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Show TBue G5rB Se ftlne Meow By ELIZABETH JORDAN C a? Tk Ceatarr Ceatpear.) WNU Barrlee w cot brown eyes dat look right thoo yoa." he Interpolated Crinkly. "Den he say, 'Sam, who done lef dat bas-ket bas-ket at my doT I say, 'I done tt, mist. It wn lef Id de hall, an' de ca'd got yo" name on It Ain't yoa order It 7" I any. " 'No,' she ay, 'dls yere basket alnt fo me. Take It, an' ef you caln't find out who belong to It, eat dla yere lunch yo'self.' He panaed. "I et It," he ended, solemnly. Laurie's lips twitched under ?on-fllctlng ?on-fllctlng emotions, but he closed the Interview In-terview with a fair Imitation of Indifference. Indif-ference. "Oh. well," he said carelessly, "yi-u must have been mistaken about th whole thing. Evidently Miss Mayo If that's her name, wasn't aa hungry aa you were." The boy nodded and started the ear on Ita downward Journey. Aa his passenger pas-senger got off on the ground floor, h gave him a new thought to carry away with him. "She'd bin cryln", dough," he muttered. mut-tered. "Her eyea was all red." T.aurle stopped and regarded htm resentfully. "Confound you !" he said, "what did you tell me that for? I can't do anything any-thing about It I" The boy agreed, hurriedly. "No, aah," he assured him. "Ton caln't. I caln't, neither. None of us caln't," he added as an afterthought. Laurie slowly walked away. Hla thoughta scampered around and around, like squirrels In a cage. The return of the basket, of course, might mean either of two conditions that the girl was too proud to accept help, or that she was really In no need of It. Laurie had met a few art students. ITe knew that, hungry or not, almost any one of them would cheerfully have taken In that haaket and consumed con-sumed Its contents. Be had built on that knowledge In providing It. If the girl had taken It In, the fact would have proved nothing. Her refusal to touch It was auspicious. It swung the weight of evidence toward the elevator eleva-tor boy's starvation theory. Laurle'a thoughts returned to that Imaginative youth. He saw him' consuming con-suming the girl's luncheon, and a new suspicion crossed hla mind. Perhaps the whole business waa a bit of graft. But his Intelligence rejected that suggestion. sug-gestion. If this had been the explanation, expla-nation, the boy would not have concluded con-cluded the episode so briskly. He had got the strange young man whore he might have "kept him going" for days and made a good Income In the process. proc-ess. As It was, there seemed nothing noth-ing more to do. And yet and yet-how yet-how the deuce could one let the thing drop tike that? If the girl was really In straits Thus the subconscious argument went on and on. It worried Laurie. He waa not used to such violent mental men-tal exercise. He dined alone that night and It was well he did so. Hla lack of appetite would certainly have attracted the attention of Bangs or any other fellow diner, and Bangs would aa certainly have commented upon It. Alao, he passed a restless nlgbt, troubled by vaguely depresatng dreams. The girl was In them, but everything waa aa hopelessly confused as his daytime mental processes bad been. The next morning ha deliberately kept away from the mirror until he was fully dressed, but he dressed with a feeling of tenseness and urgency he would have found It difficult to explain. ex-plain. He only know that today he meant to dp something definite, something some-thing that would settle once for all the question that filled his mind. But what could he do? That little point waa still unsettled. Knock at the girl's door, pretend that It was a blunder, and trust to Inspiration to discover In the brief encounter If anything any-thing was wrong? Or put money In an envelop and push It under her door? If he did that, she would probably prob-ably give the money to gam, as she had given him the food. The girl In the mirror acts and speaks. TO BBJ CONTINUED.) j STORY FROM THE 8TART LaurU Devon, successful playwright, play-wright, but aomawhat Inclined to wlldnasa, attends the wedding of his alater, Barbara, to whom baa been left the great Devon fortune. Laurie had been a gay young chap, but for the last year ha haa been toeing the mark, through the efforts of Barbara. Laurie, who la wealthy, refuses to aettla down to work, announo- Olng hla Intention of