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Show "M. L. V." By JANE OSBORN f " a (O, U:o, by ltcClurNWippr Srndlcat.) Hczcklnh Ktlao thoUKlit of her simply, sim-ply, as M. C. V, He didn't eTcn conjecture con-jecture as to whether the M. stood for Mnrgnrct nr'Mnr.v or atiirlrl:or Mndfe; for llpxpklnh was not of thejinaglna-tlvc thejinaglna-tlvc or npcculatlv!"ort. IVrhaps lhat Intwliy lie made uuclra good snlesman for the ImisUicm which It had pleased Providence to hand down to hlra along with Ids Hlhllcnl name from his grandfather. grand-father. " 'lie linri'taen Her nllght froin'n taxi-cub taxi-cub on nfternoon wlipn ho was leaving leav-ing a certain mid-Western town to come Kns'f. "fr porter .followed her In fact, two porters followed her, each one 'parrying an assortment of very well-built luggage. ,Her.eklnli saw her eslnbllihcd. In a ehnlr fn tlte very Pilllman car In which he'liiid engnge'tl a chair, and' then paid the oar porter to have his chair, which wn nt the end, changed so that he ipljjltt Kit. nearer the charming M. I.. ,V. 3'liiie were, the letter.- oi tho well-built well-built Ittagagu that was stowed away beside her chair by tile station porter. m,, JVh;ii. ihelr ways parted Hlhnurs Inter Ili'KPkhiti' lind fulled "In ll'nd Hip iijmoi-litulty Jo speak to M. I,. V.'itlint lie had hiiped mlKlit arle'. Just before Made Hezeklah Feel Entirely Welcome leaving the Pullman at his station lie. sought the porter. "The young lady (ravels with n good deal of luggage," he said. "Is she an actress?" "No, Indcedy," drawled the porter.-"She porter.-"She no n(,'tre.!s ; nie some rich young lady travels for her own 'musenient." ' Uezeklnh, a few months Inter, boarded a Pullman at the same mid-Western mid-Western town, making a run toward the West. And thcro was M. L. V. as crisply! daintily, demurely lovely us ever. Ilezcklnh had thought he liked fair or red-htilied girls, nnd that he nilmlrttl the buxom type. M. L. V. wasof lliu jBJIgJit, .. dnik type. You might linve'called licr Japanese, because be-cause her eyes were n little almond-shaped almond-shaped and her complexion was clear nnd pale, and her hair was smooth and dark. Straightway Ilezcklnh re-vIfoiI re-vIfoiI all his former meditations on the mihjcct of his Ideal. Uczcklnh felt dejected. He was Millie sure tlint he would .have lo make M. I.. V.'s ncnunlntnncc some time, borne way. Hut If she were n young woman of wealth and she was obviously a peiKon of much education, for she had been reading "Itablndrnnnth Ta-gore" Ta-gore" before, and now; she was tlcvp In n French book, oven the name of which was too much for Hezeklah what show had he? For the llrst time lloiccklah felt eontempt for the liuRlnesM that hi" RrMiilfnther hud briiueatheil upon him. She would no doubt like him better If he were n doctor or n lawyer or a college, professor. He thought for ti moment, not rapidly but Intently. (Iezckhih seldom eamo to quick conclusions, con-clusions, but hcj usually, enmo to wise CUIl'S. In huslnoiis he had tho reputation of being ns alow as any man In the Held, and ns suru. It was the sort of nluwnow that fascinate you with Its serurlty and stability When (loioklnli had come to this conclusion on this occasion bo summoned sum-moned tho porter to lilm, and covertly covert-ly handed him n dollar. "Sen arp, Itnstus," he raid, "I want ju to forget that I'm it drummer. I want ou to call mo 'professor.' I've a special reason for wanting that little lit-tle lady over there lo think I. am a professor. Understand?" And then, ns be nottreil (lint the little lady Was glum-tag at him from ' Iniii'iiili hoavlly shaded eym ho said cloud: "Ilastlts. bo Mtro nnd get mo the Atlnnlle Monthly at the next stop,'" "Yes, professor." wild IlaMus, "nnu If I sees thofo Ilnrvnrd profesjrs In tho next car n-lnokln for you ngaln, professor, I'll Just tell them you are here." '('hen Ilexcklnli, taking cn'ro tlint tlio next chair shielded him from tho garo of M. U V., opened Ids paper, chiefly noted for Its sporting news, OSll tumcil tq yiu "done shcc,t." Uut even thli failed to absorb his attention. atten-tion. He was trying to evolve a scheme whereby he i tight cngngo the chlirnilng M. I.. V. In ,-onversatton. " Not long nfter M. I. V. arose as If bent on going to tl'i- dining car for dinner, and llezcklnl' followed. At tho door of the ear lie waited while M. I.. V. seated her-elf nt ono of tho only three tables that were vacant. Heseklnh beckoned the head waiter to him .nnd slipped 'u the palm of his hnnd enough slher io win his allcgl-.unco. allcgl-.unco. There were n few words In an undertone, nnd then Ilezcklnh followed the waiter down the nlsle. "I'm sorry, sir professor, hut theso two vacant tables are, so to speak, reserved, re-served, and tho oiler (able, wouldn't bo safe. There U something tho matter with the. chairs there. I wouldn't hardly wnnt you to sit there; so since you are In such n hurry, professor, I f am going to nl this lady here If sh i will let you sit m her table. Thank ynu. inntnii." And M. I.. V.. 