Show the girl who cal came alb 1 N e back Q c a by jack woodford Wc odford IQ a a 0 copyright W N U THE STORY influenced by loneliness without 0 ut relatives or real friends in chicago lillta forbes young and pretty yields to the importunities tuni tunit ties les ot of horvey torrence with whom sho she fancies herself in love e she discovers his true tru eba character charac tei and leaves him taking refuge with an acqua gertrude watson lolita Is accosted by the son of the wealthy owner of the apartments fred watterson Wat lerson she repulses his bis advances but he in fists on driving her to the store on the street torrence Is 13 waiting lie ile puts the worst construction on lollias Loll Loli tas tats being with watterson and the two men engage in a battle in which torrence ts 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 aeo her face again next morning the judge at the of a lawyer a stranger to lillta dismisses the case CHAPTER ill III continued 5 amazed lolita examined the envelope which the alie note bad come in there was nag nothing upon it to indicate from whence it had come there was no signature nothing upon either paper or envelope to identify them by she leaned back in the taxicab spent exhausted and put everything from her mind I 1 for more inore than a week lolita did nothing but rest and attend to her worrying after that homeer ho weier weer and nothing DOt liIng worse having happened to tier lier she began to think that perhaps after all slie she had bad paid the piper in full avidly she watched the papers dally daily with a sort of horrified fascination ex pecking pec ting each day to see a date set for A fiad ae hanging of the watterson boy aut oddly enough the whole case dropped from sight in a few daye day everybody seemed to forget all about it and the papers stopped saying any thing at all about it Walter sons father not only owned the grantham Granth nm he fie owned mined a lot of other buildings beside finally one day lillta 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 born rimmed glasses with neutral dutral lenss lenses in them which changed her appearance pe arance so that she almost felt as though she were looking at a stranger when she looked into the glass class she had lost a good deal of pride in her good looks and hall had come to feel that to be personable was more or less of a drawback drav brick the first thing that slie site did once downtown was wag to call up gertrude and mike make art an appointment with tier her for lunch they met mcl in a tearoom where here a good many stenographers and clerks took their lunch sly illy godl god I 1 gertrude commented you look like something that a blind eat cat dragged la in I 1 hardly knew you at first youre twenty pounds lighter 11 ahter paler and your hair why it azes takes nil all of the life out of you dyed that way and you yon look kind of scared sort of kind of scared sort of Is very correct said enid lillta gravely 1 I have been out of years growth in ID the wrong direction I 1 shall never forgive myself oh come out of it be yourself what Is there for you to be forgiven for my bly goodness goodne ss 1 1 nobody were ever forgiven a mistake there be anybody in iii heaven at all except god and a few scraggly maiden aunts cut but to think that I 1 caused tile the death of olt oh dont think about it you tou performed a service for humanity at large lie ile was long overdue dead dout dont you know that a few years rears ago a girl that he put on the hummer was found floating around near the municipal tal cipal pier one night and god knows how low many more they badent found after he got through with them 1 I know that may be true still oh get over it gialle where are you living now nou t aertrude Fer gertrude trude looked surprised at al this question where am I 1 ming hi ing well where dodou you suppose id be living val ini at 4 int lion only I 1 got a better room admy q y rent 19 1 paid for life in full old man told me to lay jay MY the reporters and I 1 ever have to pay any more inore rent as long a as I 1 lived live I 1 mado made him put it in writing Y olita yolita looked disapprovingly at tier her but gertrude merely laughed and then added dont think the old man was so sj broken up either say that kid caused mm him more trouble than a harem full ol of li lie hie e hundred wives coull could lie he was glad clad of the necessity tor for packing kIng him diott ia to europe but urs watterson there any mr birs watterson they were divorced years ago and anc ashes abe dead for some mor moment they sat ant silently listening to the pianist somewhat sketchy rendition oUen rt and flowers tell roe me said lolita loilta suddenly re tild did some man come and talk to you while I 1 was la in the police nt atlon aruna you things about me and nd some man luau dear 0 d girl it seems to me that eliat every eiery policeman reporter and plain citizen in the whole city of 0 alika chicago go did I 1 never ceier talked so ank h in my life but one of thern them ask aels you about abou my oh yes said gertrude suddenly slie she stopped to light a cigarette yeh there was that thai one guy who was different from the rest 1 I remember him awful well bebau because tie be was the only one who libell believed eved what I 1 said when I 1 opened up and told him the truth in fact he was tile the only that I 1 did give tile lie inside dope to there was something about him dit different sad like I 1 bulled him along about how you was going to eo 90 to school and when you got out of the aness ant and lie fie got right happy over that iles hes paid my room rent glien ghen me sonie some money an and in fat fact even paid it a years tuition for me at the lie south western university confided lolita ilot hot clig gily bogl was gertrudes enthusiastic oh course I 1 cant accept it ILI oli oh ti h lord loidl I 1 you make inake me ine sick why listen title this guy Is right I 1 got tile the feeling somehow that he fie would 10 N why certainly I 1 mean that you could hae been just as interested in you it if you were ere a boy ile he aint tile the usual kind tal take e it from me why lies got the gravest saddest nicest eyes I 1 ever saw mw s aw in my life dont think for one instant that hes bes got intentions I 1 dont see how you could possibly think anything like that after seeing him but I 1 seen him ue ile sent me an unsigned letter by a luw lawver er ive seen nothing of him well rin im here to tell you that it you dunt dont do like lie wants you to you ought to be shot why