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Show 5 S MMHHMHMHMBB'MHHHIHMHMMaHaiH ff I A RICH GIRLS WHIN II 3j llj FUANIC H. SWEET H iff I I t 51 I Copyright. 190 3, by Pally Story Publishing Company U fit, ! '. " jjjj ! Thoro had been an abundance of '111' space on tho through train from Now jl) York, bo whon after two days' stop nt il 'St Augustine, Malicl Waring con- I f tinned her Journey toward Palm Reach I p she neglected her customary prccau- fl tlon of securing p. scat In advance 8 fi So with tho folds of her dainty trav- J ftp cling skirt held gingerly between her j p i gloved fingers, Mabel Waring u- 5f torcd ono of the common cars and j I, t moved down tho rows of passcugors J until, near tho far end, a girl mado I ij f room for her. i Ij s Tho man and woman In tho seat op- B . poslte, and tho woman ahead, might 8 r ha like herself, without a cholco In J H .' tho matter. And thnt nlco old man I M ) with tho white hair, and tho tall young jj J ' man on tho end seat who . Sho j, II j ' dropped her gazo quickly and turned ji m ' with heightened color to tho girl at , pf k.', her side, who all this tlmo had been 11 I watching and waiting with eager, ' u wistful recognition In her eyes. n "Ah, Miss Waring," sho whispered, S "J saw you on tho platform, and was 1 hoping I might get a chanco to thank S. you for that delightful trip last sum- I 8 mcr. I haven't been ablo to sco you I I since." i F J, "Why, yes, to bo sure. How stupid I I j- of me," nnd In Maud's expressive face was now n quick Interest which atoned for her former lnck of recognition, "I li always liked your counter, for you S seemed so Interested In what I bought, i ? and so anxious not to mlsload," J I : "Yes," and the girl's oyes sparkled j f j at being so well remembered, "sho I f married a Florida man and went to f West Palm ncach. Ho keeps a storo. Ir I am going thoro now. You see, I'm Jt not strong enough for the confinement of storo work, so ncsslo wroto for mo 1 to como and try to get tho public ' ' echool. One of her husband's custom-y custom-y crs Is tho trustco, nnd they seem to i think I will lmvo a good chanco. No i ono has applied for tho position yot." J "That will bo nice," Mabel declnrcd, "so much better than storo work, I think." Ono morning, a few days after reach-Ilk, reach-Ilk, lng Palm Deach, Mabel took out her Uj purso to tip a waiter, and was sur-, sur-, Of; prised to And how small nn amount 1 of money thcro was left. It wns odd I' how monoy slipped away In n placo 1. like this. Sho must havo another draft IjS ' cashed at onco. m Her drafts wero mado In amounts of jm ono hundred dollars each, for convon-lip convon-lip lence; and woro kept In a small loathly loath-ly er enso among her stationery. Sho "13 1.' opened the trunk and reached In con-JN con-JN '. JKi fldontly; then, as her hand did not iTl !' como In contact with tho case, raised JM I tho trunk-lid higher and mado a moro Igf careful search. Hut tho enso did not ffif r reveal Itsolf; and from tho statlonc-y IH fho began a hurrlod examination of Vgj ; tho cntlro contents of tho trunk, nnd E then went to another trunk, nnd R ; another, and repeated tho procoss. Dut J8 It wns no use, nnd nt last sho roso nnd p ' went to a window which overlooked Wa tho sea, porplcxed and annoyed. What PI had becomo of tho drafts? Sho had j! f cashed ono at St. Augustine sho ro-ij ro-ij i m momborcd, nnd then why, yes, ocr-Kj ocr-Kj M tnlnly, sho had gono directly to her jj i jf room from tho olllcc. Of course sho S 8 had returned tho rna to Its usual 19 i ffl place. Had It been btolcn? Sho mado Ij l m n quick gesturo of dissent nt tho 1 1 thought. No, sho would not bcllove Bj ' V that. It was only her carelessness. 1 , Dut It was gono; that wns the main ft! ' i B' point. Now what was sho to do? Her M ' w undo had started for Kurope, and sho M f would not oven kio.v his address for m another two weeks. It would bo a I ' m month or moro beforo tho drnfts could j be roplacod. Of courso sho could go i 1 to ttio hotel manager and explain the 1:,1 situation to him; but that would bo 12 ' A humiliating, and, besides, there were Ij V the llttlo every-day expenses of boats " and curiosity stores and magazine LHr I , v. I ufc-" Hf I 1 8he began a hurried examination of HL . fl, the entire contents of the trunk. ft". HI counters. Sho did not oven have the Ur B. money for thorn. Km ifw' "alf an nour ,ator' ns 8'10 was wlk- K" limb lng thoughtfully down the avenue, she K cHo' elmoBt ran into tho arms of a young K IbET''' B'r' wll was hurrying from tho oppo- Pf ral ' elte dlctlon. B' Rm "OK I beg your pardon, MIbs War- K rfffl lng," apologized tho new-comer, laugh- If ' ' , lng, "I was thinking." ' "So was I," Mabel answered. Then, 3fJ ' "Why, Lucy, how bright you lookl :'t That school has become an assured ( ) fact, I Buppose?" 