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Show j The Girl J Who Came j Back Q S Q 1 By Jack Woodford I a q q Copyright W. N. U. Service I THE STORY Influenced by loneli ness, without with-out relatives, or real friends, In Chicago, Lolita Forbes, young and pretty, yields to the importunities impor-tunities of HJirvey Torrence, with whom she fancies herself in love She discovers his true charade' and leaves him, taking refug with an acquaintance, Gertrude Watson. Lolita Is accosted by the son of the wealthy owner of thp apartments, Fred Watterson. She repulses his advances, but he in sists on driving her to the store On the street Torrence Is watting. watt-ing. He puts the worst construction construc-tion on Lolita's being with Watterson, Wat-terson, and the two men engage in a fistic battle in which Torrence Tor-rence is killed. Lolita spends a night of misery In a police cell She informs her father, by wire, of her situation, but he answers that he "never wants to see her face again." Next morning the Judge, at the instigation of a lawyer, a stranger to Lolita, dismisses dis-misses the case. CHAPTER III Continued 5 Amazed, Lolita examined the envelope en-velope wliicn the note had come Id There was nothing upon it to indicate from whence it hud come. There was no signature, nothing upon eirher paper or envelope to Identify them by. She leaned hack In the taxicah. spent, exhausted and put everything from her mind. For more than a week 1-olitu did nothing but rest and attend to her worrying. After that, however, and nothing worse having happened to her. she began to think that perhaps, after all, she had paid the piper in full. Avidly she watched the papers daily with a sort of horrified fascination ex pecting each day to see a date set for the handing of the Watterson hoy; but, oddly enough, the whole case dropped from sight In a few days; everybody seemed to forget all about It, and t lie papers stopped saying any thing at all about it. Walterson'o father not only owned the Grantham, he owned a lot of other buildings beside. Finally, one day, Lolita ventured out She had dyed her reddish yellow hair a dark brown, and had bought a complete outfit of new clothes and, to make assurance doubly sure, a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, with neutral lenses In them, which changed her ap pearance so that she almost felt as though she were looking at a stranger when she looked into the glass. She had lost a good deal of pride In her good looks, and had come to feel that to he personable was more or less of a drawback. The first thing that she did, once downtown, was to call up Gertrude and make an appointment with her for lunch. They mei in a tearoom where a good many stenog raphers and clerks took their lunch. "My God!" Gertrude commented "yon look like something thai a blind cat dragged In; 1 hardly knew you ai first. You're twenty pounds lighter, paler, and your hair! why it takes til of the life out of you dyed that nay And you look kind of scared sort of." "Kind of scared, sorl of. Is very cor rcct," said Lolita gravely. "I have been frlglilened out of suventceen years' growth in the wrong direction I shall never forgive myself." "Oil. come ou of it; he yoursclt What is there for you to be forgiven for? Sly goodness. If nobody were ever forgiven a mistake, there wouldn't In-anybody In-anybody In Heaven at all. except God and a few. straggly maiden aunts." "Rut to think thai I caused the death of " "Oh. don'i think about It. You per formed a service for humanily h: large. He was long overdue dead Don't you know thai a few years ago a girl that he put on the hummer was found floating around near the Alii nlcipal pier one nighi? And God knows how many more they haven I found, after he got through with them "1 know, thai may be (rue. siill " on. you II gel mr it. girlie. "Where are you living now?" Gertrude looked surprised at this question. "Where am I living?. Well, where do you suppose I'd be living? I'm ai the Granthan, only I got a better mom. and my rent Is paid for life in full Watt'erson's old man told me to lav "IT tiie reporters and I wouldn't ever have to pay any more renl as long a I lived. I made him pin II in writing." J-'lita looked disapprovingly at lwr. hut Gertrude merely laughed ami (hen added : "Hon't think the old man was hrok. n up. either. Say. thai kill caused lilm more trouble than a harem full of live hundred wives could. He was glad of the necessity for packing him off lo l-'uropc." "Hut Mrs. Wattoi soii ?" "There Isn't any Mis. Watterson; they were divorced years ago and she's dead." Kor some moments they sat silently listening to the pianist'? somewhat sketchy rendition of "Hearts and Flowers." "Tell me." said Lolita, suddenly remembering; re-membering; "did some man come and talk to you. while I was in the police station, asking you things aboul me. and" "Some man; Dear G d, girl it seems to me that every policeman, reporter re-porter and plain citizen in tile whole city of Chicago did; I never talked so much in my life." "Hut dhl one of them ask you about my 'ambitions?' " "Oh yes" said Gertrude, suddenly remembering ; she stopped to light a cigarette. "Teh, there was that one guy who was different from the rest. I remember him awful well because he was the only one who believed what I said when 1 opened up and I old him the truth; in fact, lie was the only one that I did give the inside dope to There was something about him. different, dif-ferent, sad like. 1 bulled him along about bow you was going to go to school ami every! hing, when you got oul of the mess, and lie got rigln happy over that." "He's paid my room rent, given me some money, and. in fact, even paid a year's tuition for me at the South western university." conlided l.olila. "Hot diggity dog!" was Gertrude's enthusiastic comment. "Oh course I can't accept it." "Ob h-b Lord! You make me sick Why. listen. This guy is right. I got Hie feeling somehow that he would . . "Why Certainly I Mean That You Could." huve been just as interested In you if you were a boy. He ain't tiie usual kind, take it from me. Why he's goi the gravest, saddest, nicest eyes 1 ever saw In my life. Don't think for one instaul thai he's got 'intentions.' I don't see how you oould possibly think anything