resting and seeking adventure. From hla J window In New Tork he observes the reflection of a beautiful girl In a mirror la the residence opposite. op-posite. CHAPTER II Continued As they looked, she suddenly stirred and moved backward, as If occultly warned of their survey. They saw her close the window, and. drawing a chair close to It, sit down and stare out through, the pane, still with that Intent, Impersonal expression. Banns strolled back to the dressing case and resumed his Interrupted toilet. Laurie, fumbling vaguely with hla brushes, kept his eyes on the girl In the mirror. "She's a wonder. Prettiest girl I've ever seen, I think," he reflected aloud. Bangs snorted. "She's probably a peroxide," he said. "Even If aha Isn't, ahe can't hold a candle to your Bister." "Oh, Barbara " Laurie considered consid-ered the question of Barbara's beauty a If It were new to him. "Babs la good-looking " he handsomely conceded. conced-ed. "But there'a something about this girl that's unusual. Perhaps Ifs her expression, she doesn't look happy." Bangs sighed with ostentation. "If you want to study some one that Isn't happy, look at me," he Invited warmly. "If that play of mine Isn't . out of me pretty soon, I'll have to have an operation!" Laurie made no reply to this pathetic pathet-ic prediction, and Bungs aadly shook his head and concluded hla toilet, medl-""""-rating gloomily the while on the unpleasant un-pleasant Idiosyncrasies of every one he knew. To see Devon turn suddenly sudden-ly Into a loafer upset all his theories I as well aa his plans. Laurie, for some reason, dawdled f 'more thin usual that morning. It was f after eleven before he went to break fast. An hour earlier Bangs departed lone for their pet restaurant The girl In the mirror remained at her window for a long . time, and laurle watched her In growing fascination. fas-cination. It was not until she rose and disappeared that he felt moved to , consider so sordid a question aa that of food. ' He Joined Bangs Just as that youth was finishing his after-breakfast cigar. Even under Its soothing Influence, he was In the mood of combined exasperation exas-peration and depression with which hla friends were becoming familiar. "If we had begun work aa aoon aa we got back to town after your Bister's Bis-ter's wedding," he told Laurie, "we'd have had two acts ready by now, In the rough." "No reason why you shouldn't have four acta ready, so far as I can see," murmured Laurie, cheerfully attacking attack-ing his grape fruit. "All you've got to do la to write 'em." Bangs' Hps set. "Not till I've talked "em over with you and got your Ideas," he declared, positively. "If you'd Just let me give ynu an outline " Laurie set down his cup. "Do I get my breakfast In peace, or don't IT" he demanded, coldly. "You do. confound yon !" Bangs' bit off the end of a fresh cigar and atnoked It In stolid silence. He was a person of one Idea. If he rouldn't talk about the play, he couldn't talk at all. He meditated, . considering hla characters, his situations, situa-tions, his partner's and his own position, posi-tion, In a mental Jumble that had lately late-ly become habitual and which was seriously affecting his nerves. Laurie, aa he ate, chatted cheerfully and at random, apparently avoiding with care any subject that might Interest his partner. Bangs rose abruptly. - "Well, I'm off," he said. "See you at dinner time, I suppose." But Laurie, It appeared, had en- The curtains of bis French window were drnwn apart, and in the mirror he saw the reflection of the girl as she stood In protlle near her own uncurtained un-curtained window and slowly dressed her hair. " It whs wonderful hair, much more wonderful down than up. Laurie stared with pleasure at the red-gold mass that fell down over the girl's white garment. Then, with a little shock, he realized that the white garment gar-ment was a night-dress. It waa evident evi-dent that the girl thought herself safe from observation and whs quietly making mak-ing her toilet for the morning. Well, she should be safe. With a quick Jerk, Laurie drew together the heavy curtains that hung at the sides of the long window. Then, smiling little, he slowly dressed. His thoughts dwelt on the girl. It was odd thnt she should be literally projected Into his life In that unusual fashion. He had never had any such experience before, nor had he heard