1 ( , "No, Indeed," with a wry grimace, JJ j," "tho trusteo told mo I wasn't quite tr ' competent. Lucky for mo, though, for i j , f the hotel manager has offered me position at flvo dollars a month moro than I would receive as school teacher." teach-er." "Has any one else becu engaged f" sho asked, "For to school? No, not yet," looking at Lcr curiously, "Do you know of any one? The trustee said ho wns puzzled who to get." "Do you thlnU I would suit?" Lucy stared, pursing her lips as though to whlstlo; then her lips straightened and quivered In a vain attompt to keep from laughing. "Yes, I think you would," she answered an-swered at length, controlling her voice with a visible effort. "Excuso me," Mabel Interrupted hurriedly; hur-riedly; "I want to seo about tho position beforo thero are other applicants. appli-cants. Oood-bye." When Mabol returned to tho hotel, a few hours later, sho met Lucy In one of tho halls, a dusting brush In her hand and a tiny white service-cap resting rest-ing demurely upon her brown curls. , "Did you get tho position, Miss Waring?" War-ing?" sho asked, striving to keep her face straight. "Yes," Mabel answered, "and thank you very much for giving mo tho In- "Do you think I would suit?" formation, Lucy. I commence work Monday." Week after week wont by, and Mabol still remained nt tho hotel, going ncross to her school ovcry morning and returning at night. Thoro could bo but ono conclusion. It wnH a rich girl's freak. Nothing else would explain ex-plain n primary school-teacher receiving receiv-ing thirty dollars a month stopping at a hotel that charged flvo dollars a day. And this was tho conclusion of the others, also, for by this time uvery one know of Mabel's occupation. Hut perhaps tho most curious fca-turo fca-turo of It nil was that Mabol novor onco thought of tho Inconsistency of n working girl stnylng at n placo llko tho Hrcakcrs. Tho climax camo ono dny when tho clerk handed her a letter from Berlin. It was from her uncle, and attor a brief account of his travels, stated thnt ho had nrranged for n trip around tho world, to bo gono a year. It would scarcely bo worth whllo for her to write, as his address would nl-ways nl-ways bo uncertain. Sho would better remain In Florida until spring, and then go to tho hotel in Now York where they usually stopped, and whor,o ho would Join her on his return, Tho letter concluded with tho statement that ho was glad ho had furnished her so abundantly with money. Sho would havo plenty for all posslblo contingencies. con-tingencies. For tho first tlmo sho began to go over tho details of her situation. It was now tho last week in January. Sho had been hero twenty-five days, and that mado one hundred and twen-ty-ftvo dollars duo tho hotol. She wondered how much moro than that her salary would be. Quito a deal, sho hoped, for sho was beginning to feel tho noed of many llttlo things; and besides, sho wanted to buy presents for all her school children. Lucy camo to tho door In search of a truant child, and Mabol motlonod for her to npproach. "Do you know how much salary tho school pays?" sho asked. Lucy laughed. "I thought tho money part didn't np-peal np-peal to you?" sho nnswered. "That wns the first thing I Inquired about. Tho primary teacher gots thirty dollars dol-lars a month," and then Bho hurried away to the child, who was laughing at her from tho hall. Mabol sat rigid for n moment. Then sho aroso and crossed to the elevator. Tho manager was In tho office, but sho did not glanco toward him, nor toward to-ward any of tho guests. Somehow she folt that sho had no right here now. Onco in her room she opened her trunks and methodically began to take out and examine their contents. Her eyes wero clear now, and her lips firm. These things must pay her ''ebt and provldo for her until nhe could draw the school salary. She would Bond thorn to Jacksonville, or perhaps to New York. It did not matter. mat-ter. They would probably bring but a trifle of their real valuo at olther place; but still they had cost a great deal, and would yield enough to free her from dobt. She ought to have known In the first place that a school teacher could not nfford living like this. At length, from tho very bottom of a trunk, she took out and unfolded a plain serge. Of all her outfit It was the ono article which showed unmla- tnkablc Icns of wear. nut It hat been a favorite gown, nnd was acrt Iccablc, and for thcro rea'onc had hr brought along for boatlns1 nad othei rough usage. The last time sho hai worn it had been on a trip from St Augustine to Mnntnnzas. Well, It wai Just whnt sho needed now, nnd the was about to place It on tho omall pile when sho felt something In ono oi th't pockets. Mechanically she took It out, and then with a low cry sprang to her fept. It wnt tho leather case containing contain-ing her' drafts. |