| Show aruch A ith I 1 C H GIRLS WHIM by FRANK H SWEET C copyright 1903 by dully daily story publishing Corn company pany I 1 11 there had been an abundance of space on the through train from new lork so when after two days stop at st augustine mabel waring con dinue I 1 her journey toward palm beach bhe she neglected her customary tion of securing P seat in advance so with the folds of her dainty trai eling skirt held gingerly between her gloved fingers mabel waring li 13 one of the common cars and bovea domn the rows of passengers until near the tar far end a girl made room for her the man and woman in the seat opposite and the woman ahead might be like herself without a choice in the matter and that nice old man with the white hair and the tall young man on the end seat who she dropped her gaze quickly and turned with heightened color to the girl at her side who all this time had been watching and wait malt ng with eager wistful recognition in her eyes 41 h miss waring she whispered 1 I 1 saw you on the platform and was hoping I 1 might get a chance to thank ayou you for that delightful trip last sum mer I 1 haven t been able to see you since why yes to be sure how stupid of me and in mabel a expressive face was as now a quick interest which atoned for her former lack of recognition I 1 always liked your yourt counter for you seemed so interested in what I 1 bought and so anxious not to mislead yes and the girl girls s eyes sparkled at being so well remembered she married a florida man and went to west palm beach he keeps a store B i I 1 am going there now you see I 1 in 1 not strong enough tor for the confinement of store work so bessie dessle wrote tor for me to come and try to get the public 3 school one of her husband husbands s custom ers Is the trustee and they seem to think I 1 will have a good chance no one has applied for the position yet f that will be nice mabel declared so much better than store work I 1 I 1 think one morning a few days after reach ia f t ing palm beach mabel took out her purse to tip a waiter and was sur to find how mall emall an amount V of money there was left it was odd how money slipped away in a place like this she must have another draft cashed at once her drafts were made in amounts ot of one hundred dollars each for conven lence fence and were kept in a small leath er case among her stationery she opened the trunk and reached in con fi dently then as her hand did not come in contact with the case raised the trunk lid higher and made a more careful search but the case d d not reveal itself and from the stationer y ehe she began a hurried examination of tha th entire contents of the trunk and then wont went to another trunk and another and repeated the process but dut it was no usa us and at last she rose roe and went to a window which overlooked the sea perplexed and annoyed what had become of the drafts she had cashed one at st augustine she re and then why yes gainly she had gone directly to her 4 room from the office of course she bad returned the case to its usual us u al place had it been stolen she m made ade 4 ja quick gesture of dissent at the thought no she would not believe that it was mas only her carelessness carel eRsness but it was gone that was the main point now novi what was she to do doa her uncle had started for europe and she would not even enen kev his address tor for another two weeks it would be a month or more before the drafts could be replaced of course she could go to the hotel manager and explain the situation to him but that would be humiliating and besides there were the little every day expenses of boats and curiosity stores and magazine ZIA she began a hurried elamin examination of the entire contents of the trunk counters she did not even have the money tor for them halt half an hour later as she was walk ins ing thoughtfully down the avenue she almost ran into the arms of a young girl who was hurrying from the appo eite site direction oh I 1 beg your pardon miss war ing apologized the new comer laugh ing I 1 was thinking so was I 1 mabel anam answered ered then why lucy how bright you look that school has become an assured tact fact I 1 suppose supposed 7 no indeed with a wry grimace the trustee told me I 1 wan t quite competent lucky tor for me though for the hotel manager has offered me Q position at five dollars a month more than I 1 would receive as school teach er has any one else been engaged she asked for t e school no not yet looking at ler curion v do you know of ana an one onea th trustee said he was puzzled who to get do you I 1 would mould lucy stared pursing her ups lips as though to whistle then her lips straightened and quivered in a vain attempt to keep from laughing yes I 1 think you would mould she in at length controlling her vo ce with a visible effort excuse me mabel interrupted hur I 1 want to see about the position before there are other aepli cants good bye when mabel returned to the hotel a few hours later she met lucy in ila one of the halls hails a dusting brush in her hand and a tiny white service cap rest ing demurely upon her brown curls did you get the position miss war ing she asked striving to keep her face straight les mabel answered and thanh thank you very much for giving me the in do you think I 1 would suit formation lucy I 1 commence work monday week after a eek eel went by and mabel still remained at the hotel going across to her school every morning and returning at night there could ue oe bit it one conclusion it was a rich girls girl s freak nothing else would ex plain a primary schoolteacher school teacher receil ing thirty dollars a month stopping at a hotel that charged f five ive dollars a day and this was the conclusion of the others also for by this time every one knew of mabel a occupation but perhaps the most curious tea fea ture of it all was that mabel never once thought of the inconsistency of a working girl staying at a place like the breakers the climax came one day when the clerk handed her a letter from berlin it was from her uncle and after a brief account of his stated that he had arranged for a trip around the world to be gone a year it would scarcely be worth while tor for her to write as his address would al was wads be uncertain she would better remain in florida until spring and then go to the hotel in new york where they usually stopped and where he would loin join her on his return the letter concluded with the statement that he was glad he had furnished her so abundantly with money she would have plenty for all possible con t ligen cies cles for the first time she began to go over the details of her situation it was now the last week in january she had been here twenty five days and that made one hundred and awen ty five dollars due the hotel she wondered how much more than that her salary would be quite a deal she hoped tor for she was beginning to feel the need of many little things and besides she wanted to buy presents for all her school children lucy came to the door in search of a truant child and mabel motioned for her to approach do y you u know how much salary the school pays she asked lucy laughed f thought the money part didn dian t ap peal to you youa she answered that was the first thing I 1 inquired about the primary teacher gets thirty dollars a month and then she hurried away to the child who was laughing at her from the hall mabel sat rigid for a moment then she arose and crossed to the elevator the manager was in the office but she did not glance toward him nor to ward any of the guests somehow she felt that she had no right here ere now once in her room she opened her trunks and methodically began to take out and examine their contents her eyes mere a clear now and her lips firm these things mus t pay her debt and provide for her until rhe could draw the school salary he would send them to jacksonville or perhaps to new york it did not mat ter they would probably bring but a trifle of their real value at either place but still they had cost a great deal and would yield enough to free her from debt she ought to have known in the first place that a school teacher could not afford living like this at length from the very bottom ot of a trunk she tool out and unfolded a plain serge of all her outfit it was the one article which showed 81 iliahu ilia Ju taxable kigns ot of wear 13 t it ra a been a favor te gown and was ci en I 1 and for abe reasons hd h d nei ne t brought along for boatic edd id t ei rough usage th fatt tire vire q lie hac worn t had been on a t I 1 fro n t augu Augut tine lne to well uell it m v 9 just what she needed now nd lid she aie was about to place it on the small i in vi ben hen he felt son ething in one ot il ti P pockets mechanically alp al I 1 p took it 0 t and then with a low cry apran to I 1 ft et it was the leather ca e con ain ing her drafts |
