she wore a ticallv oV0,rld lh0l,Bh she clutched WrdoJli il h?.r 00:5ln dignity. -WlD WohhOW you dare talk to W -tta im ,ulcantto crush n,,n-T.ijl- wa ni aL .tho oatencq js-pji Jost, ft1- for, instead of returning to the ..worm form again as by every token he should have done he-simply burst into an amused laugh. "I didn't know that it was bad form to keep on trying," he explained, with assumed contrition. "Surely now, if you would be. cruel and foolish enough to disregard the- last call, you wouldn't, expect me never to look at nnother girl? To me. at present, you seem the ,one -woman In the world. If you elect to remain so, 'I shall indeed be honored. hon-ored. If not-: " An expressive shrug, a glance at once, tender and mocking, finished the sentence, and Ethel felt as if something some-thing that 'she had never appreciated was slipping away from her just aa she was learning to value it. The rhythmic rumbling of the wheels, the whirling lights outside where the dusk had deepened into velvety blackness, black-ness, the ehcei-ful brightness of the car, all seemed unreal. She had boarded the train at Jersey City like a queen with a faithful, humble hum-ble servant in low. a servant whom, In her heart of heart?, phe valued, but of whore devotion she was so sure that her estimate of him was disparaging "You ar tho fourth," he announced. for that very reason. And now two hours later everything had changed! ISven now, out of the tail of his eye, phe could see that he was regarding the handsome, well-set head of a. girl who occupied a chair a few rows ahead of them, willi the interest of. a man who realizes that you never know when or how you may meet Her! For the time being, he actually seemed to have forgotten her royal -self completely. com-pletely. It was all very' well to pretend to give her the choice allowing her to abdicate, as It were. In reality, she was convinced that she waH dethroned. "Handsome girl up there, isn't it V" he observed with enthusiasm, turning toward her at last with the furtively apologetic air of a man who has momentarily mo-mentarily forgotten himself, "So well ml up! Look at those shoulders and the poise of that head! , Regular Juno!" JSlhel Pixley assented stiffly. "You have not always admired that lypc, though," she added,- defiantly. "You used to say you thought girls like that masculine." "Wliat a blind Idiot I must have been," was the placid rejoinder, "and how one's -standard of feminine beauty changes " "From chapter to chapter," she finished fin-ished varcaKllcally; and nrVthe look of hot scorn that accompanied the words he had a gloating Idea that the day was won. At this juncture a picturesque figure appeared at the end of the car, above whose snowy garments a head that looked as if it were finely turned bronze rose superbly. "Last call-for dinner in the. dlnlng-car," dlnlng-car," called a ' musical , voice, as he lounged dowit the "aisle with the gait of a mau who has his Dip,' logs on. "Dinner now ready in the diDing-car." There was a brif pause when he passed them and disappeared at the other end of the car, but his voice floated back to them, barely . audible above the rumble of the wheels, and freighted with a lingering ominous warning. "Last call." A strange thrill ran through Ethel Pixley, and she turned toward the man beside her. It was only by an effort that alio kept from holding out her hands to him. His face was grave almost to stornness, and under Ills masterful mas-terful glance her own eyes fell and she wondered in a sort of desperation despera-tion whether, her lips; were quivering. "As he says, Ethel, it's tho last call, and I'm waiting for your answer." Her only Teply was a swift uplifting uplift-ing of the eyes that he remembered lor years afterward as the sweetest thing he had ever witnessed in the way of April showers, and later on, when they had responded-to the last call for dinner, din-ner, the waiter wondered -xnd chuckled too, as he tucked Into his pocket the crisp 52 bill thai he received as his share of the spoils. |