like that after seeing lilm." "But I haven't seen him. ' He sent me an unsigned letter by a lawyer I've seen nothing of him." "Well, I'm here to tell you that It you don't do like lie wants you to, you ought to be shot; why he Good C d !" Gertrude broke off and stared across the room, "there he Is." "Where," cut in Lolita breathlessly. "There!" Gertrude pointed, forgetful of manners. Lolita saw a kindly looking man ol perhaps forty or forty-live, rising from a table. For a second his eyes, which were gray, rested upon hers, then he turned his buck toward her, walked lo the cashier's desk, paid Ids check and withdrew. She saw, as he pui on his hat. thai his hair was graying al the temples. . Instantly she knew what Gertrude meant by saying that he had no 'Intentions' (at least lie could have none in t lie sense that Gertrude meant it) and. furthermore, she was cou scions of a pleasing sense of fainil iarity; somehow she felt that she had seen him before, known hiiti al sotm-i sotm-i i me or other, and yet. loo. she wa perfectly certain thai she had not It was one of those feelings thai come lo all of us at times, which lead us a little to believe that we have lived in some former life. "Ain't he a nice old chap?' said I left rude en I husiaslically. "I don'i I h ink he's so old.' returned Lolita softly; "and lie certainly Is nice. I in ashamed to have suspected him of ulterior moth es st ill, it does seem impossible to accept bis aid without knowing exactly why It Is given doesn't It?" "What seems Impossible about It?' Gertrude asked in great pu..leinont Lolita sighed "You wouldn't understand, dear. Well. 1 expect it's about time for you hi be getiing hack, isn't It?" "G d, yes!" commented Gertrude and rose hurriedly. KNe reached foi her cunt, hut a young man got It first. "May I help you on with It, ray dear?" be s:iid politely. "Certainly." smiled Gertrude. He helped her pul on her coat. "You wouldn't give a fellow your telephone number, would you?" he next asked. "Certainly," said Gertrude, "it's Ard more Gl.)U4." "Thanks," he commented significantly significant-ly as they walked off. Lolita noticed that he had paid no attention what soever so-ever to her. She remembered her glasses and congratulated herself that she had been able to put an end to the good looks thai usually caused men to stop and turn upon the street to look at her fit least she was glad that she had put an end to them temporarily, a gladness which she would, perhaps, not have felt had they been permanent ly gone. "Why do you give men your phone number so casually, Gertrude, dear?' l.olila sa id softly reproving; "I do so wish you'd change a little; you're such a darn good kid. down underneath." "The trouble is, my dear," said Ger trude brightly, "that you're the onh one who has ever troubled to look down underneath, so what's the use? And. besides. 1 didn't give hiin m. telephone number. I gave him some body's else's telephone number God knows whose; and I hope whoever it is. they'll have him arrested when he calls up. It's the easiest way to gel rid of birds like that." Lolita laughed When Gertrude hud hurried off hack to the store. Lolita walke slowly along, thinking. She bad not Intended to go near Southwestern university: she had intended to get another posi tion and save her money so thai she could repay the kind stranger; but now that she had seen him. she felt entirely different. She speculated upon the fact of how a person's face, molded and shaped by the accumulation accumula-tion of thoughts that they had been In the hahit of having through the years, was almost Invariably an outward Indication In-dication of the person Inside whom the world is not supposed to see and yet almost Invariably knows. She un consciously raised her hand to her face, terrified by the thought that tier haps it was beginning to be marked unmistakably by her inner self She firmly resolved to see that the mark ings. hereafter, would be such as she would want the world to see; aftei all, there was no hiding anything un pleasant and unpretty. The man's e.es had been so kindly, and withal, so disappointed; for. had he not asked her to refrain from further association with Gertrude? How he must have felt upon noting that her only reaction to his kindness and help was a failure to observe a very slight wish that he had expressed. She resolved to ai least please him by going to South western university and talking with the registrar; It was the least thai she could do. At the registrar's office upstairs she was greeted by a lovely girl who looked very young, had wavy chestnut hair, hazel eyes, and a delightful man ner of speaking correctly without seeming to make any effort to do so. "Won't you sit down?" Invited the girl pleasantly. Lolita sat down In the little office. Briefly she related what her educational educa-tional background hud been. "Well," the girl began slowly, when she had finished, "since you huve noth ing beyond high-school credits, you could hardly take the regular four years' credit course without a good deal of preliminary work; still," she leaned forward as though talking con tidcntially to an old friend, "I wouldn t .vorry about that. If I were you. If you were to attend school here, taking special courses, I think you would get everything you wanted oul of it. I'm not the registrar; he's away today; I'm his secretary, hut perhaps I can advise you. I often do help people select their courses. There are sev eral things you might lake up" She turned and looked oil out of the win dow a moment speculatively. "Sly dear." she went on turning back suddenly; sud-denly; "perhaps It is perfectly silly of me, hut I have an Idea that you could write. If you cared to take up a line of study consistent with that general subject you'd find It absorb ing." "Do you really mean that I could ever make my living as a shori story writer?" "Why. certainly, I mean that you could A great many girls have taken the short story class here and subsequently subse-quently been able to support them selves, after a time, by their writings You are. if you will pardon my saying so. the 'subjective type; that Is, you are mental (a misleading use of the term 1 know) as opposed to dynamb or at least that Is my thought, mj reaction to you. I" (TO BE CONTINUED.! |
