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Show t- - - i:::;Kt:uitt:mmjntttu:mmttt:tt 1 t I J f The Turquoise ! i J Frame Oy JESSIE DOUGLAS 1 6 , umttmmrmmmtttmuummmim:: ' 4, itt b McClure Newspspcr SyndlcutB ' VMlc tut cl seen lilm n numlicr of I, t, . u lieciirc he spoke to her. Hut nt I , si, meeting lilm on the fourth iniul- r i ! Iiu snl J "Oood-mnriilngJ" utiil i I - ' on iliiwn tliv stnlrH. That was i i he ulwnys did, puss ilu shook her henil portly nml j (... i. -We'll seel" Hut the strange I yvl of It was the man on the lluor he I dm continued to' speak when he saw lnr nml continued to puss her tiy. V It wns puzzling. She was the pret-ti pret-ti tnit girl that worked In Johnson & ft Hit, lies' olllees. And she knew It. I Aln.i- I without exception every clerk luul iniidu some kind of advance to her. i Khe loiiltl go out every night If she I iiiose, and even old Air. Johnson lilm f M'lf had given her theater tickets. t The girls In the olllce envied her In If tlulr quiet way. She had the palest, flame.it hair, and she "did" It In the must eliihornte style, so that any one - would Imvo stopped to admire Its Intricacies In-tricacies alone. She rouged, of course. I'd Imps a little too much, hut hnhlt (lulls peiccptlon. Her light hluc eyes weie the color of forget-me-nots, tier lushes gold-tipped, hut Nellie Dwlglil saw that they came out Jetty hlae!:. Iler lips were pretty and soft, If f slightly ulded by art. She was pretty, stnilllngly pretty, and she would have . liven a foolish virgin If she had not Known It. There was never the slightest slight-est tlpubt In Nellie's mind about her charm, and she played up to It every hcrnnd of her life. Her blouses were the most elaborate, her stockings the sheet est she could buy. So It was no wonder that she lifted ,r one plucked eyebrow a ti Hie and eyed nskniicc the girl who hnd Just knocked at her bedroom door. According to Nellie's standards, she was woise than plain, a regular old imild. not a hit of makeup, and her blouse, of Irreproachable cut. was opaque. Iler hair, ft was true, had n beautiful luster, but It was arranged bit simply that anyone could have done It If she had time ami patience. "I beg your pardon," the girl nt the dour said, "I realize It's rather queer of me, but my brother and I have seen you so often on the stnlrs Hint I almost feel I know you I I'm going nwny for two weeks and I'd Ue grateful If you'd keep this picture for mo." She held out a picture In a turquoise frame and Nellie, without looking nt It, laid It on her bureau and answered, "Olad to, I'm sure " and then con-Untied con-Untied to rouge her other check with the greatest nonchalance. Nellie did not really bother to look si the picture until she came In from the movies that night. She saw that It was u photograph of n low stone house, Ivy-girdled, with a charming view of garden and woodland behind, and she guessed shrewdly that It was the girl's home. The little frame bf oddly rut Mat turquoise was fnsclnnt-lug fnsclnnt-lug In Itself; and then she realized with n shock the girl had said, "Iler brother." Why, thut must mean the man on the stairs I Nelllo put the fnune In the center of her bureau and eyed It with fresh Intel In-tel est. Hut something was tl e matter. It didn't seem si..iehow to go with her bright pink bureau set nor with the j in tldclitt geranium that she had stuck In her hatpin holder. Slowly she removed the geranium and still studied the cited. Something Some-thing was still wrong. Sho had decided to buy herself one of those new green hnlr oinmaents, hut that noon she found hwelf In- it) Head nt the lollel goods' counter. That Ivory set wou.1l go well with the tur- . quolsc frnmu she hesitated and then " plunged nnd she found herself wnlf- i lag for the five o'clock whistle. It did go welll Somehow the tur-qiiolHe tur-qiiolHe frame seemed to rest against thai creamy background, and Nellie, ejelng the bureau erltcally, realized il ' that something still was the matter. , Tlio Imitation hire cover, with the pink sateen uuderbndy, struck u wrong j