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Show 1 fi.' A TaXte AC the Tlpl I - ByiWaIt;GregS - H : .1 ' m3Mm days aftcr Burtn WraCKffiS had obtained an introduction to his cousin's stenogra-f stenogra-f M' tyffll Phor, ho asked her $M t0 dIno w,th hlm- mm Wlm Emily Fessenden sM- fi(L was not tbe ord, J HnRS nary stcosrapher; nf , tWisrJ she was the girl ffjr , . . .. who had come down in tho world; she had sunk so V gradually that for some time she had I; not been conscious of the sinking pro-cess. pro-cess. Her father had been an author- ; uy on inc vegetarian diet; her mother, j a hopeless invalid; Emily's youth had been shadowed by tho necessity of ; walking on tiptoes and talking in I I whispers so as not to disturb her i mother. Her father had usually rc- !( mained invisible m his laboratory He i died when Eimly was 19, leaving noth- ing but the income from half a dozen , dletetric tracts; her mother lived a ! year and a half after that and when sho went the girl faced actual poverty. But sho was a modern girl and sho took x ! her courage in both hands and went to I ; work. In time she attained to a posi- ; ! tlon which enabled her to occupy a hall bedroom in a third-rate boarding bouse. She was singularly lonely; she , a could not make friends with her fcl- J .! low-boarders and she had no oppor- I ; tunitles of making outside acquain- J ! j tances. She saw little of the people X i she had known during her parents' j lifetime and she had no near relatives jj in New York. Sho was not pretty frafijr enough to attract admiration from Ti 6tranEQ men, but when a man had . ! H looked at her a number of times he saw that her features were good, the quality of her hair, her skin, was fine, and she carried herself with grace and dignity. Burton was verging on 50, his wife had died the year before and ho was lonely. Ho saw Emily's small head bent over the keys of her typewriter, the neat colls of her dull-brown hair and her rapitily traveling slender white fingers and he asked his cousin to present him. Emily puzzled to find a reason for both tho Introduction and the invitation. invita-tion. She had no illusions about her own attractions, and she did know something about men, chiefly things she had learned from other stenographers, stenog-raphers, younger and prettier than she was. Finally she voiced one objection. "It's very kind of you, Mr. Burton, but I live a very retired life, and I haven't suitable clothes for dining in public." Burton stared at her steadily. From another girl this would have sounded like a hint, but he was quite sure that Miss Fessenden was stating her case frankly, and he liked her the better for It "I shan't take you to any fashionable fash-ionable place, but to a restaurant whore you can wear what you have on and not bo conspicuous." And then Emily gave in. She had visions of a Broadway restaurant, of lights and chattering people at adjoining adjoin-ing tables, of music and well-seasoned food. Aftcr her father's death she had ca3t aside his teachings, but the economical eco-nomical way in which sho had been forced to live had put rich, highly-seasoned food out of her reach. Tho bpardlng-house faro was wretched, and Ibmily ate only enough of it to nourish her slim body. Sho looked forward to the dinner with Burton. She had a better frock than the one she wore in the office, and as she put it on and tilted her hat at a slightly defiant angle, excitement sent the blood to her cheeks and made her eyes sparkle. Sho wondered if he would call for her In a taxi, all sorts of things might happen, for Bhe know that Burton was in business for himself him-self and doing well. Her anticipations wero so high that she hummed softly to hsrseif as she ran down tho stairs. At the bottom of tho second flight she passed a new boarder. Ho was a foreigner, ho had curly black hair, bold black eyes, and a wide mouth with very red lips. He stood aside to let her pa3s. and ho stared after her, wrinkling his brows as he tried to place her; he did not remember re-member seeing her at dinner the night before, but his eyes followed her .appreciatively as she went on down to where Burton was waiting In the hall below. There was no taxi. Ho opened tho hall door and they walked to the corner cor-ner and took a car; they rode qulto far downtown and entered a dingy dining-room, where the head-waiter bowed bow-ed them to a table in the corner, and then Burton apparently forgot her for a moment whllo he studied tho menu. Sho looked around; there was no evidence evi-dence of musicians and sho sighed and then she became conscious that Burton Bur-ton was addressing her. "I never eat oysters. I suppose you know they are typhoid breeders. Sup- i II mt ,m i II f TT I poso wo have a clear soup, some filet of sole, chicken you like chicken, Miss Fessenden? For my own part I never eat beef; tho doctors have forbidden for-bidden It; but I can eat the breast o chickon then we'll have creamed potatoes, po-tatoes, some string beans and hearts of lettuce with French dressing. Is that all right!" Emily nodded, trying to smile as if shd were quite satisfied, but there was a blur before her eyes as she realized that her high hopes wero being dashed to the ground. She had stumbled upon up-on another being who sacrificed to a pampered stomach, and her dreams of a thick, juicy steak, almost