'h n gracious smile made Hezeklah reel i tlint be was rt tirely welcome. There seemed to be mi awkward1 hitches n what followed. I!er.eklal'( acniinpanlrd M U V. back n thei car where their 'chairs were located., and InMend of killing In lit o'vn chair, he look one that belonged to! a passenger who had abandoned -M In favor of the smoker. They talked about all sorts of t1''ng. but Hereklnh did not men-lb men-lb a his oil; . I .irenM.r t..i Ida, uti'vcisl"- Inter l )-'r did M I. V j so iin.i'i:n'g I." it would luiUc.i.' tin itii pr'i'- in hrr.fwal iOllon. i Yet he had Vw tl'-lim of the array i " ! :it 1- M's be . , b mi and tin jither, 1' vA i- tnntl li::;:e. lb' fi IUI ,' ni his -sister, wh" was looked upon) iia i-rtremely extravagant, neer linH" bin two trniiks nnd one h.ilbox 'in her travels. Her dressmaker's bills had been the despair of bis tlght-11led( grandfather. How largo would ti man's Incomo have" to be, he asked I himself, to Justify hltn In nsklng'a1 girl who had all that luggage to marry ''" -- . I Inadvertently- llezekhih tnentloned thnt he was, after a night niul a tiny In the next town, going to make his way on to the East. M. L. V. blushed und said thnt her planr were the same. So they met nnd they became ns Intlmntc ns It Is possible for two tieople who have no real knowledge of ench other's Identity to become. And"nf course the psychological moment mo-ment enme. Thai Is, It was tho moment mo-ment when, according to Hezeklah, he could no longer endure the suspense of not knowing whether the charming M. L. V. returned In a measure the regard re-gard that he was showering upon her. It wns on their third trip, together. They had met wllhout' either knowing Hint the other wiA to continue trnv-' cling eastward, and Hezeklah, for ils parr, explained nway any suspicions that might have made M. L. V. suspect that he wns In reality so low-brow an Individual ns n traveling salesman by saying that he was out on a visit to some-college professors on some Im-j portnnt commission for his university. The '"college professors" In question 'ivVr'o hnrilw'nre retailers and his "university" "uni-versity" was the wnsh-holler factory established es-tablished by his grandfather. .Hezeklah had not thought nut Just what ho would sny by way of making tlio final explanation ; he had decided hat ho, would have to know whether M. TA V. cured for him. If she did, perhaps Mie would care enough to forgive for-give his dccolt. If sho did not well, then, he would never linvo to explain, and sho would go on thinking of htm ae a very learned Individual. When he told her of his regard they were going nt the rato of sixty miles an hour over n smooth stretch of rail she turned 'perceptibly paler. Ho -had said: "I knew from tho tlrst that you hadiill sorts of money and that you were high In society. I saw the trunks, I remember, jind 1 thought that my sister, whom I had thought had all the clothes any woman could want, never had n quarter ns mnrli liaggage I know all tlint, and yet I am having the nerve to nsk yon to thlilk of mo ns it possible husband." Then It waa that M. L. V. blanched. "Please, don't nsk 'mo why, lint I would rather never let our our friendship friend-ship go nny further. If I do you will halo me." , Hezeklah leaned acros-s the gap that persisted between their , Pullman clinlrs. "I could never hate yoti, Utile girl," ho said, and there wns a warmth In his voice that surprised even himself. him-self. "Well, then; I'll tell you. You'll see how you and I could never-never, go any further. I have nover had much of ntt education nnd you nro so learned. lVo rend what good books I could, nnd nil that, hut It isn't the same And then, you see, I'm n traveling saleswoman. sales-woman. I set! hats for a big New York milliner those nro tho boxes of bimiplo hats that you saw," |