note. f II was queer what happened in the next week; first Nellie had to get a HiiPij cover to suit her bureau. Instead of tlio green slipper buckles sho hud been counting on. "Then heV keen eye saw the bureau stood out like an U'aial In her tawdry room. The pic-tires pic-tires on the wall soinchnw did not HI! that calendar with the bnckjeyei cherub thht 4 advertised John mid Huglcs. the I'lirtuiiit of roses nnd in-shs in-shs Unit wns so gaily colored, seemed t hurl the quiet bureau. She took .. down her pictures. Hut now (he room V t was too qulel. ? Another noon found her purchasing '.' I 1 1 luiz with quaint pink blossoms on a j ' cieam ground, nnd when she hnl made I a tin lain for her window nuo some 0 j riiMliniin for her couch, even n back I fr her wicker chair, she glanced bur- rh'dl ,ver at the turquoise frnme. 'I he right keynote hod been struck. Now It looked as though 'It belonged '" .She gave n pleased sigh of self- I kniiHfifction and went over to the p hurra u to look In nt her pretty face. I Sin could see reflected as well, her f fofi gray walls with Its gar back. Btnr-I Btnr-I lug still at herself It almost aeetaed y "8 though shtt( did, potf-.tielopg n.1 ij though, she continued 'to look tin. ul 2 her smitrlscd, pretty face with the tco-plnk cJieeks. VVtiafC w'ns'the matter with herself? Wasn't she Just na pretty as alio had 6lwiiaibwnt-ssliF looked Ions arid resentfully re-sentfully about tier; something was V either the matter with the room or with Imr; and It couldn't be with her. Suddenly sho snw It. Sho did not belong be-long with the room, the room needed n quiet person like the girl with smooth shining hair and the smooth pale cheeks. Lnughlng n little, Nelllo ran the water Into her basin nnd dashed oIT the rouge on her face, and then slow-') slow-') nnd painstakingly she took out the foity-three hnlr pins that were neces-snry neces-snry .to her hair dress nnd began to put It up very simply very smoothly nbove her white forehead. "What n funny sUht you nrcl" she said making u queer little mote. She Mashed n glance nt the tur. quolse frnme nnd knew Hint npw si e could walk down those stone steps, out Into the hedged garden ns though fcho belonged there. She put on the lllmslest of her lnce blouses and the highest of her Ficnch-heeled sllppeis and looked dellantly at herself. "If you do It nt nil. you've got to do the whole thing I" she pouted. She cnine bnck nn hour later with n white package crushed under her nnn; nnd when she had arrayed herself In the Blmplo heavy silk blouse of tailored cut sho knew she wns n changed be Itip. She couldn't with this puitlcutnr blouse nnd with thee sensible oxfords with their low heels he quite ns port, or as My away as ho had always been. "Th.ere'8 only one thing to do' Nelllo snh savagely, "get rid of that turquoise f ramp I Then I can chuck nil these clothes " On the fourth binding she met again the young man who always passed her by. "I've Just brought bnck your sister's Irmne." she sa'il breathlessly. "I thought you might keep It for her. I thought" The young mnn eyed her with sur-prise, sur-prise, this swell, fresh looking girl with her smooth, juilc cheeksand her charming clothes; he wondered whyl.e had never noticed her before. "I'm sorry, Ingt I don't own the frame, and I haven't any sister," he npologlzed; nnd then, as he saw her eyes widen with dismay, he added, "Ijiit I wish you would do something for me. I'm the loneliest dulTur In New York, mid If you'd let me talk to you now and then " "Hut why" Nellie begun. "Oh, yes; I've seen plenty of girls with their make-up nnd therr nrtf-Miiallty, nrtf-Miiallty, hut no one Hint I've wanted to know until " Nellie Dwlght crushed the turquoise frame ngalnst her heart ns she retributed re-tributed down the hall. "I 1 should like to talk to you now and then," she snld softly. When her own door wns closed Arm-ly Arm-ly nnd sho had enshrined the turquoise frame once more on her bureau she threw It an airy kiss. "You've brought me good luck, nnyhow," she whispered. 'Tunny what a little thing will du." |
