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Show a j "The Rich New i Yorker" By ROSE MEREDITH i " U (Copyright. ) J" UEI.LA FRAYNE was coming ' home after her long-talked-about winter in New York city. She had been staying with her mother's cousin, Mrs. I'eterby, a rich and fashionable woman, who had offered to add the finishing touch to Luella's musical education by sending her to a famous pianist for lessons. And although Luella did not expect to do more than teach piano to the young people of her home town, the fact that she was a pupil of the great Bitnskitoff brought her many requests from anxious mothers moth-ers to register Jane or Jimmy among her prospective pupils. "Goodness, I will be a rich woman !" sighed Luella as she relaxed in delicious de-licious idleness in the chair of the pullman car. She glanced dowu at her smart blue serge frock that Cousin Almira had supplied, as well as the short marten jacket and the small hat which had a crown of gold cloth. Mrs. I'eterby had given her many other pretty things and promised to send her a check to help with her trousseau, trous-seau, for Luella was going to be married mar-ried some day. She was engaged to David Lister, an energetic home-town boy who had built a drug store on the site of the old courthouse and equipped it in the most modern manner. man-ner. Dave was a licensed pharmacist, aud one of the girls, Cissy Wing, had written enthusiastically : "Dave has the most up-to-the-minute drug store iu the county he is earning heaps of money you will never spend ail the money you can make by teaching piano pi-ano everybody in Roseboro will join your class! Poor Maria Barber is heartbroken, Lu ! Says her music class has dwindled to two, so far, neither pupil pays cash poor old soul, she is a good teacher, too remember she trained you so that your Bum-skeeter, Bum-skeeter, or. whatever his name is, said you had been well drilled. Well, we shall all be glad to see you again, and I suppose you are very fashionable fashion-able now and have you seen that rich New Yorker again? I told Dave he looked terribly jealous. Don't mind if we copy all your clothes, do you?" Luella reread the letter, smiling mischievously at the reference to David's Da-vid's jealousy. She had a plan that would open the eyes of Roseboro, and Dave could take it or not as a declaration decla-ration of independence. She had learned a lot of things in New York, among them the delightful fact that she was a very pretty girl. She had met some amusing girls who taught her to smoke, and she had learned golf and to wear knickers on occasions occa-sions without feeling self-conscious. As for David Lister, when she tired of teaching, perhaps they would get married, but there was that nice Mathieson boy in New York who was a millionaire. Just then the train readied the junction, and she saw her father's rusty little car, for Doctor Frayue was quite poor, though he had a large practice prac-tice among the poor. But he was a contented man, and his little family was a happy one. It was an hour after supper in Roseboro, and as the news had gone around that Luella was home, all the young people gathered about Dave Lister's store. Dave had been busy and could only talk to Luella over the telephone, but he was very smiling and happy for she was coming down to the store. He was alone when she arrived. For some reason she had taken a cross-cut and come in the side door, and David was thankful as soon as he saw her Ills face went white and wrathful. Luella Frayne, Luella, clad in white silk blouse aud trim gray tweed knickerbockers, her lovely hair bobbed and on her feet sport hose and impudent impu-dent little tan oxfords. She was smoking a cigarette 1 Hands in her pockets ! She looked expectantly expectant-ly at David. "Well, young fellow, what can I do for you?" snapped out Dave. Luella picked up a soda mug and thumped the counter angrily. "Don't speak to me that way, Dave Lister! You know who I am p-perfectly w-well." "You are the girl who is going to marry the rich New Yorker, I believe," said Dave coldly. "I- was engaged to Doctor Fr::yne's daughter, but she has thrown aside all pretensions to femininity, femi-ninity, and smokes like like a chimney chim-ney !" "You are uot engaged to her now, then?" Luella's voice was small and weak. "Didn't you hear that the rich New Yorker was engaged to another girl and that I only put these on to have a little fun and I shall give them to Bobby and I just hate cigarettes, ciga-rettes, they make me sick !" "But, those?" Luella looked down at the gray tweeds regretfully. "I suppose you wouldn't want your wife to wear these, Dave?" "The girl I usked to marry me didn't look like that, Luella, but you do look us cute as the dickens but, somehow, I just can't like them that pink dress you used to wear, Lu, now that!" "I'm going home, David, by the short cut, and I'll slop and tell Maria Barber Bar-ber that I've decided not to leach music mu-sic because I'm getting married, and I'll tell father that Cousin Amelia is sending him a new closed car, and I'll put on the pink dress, and then " "And then?" he smiled. "You may kiss me!" And then she vanished, and with her went that foolish rumor, the rich New Yorker. |