of one Just like It. It was unique and pleasant. It was especially pleasant to have her so young and so charming to look at. He wished he knew her name and something more about her. Ills thoughts were full of her. Before he left- the room he parted the curtains again to open the window win-dow wide, following his usual program. pro-gram. As he did so be glanced Into his mirror. He saw ber open window, win-dow, but It was lifeless. Only his own disappointed face confronted him. CHAPTER III Laurie Meets Miss Mayo Laurie thought much that day about the girl In the mirror, and he was again home at eleven that night, to the wonder of Mr. Pangs, who freely expressed his surprise. "Something pleasant been coming your way?" he tactfully asked. Laurie evaded the question, but he felt that something definitely pleasant had come his way. This -something was a new Interest, and he had needed need-ed a new Interest very much. He hoped he would dream of the girl that night, but as be and Bangs unwisely consumed a Welsh rabbit before they went to bed, he dreamed lustead of something highly unpleasant, and was glad to be awakened by the clear sunlight sun-light of a brilliant January day. After breakfast he strolled across the square Into the somber hall of the studio building" on .Its southwest corner. cor-ner. The hall was empty, but he found and rang a bell at the entrance of a dingy elevator shaft. The elevator descended without haste. When it had reached the floor, the colored youth In charge of tt Inhospitably filled Ita doorway and regarded the visitor with Indifference. This young man was easy to look at, but he was no one he knew. Laurie handed him a dollar and the youth's expression changed, first to one of surprise, then to the tolerance of a man who la wise and Is willing to share bis wisdom. The visitor went at once to the point of his visit "A young lady lives here," he began. be-gan. "She la very pretty, and she has reddish hair and brown eyes, she has a studio In one of the upper floors, at the front of the house. What's her name!" The boy's face showed that he had Instantly recognized the description, but he pondered dramatically. "Dat young lady?" he then said. "Dat young lady mus' be Miss Mayo, In Twenty-nine, on de top flo'. She Jes' moved In here las' Tuesday." "Where does she come from, and what does she do?" The boy hesitated. What did all this mean? And was he giving up too much for a dollar? Laurie grinned at him understanding!?. "I don't know her," he admitted, "and I don't expect to. I'd like to know something about her that's all." The youth nodded. He had the air of accepting an apology. ' "I reckon she come futn some fur'n There was a chance that the boy might be all wrong In his Inferences, although this chance, Laurie mentally admitted, was slight. He knew the shrewdness of this youth's type, the precocious knowledge of human nature na-ture that often accompanies such training and environment as he had had. Probably he suspected even more than he had revealed. Something Some-thing must be done. Laurie drew a bill from his pocket. "How soon can you leave the elevator?" ele-vator?" he asked. " 'Bout one o'clock." "All right. Now. here's what I want yoti'to do. Take this money, go over to the Clarence restaurant, and buy a good lunch for that lady. Oct some hot chicken or chops, buttered rolls, vegetables, and a bottle of milk. Have It packed nicely In a box. Have them put In some fresh eggs and extra rolls and butter for her.breakfast. Deliver the box at her door as If It came from some one outside. Do that and keep the change. Understand?" "Tsah. sah!" The boy's eyes and teeth were shining. "All right. Co to It. I'll drop In later this afternoon for your report." Laurie turned and walked away. Even yet the experience did not seem real. It was probably all based on some foolish notion of the youth's; and yet he dared not assume that It was a foolish notion, ne had the dramatist's dram-atist's distaste for drama anywhere except In its legitimate place, on the stage ; but he admitted that sometimes It did occur In life. This might be one of those rare occasions. Whatever It was. It haunted him. He lunched with Bangs that day, and was so silent that Bangs was moved to comment. "If you were any one else," he remarked, re-marked, "I'd almost think you were thinking!" . Laurie disclaimed the charge, but