burnt on top and almost raw in tho middle, faded. fad-ed. There was no mention of a cocktail cock-tail sho had never tasted one. but she thought she would like to but Burton ordered a pint of Borne thin white wine that had neither flavor nor sparkle. Tho dinner was good, vastly superior superi-or to anything she had eaten in years, and she tried to tell herself that sho was foolish and unreasonable, but the disappointment remained. Burton talked a good deal about himself and Emily was apparently a good listener. His wlfo had spoiled him: be missed her and he hinted that he was looking for someone else to take her place; ho wasn't the man to adapt himself to bachelor habits at his ago. Emily gleaned that if sho showed proper appreciation of the benefits he could bestow, she might be chosen to step into the dead wife's shoes, and she acknowledged even then that it was a temptation. At least it would relieve her from the necessity of work, give her a home of her own and provide pro-vide for her future, and then sho sighed. Burton's wife would have to efface herself steadily; she would bo a combination of nurse and housekeeper, housekeep-er, and Emily had spent Ler young life in a similar capacity. She went out with him again, about a week later. It was raining and he brought an umbrella, but he did not suggest a taxi. They dined at tho samo placo and Emily learned that ho had just had his "blood pressuro taken, and the report was very satisfactory. satis-factory. The third nleht ho declared himself. Emily heard him through. She hesitated hesi-tated and then sighed regretfully. "I don't lovo you. and wo shouldn't be happy together; our tastes aro not alike." "But, my dear- girl, I did not expsct vou to lovo mo; in fact I think wo arc both a little beyond boy and girl sentimentality. As for our tastes you are quiet and sensible and I know we shall get on together." "you don't know anything of the sort." She leaned forward, two spots of color burning in her white face. "You take everything for grapted. I'm not sensible. I want everything T haven't got. everything you couldn't give me. I want to be loved, recklessly. reckless-ly. I want to be amused. Do you think I enjoy dining here? No; I'd like to go where there's a cabaret, where tho women drink and smoke and wear gay, low-necked gowns. You've taken me to a symphony concert con-cert and I wanted to go to a musical comedy; you've fed me on breast of chicken and I wanted a club sirloin " 33 SMLFP Sho paused a moment as she saw the bowlldermcnt In his face, then sho went on moro quietly. "You never probed to find out what was underneath under-neath this drab exterior. I confess at first the thought of a homo tempted mo; but I couldn't share that homo with you." Ho was too outraged to argue with her, and he took her back to the board-ing-houso at once. When they opened tho hall door the clock in the parlor chimed eight. There was someone coming down tho stairs, so Burton cut his leave-taking short and went out Emily lingered. The color still burned in her cheeks. Suddenly tho humorous side of the wholo affair struck her and she threw back her head and laughed. She had let her one chance of matrimony slip by. If she had accepted Burton she could have lunched on steak every day when he was downtown, and then she admitted ad-mitted that it wasn't meat. It was tho things meat signified red blood and vivid pleasures. The man descending tho staircase hoard the laugh and his pulse quickened. quick-ened. Ho was the new boarder, an Italian contractor, and he had come to an American house to perfect himself him-self in English. "You home so early. I Just go out; it is the young night," he said, his eyes flashing and his big whlto teeth gleaming. He was of medium height, stockily built, with broad shoulders and sinewy hands, and his vitality was magnetic. Emily returned his smile. "Yes, the night Iz young. I suppose you are go- J ing to somo show." H "Yes, moving-picturo and vaudeville. I like much vaudeville. So funn7 jokes. I laugh loud, and then I go to cafo and if I am lucky to meet somd pretty girl, I dance. You llko tho J dance?" He was young, 22 or 23, and H the fierce joy of youth coursed through H his J Emily shook her head. "I don't H know how. I've never been to a cafa jH whero they dance." Sho blushed as sho admitted it IH Tho blush gave him courage. "It Is very simple, tho one-step. You liko to jJ try? You como with me. We go to IH theater, to 'Look Whero You Step': IH very good. I see him thrco times. IJ Then wo go to Rector's; very good; jH much music, much dance, very gay. H We have the wholo night before us. lH You come?" IH There was scarcely a moment's hes- H itatlon. "You aro very kind; I hard- jH ly liko to accept." sho began, but ho lH cut her short Ho was curiously H practical. IH "I speak English with you, you tell me when I mistake. I teach you tho H one-step, so it is the bargain." He H laughed again, and seeing consent in H her eyes he drew her hand within his IH arm and opened the front door. IH Emily surrendered. She-was going H to the theater, to a gay restaurant. H she was going to drink cocktails and jH learn to dance; she was accepting an i IH invitation from a casual acquaintance, IH but she cast discretion to tho winds. H Sho had wanted life, and she know H she was going to taste it tonight- H |