Show the girs who came back Q Q Q by jack woodford Q Q Q W N U service THE influenced by loneliness without relatives or real friends in chicago lillta forbes young and pretty yields to the importunities tuni ties of harvey torrence with whom she accles herself in love she discovers his true character charac tei and leaves him taking refuge with an acquaintance gertrude watson lillta Is accosted by the son of the wealthy owner of the apartments fred watterson she repulses his advances but he in elsts on driving her to the store on the estreet torrence Is waiting he puts the worst construction on lillta s being with wat terson and the two men engage in a battle in which tor rence Is killed lillta spends a night of misery in a police cell she informs her father by wire of her situation but be answers that be never wants to see her face again next morning the judge at the instigation of a lawyer a stranger to lillta dismisses the case CHAPTER ill continued amazed lillta examined the en delope which the note bad come in there was nothing upon it to indicate from whence it had come there was no signature nothing upon either paper or envelope to identify them by she leaned back in the taxicab tari cab spent exhausted and put everything from her mind for more than a week lillta did nothing but rest and attend to her worrying after that however and nothing worse having happened to her she began to think that perhaps after all she had paid the piper in full avidly she watched the papers dally with a sort of terrified fascination ex each day to see a date set for the hanging of the watterson boy but oddly enough the whole case dropped from sight in a few days everybody seemed 0 o forget all about it and the papers stopped saying any thing at all about it watterson s father not only owned the grantham he owned a lot of other buildings beside finally one day lillta ventured out she had dyed her reddish yellow hair a dark brown and had bought a complete outfit of new clothes and to make assurance doubly sure a pair of hom rimmed glasses with neutral lenses in them which changed her ap bearance pe arance so that she almost felt as though she were looking at a stranger when she looked into the glass she had lost a good deal of pride in her good looks and had come to feel that to be personable was more or less of a drawback the first thing that she did once downtown was to call up gertrude and make an appointment with her for lunch they met to a tearoom where a good many raphers and clerks took their lunch my godt gertrude commented you look like something that a blind cat dragged in I 1 hardly knew you at first you re twenty pounds lighter paler and your hair I 1 why it takes all of the life out of you dyed that way and you look kind of scared sort of kind of scared sort of Is very correct said lillta gravely 1 I have been frightened out of years growth in the wrong direction I 1 shall never forgive myself oh come out of it be yourself what Is there for you to be forgiven lor my goodness U nobody were ever forgiven a ake there be anybody in at all except god and a few scraggly maiden aunts but to think that I 1 caused the death of oh don t think about it you performed a service for humanity at large he waa long overdue dead dont you know that a few years ago a girl that be put on the bummer was found floating around near the allu pier one night and god knows how many more they ha vent found after he got through with them 1 I know that may be true still oh you II 11 get over it girlie where are you living now gertrude looked surprised at this question where am 1 lit ing well where do you suppose id be living iro at the granthan Grant ban only I 1 got a better room and my rent Is paid for life in full Watter sons old man told me to lay off the reporters and I 1 evet have to pay any more rent as long aa I 1 llred I 1 mada him put it in writing lillta looked disapprovingly at her adt gertrude merely laughed and ther added dont think the old man was s broken up cither say that kid caused him more trouble than a harem full ol 01 fire bundred wives could lie was glad of the necessity tor packing aln on to europe but lira Wat tereon any mra watterson they were divorced acara ago an ehe dead for some moments the J sal sat silently listening to the pianist somewhat sketchy rendition ot and flowers tell me said lillta suddenly re did some mau come anc talk to you while I 1 was in the station asking you things about me and some man dear G d girl 11 seems to me that aery policeman reporter and plain citizen in the whole city ot chicago did I 1 never talked so much in my life but did one of them ask you about my ambitions oh yes said gertrude suddenly remembering she stopped to light a cigarette teh there was that one guy who was different from the rest remember him awful well because he was the only one who belleek bel leed aliat I 1 said when I 1 opened up and told him the truth in tact be was the only oue that I 1 did give the inside dope to there was something about him dlf terent sod like 1 bulka him along about how you was going to go to school and ever thing when you got out of the mess and he got right happy oer that lies paid my room rent ghen me some money and in fact even paid i years tuition for me at the south western university confided I 1 eltta biot bogl was gertrudes enthusiastic comment oh course I 1 can t accept it oh h h lord 1 you make me sick why listen this guy Is right I 1 got the feeling somehow that he would why certainly I 1 mean that you could have been as interested in you it you were a boy ue aln t the usual kind take it from me chy bes acol the grayest gra iest saddest nicest eyes I 1 eer aw in my life don t think for one instant eliat hes got intentions I 1 don t see bow you could possibly think anything like