his abstraction did not lift By this time his Imagination was hard at work. He pictured the girl In the mirror mir-ror as stretched on her virginal cot In the final exhaustion of starvation ; and the successful effort to keep away from the studio building till four o'clock cailed for all his will power. Suppose the boy blundered, or wasn't In time. Suppose the girl really had not eaten anything since last Tuesday! Tues-day! These thoughts, and similar ones, obsessed him. At four he strolled Into the studio hall, wearing what he 'hoped was a detached and casual air. When the elevator appeared, he entered tt with the others who were waiting. He looked aloofly past the elevator boy as he did so, and that young person showed himself equal to the situation by presenting to this newcomer a stolid, ebony profile. But when the lift had reached the top floor and discharged dis-charged Its passengers, the two conspirators con-spirators lent themselves to the drama of their roles. ' "Well?" asked Laurie eagerly. "Did you get it?" "Yaas, sah." "What happened?" The boy stopped bis descending car midway between two floors. He had no Intention of having his scene spoiled. He bulged visibly under the news he had to Impart "I got de stuff you said, and I lef It at dat young lady's do'," he began Impressively. "Ves." "When I looked de nex' time, It was gone." "Good! She had taken It In." Laurie Lau-rie drew a breath of relief. "No, sah. Dat ain't all." The boy's tone dripped evil tidings. "She brung it back !" "What!", Ills passenger was staring star-ing at him In concern. "Yaas, sah. De bell rung fura her flo,' and' when I got up de young lady was standln' dere wld dat basket In her hand." He paused to give Laurie the effect of the tableau, and saw by his visitor's expression that he had got It fully. "Yes? Coon!" "She look at me Oilghty sharp. She place. But I dunno what she do," he reluctantly admitted. "Mebbe she ain't doln' nothln' ylt. She's home nios' de time. She don' go out hardly 'tall. Seems like she don' know many folks." He seemed about to say more, but stopped. For a moment he obviously obvious-ly hesitated, then blurted out what he had In mind. "One t'lng got me gnessln'," he muttered mut-tered doubtfully. "Dat young lady, she don't seem f eat nothln' I" "What do you mean?" Laurie stared at him. The boy shuffled his feet. He was on uncertain ground. "Why. Jes' what I said," he muttered, mut-tered, defensively. "Folkaes here either eats in or dey eats out. Ef dey eats In. dey has stuff sent In rolls an' eggs an' milk an' stuff like dat. Ef dey eats out, dey goes out, reg'lar, to roftils. But Mlas Mayo she don' seem to eat In or out. Nothln' comes In, an' she don' go out 'nough to eat reg'lar. I bin studyln' 'bout It con-slder'ble," con-slder'ble," he ended; and he looked unmistakably relieved, as If he had passed on to another a burden that was too heavy to carry alone. Laurie hesitated. The situation was presenting n new angle and a wholly unexpected one. It began to look aa If he had come on a sentimental errand er-rand and had stumbled oa t tTafody. gagements. He was taking a party of friends out to (Jedney Farms that evening, eve-ning, In his new car, and they might declfle to stay there for a day or two. Also, though he did not confide this fact to Bangs, he had an engagement for the afternoon, at a place where the card rooms were quiet and elegant ele-gant and the stakes high. The attraction of these diversions tilled his mind. He quite forgot the girl In the mirror, and It was no thought of her that drew him back to New York that night. The plans of his guests had changed, that was all. The change brought him home at eleven o'clock. He fell asleep with surprising ease, and Immediately, as It seemed, he saw ; the girl In the mirror. She was walk-log walk-log toward him, through what appeared ap-peared to be a heavy fog. Her hands were outstretched to him, and he hurried hur-ried to meet her; but even as he did ao the fog closed down and he lost her, though ht seemed to hear her voice, calling him from somewhere far away. He awoke late In the morning with eery detail of the dream vivid in his mind, so vivid. Indeed, that when he approached the mirror after his morning morn-ing plunge. 'It seemed almost a conciliation con-ciliation of the dream to find the girt tlier lie Mopped short with a chuckle). |