eliy be good G d III 1 gertrude broke orf off and stared across the room there he be is where cut in lollia lolita breathlessly ay iy therel there 1 gertrude pointed forgetful of manners lolita saw a kindly looking man ot of perhaps forty or forty me llie rising front a table for a second his bis eyes which were gray rested upon hers then lie turned his back toward tier her walked to the cashiers dest desk paid his check and withdrew slie site saw as he put on his hat that his hair was graying at the temples instantly slie site knew what vital gertrude meant by saying that he fie had no intentions at least lie he could havu have none in ili the sense that gertrude meant it und and furthermore slie she was con scions of a pleasing sense of fa faill in I 1 lailey somehow slie site mt felt that she had seen een s him before known him at sonic time or other und and yet let too she was perfectly certain that she had not lot it was one of nt those feelings that come to all of us at times which lead us its a little to believe that we have hae lived tit in some former life aint lie he a tike nice old chap chaft sala said gertrude enthusiastically III 1 dont think lies hes so old rc turned lolita softly and he certainly Is nice im ashamed to have hae ruspel i led him film of motives mothes still it does seem impossible to ip accept his aid without knowing exactly why aby it II Is alyon it what vital seems impossible about it gertrude asked in grent great puzzlement lolita sighed you understand dear well I 1 expect its about time fur for aou to be getting back IE it IG G d yes yea commented Gert gertrude fude and rose hurriedly she reached for her rout coat but a young man got it first 11 ilay I 1 help you on with lt it my dear he be suld politely certainly smiled gertrude ue ile helped tier her put on her cont coat you give a fellow your telephone number would youl he next asked certainly suld said gertrude its ard more thanks lie he commented significantly as they walked oft off lillta bollt noticed that he be had paid no attention what so eer to tier lier she remembered tier her glaves glasses find and congratulated herself that she had been able to put an end to the good looks that dually u milly caused men to stop plop and turn upon the street to look at her tit at icart slie site was glad that flint she hoot hail put nn an end to them thein temporarily a kindness which she would per perhaps hips not ahtie felt hid they been pernin permanent nent ly gone why do you ghe nien men jour phone gumbei so casualty casually gertrude dear ollan loilta said softly reproving 1 I in do so wish change cliance a little youre such a 0 darn good kid down dovin underneath the trouble tron lile Is 1 my dear sat said gertrude brightly that youre the only one who tins lias ever troubled to look down underneath so the alie u ansel el and binl besides I 1 give hint him my telephone DC nu I 1 gaie gae hini him 8 some 0 die blodys eases telephone number goil god knows whose and I 1 hope whoever it is have him arrested when mien tie lie calls up its the easiest wily way to get ald of birds like that ahat lolita laughed 1 when I n gen Gertr rude had hurdled olt off buck back to the store lolita walked slowly along thinking she had not intended Intend eJ to go near southwestern university she hall had intended to get another post thin aln and sae her money so that site she could repay the kind stronger stranger but now that she flat and seen him site she entirely different site she speculated upon the fact of how a persons race face molded and shaped by tile the tion of thoughts that they luid hirl been in the habit of having through throng 1 I itile I 1 lie years was almost oil an outward I 1 ut ward indication di of the person envile whom the world is not cupi supposed to 0 see and yet almost invariably knows site she un consciously raised her hand to her face terrified by the thought that per haps it was beginning to be maikel unmistakably fly her inner self she firmly rm Y resolved to see that the mark ings hereafter would be such as she would want ant the world to see after all there was no biding anything un on pleasant and the mana deans ebes had been so kindly and withal so disappointed for had bad he be not dot naked tier her to refrain from further association with gertrude how flow lie he must have felt upon noting that tier only reaction to his kindness and help was a failure to co observe a very slight wish that he had pressed expressed ox she ie resolved solved to at least please him by going to southwestern university and talking with ith the registrar it was the least that she could do at the registrars office upstairs she was wag greeted by a lovely girl who looked very young had wavy chestnut hair hazel eyes and a delightful manner of speaking correctly without seeming to make any effort to do so wont you sit down invited the girl pleasantly lillta eat E at down io in the little office site she related what her educational background had been well the girl bebau begau slowly when she hall had finished since you have nothing belond high school credits you could hardly tale take the regular tour four years credit course without a good deal of preliminary work still she leaned fo forward rard as though talking confidentially fidentia lly to an old friend 1 I worry norry about that it I 1 were you it if aon ou were to attend school here taking special courses I 1 think you would get everything you wanted out of it im not the registrar hes bes away today im liu his secretary but perhaps I 1 can adase you I 1 often do help people select their courses there are several e r a things you might take up site she turned and looked off out of the window a moment speculatively my lly dear site she went on turning back suddenly perhaps it Is berf elthy silly 0 of f m me e but 1 I lime nn an idea that you could virile ate it if aou ou cared to take up a line hoc of study consistent with that general subject find bull it absorbing in do you really mean that I 1 could ever make my lis hi ing as a short story writer why certainly I 1 mean that you yon could A great many girls have taken the short story class here and subsequently been able to support thern them selves after a time drue by their writings you are it ft aou ou nil ism portion pardon my kayin bothe so alie subjective tipe that Is you are mental a misleading use of the term I 1 know as opposed to dynamic or ol at least that Is my tb thought ought my reaction to if you 1 I 11 TO BE CONTINUED 1 |