that after seeing him but I 1 seen him ue sent me an unsigned letter by a lawyer ive seen nothing of him well im here to tell you that it you don do like he wants you to you ought to be shot why he good G d P gertrude broke off and stared across the room there he Is where cut in lollia there I 1 gertrude pointed forgetful of manners lillta saw a kindly looking man ol 01 perhaps forty or forty ih e rising from a table for a second his eyes which were gray rested upon hers then tie turned bis back toward her walked to the cashier s desk paid his check and withdrew she saw as he put on bis hat that his hair was gracing at the temples instantly she knew what gertrude meant by saying that he had no intentions at least he could hav none in the sense that gertrude beani it and furthermore she waa con of a pleasing sense of faill larley somehow she felt that she had peen him before known him at some time or other and yet too she was perfectly certain that she had not it was one of those feelings that come to all of us at times which lead us a little to believe that we have ched in some former life aln t be a nice old chap ald gertrude enthusiastically 1 I dont think hes so old returned lillta softly and he certainly Is nice im ashamed to have expected him of ulterior motives still it does seem impossible to accept bis aid without knowing exactly why it Is given ft hat beems impossible about it gertrude asked in great puzzlement lillta sighed you understand dear well I 1 expect its about time for you to be getting back ITI t it G d yes I 1 commented gertrude and rose hurriedly she reached for her coat but a young man got it first may I 1 help you on with it my dear he eald politely certainly smiled gertrude lie helped her put on her coat you give a fellow your telephone number would you he next asked certainly said gertrude ita ard more thanks he commented significant ly as they walked off lillta noticed that be bud paid no attention what to her she remembered her glasses and congratulated herself that she had been able to put an end to the good looks that uni ally caused men to stop and turn upon the street to look at her at least she was glad that she had put an end to them temporarily a gladness which she would perhaps not have felt had they been permanent ly gone kiy do you give men your phone number so casually certrude dear lillta said boatly re mans I 1 do i wish change a little kuure sian i a darn good kid down underneath the trouble 1 my dear ger trude brightly that you re the only one who has ever troubled to look down underneath so the use nd besides I 1 give him my telephone number 1 gave him some blodys alses telephone number god knows who seand I 1 liepe whoever it Is they 11 have him arrested when he calls up its the easiest way to get rid of birds like that lillta laughed when gertrude had hurried off back to the store lillta walked slowly along thinking she had not intended to go near southwestern university she had intended to get another alon and save her money so that she could repay the kind stronger but now that she had seen him she felt entirely different she speculated upon the tact of how a persons face molded and shaped by the lion of thoughts that they had been in the habit of having through the years was almost invariably an outward in dt catlon of the person illde whom the world Is not supposed to see and yet almost invariably knows she un consciously raised her hand to her face by the thought that per baas it was beginning to be marked unmistakably by her inner self she firmly resolved to see that the mark ings hereafter would be such aa she would want the world to see after all there was no hiding anything un pleasant and the mans eyes bad been so kindly and withal so disappointed for had be not aked her to refrain from further association with gertrude now he must have felt upon noting that lier only reaction to his kindness and help was a failure to observe a very slight wish that he had expressed she resolved to ati least please him by going to south western university and talking with the registrar it was the least that she could do at the registrar s upstairs she was greeted by a lovely girt who looked very young had wavy chestnut hair hazel eyes and a delightful man ner of speaking correctly without seeming to make any effort to do so ont you sit down invited the girl pleasantly lillta rat down in the little office beleny she related what her aduca tlona background had been well the girl began slowly when she had finished since you have noth ing beyond high school credits you could hardly take the regular four years credit course without a good deal of preliminary work still she leaned forward as though talking con to nn old friend 1 I wouldn t worry about that if I 1 were you if tou were to attend school here taking special courses I 1 think you would get everything you wanted butof it im not the registrar lies away today I 1 m his secretary but perhaps I 1 can advise sou I 1 often do help people select their courses there are sev eral things you might take up she turned and looked off out of the win dow a moment aly dear she went on turning back sud denly perhaps it la perfectly eally of me but I 1 have an idea that you could write if you cared to take up a line of study consistent with that general subject find it absorbing do you really mean that I 1 could ever make my living as a short story writer why certainly 1 mean that you could A great many girls have taken the short story class here and subsequently been able to support them dehes after a time by their writings you are it you will pardon my caryln so the subjective type that Is you are mental a misleading use 0 tha term I 1 know aa opposed to dynamic or at leist that Is my thought my I 1 reaction to you I 1 TO BE CONTINUED |