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Show I The Signs in the I Tea Cups I By DOROTHY DOUGLAS i IL'opyrtylil.l AVERY dainty maid deposited a not too dainty breakfast tray in Tommy's room and after arranging it nicely on the table departed. Tommy , finished his shave ns Ihe door closed i and sat down in his wine-colored silk ! bath robe to enjoy his peaches and cream, eggs and bacon and then his toast and marmalade. Tommy always drank tea for his breakfast because the doctor had most emphatically ordered coffee out of Tommy's diet. And, as Tommy poured his tea his mind was leaping ahead to the hopeful chance he had of putting through the big leather deal in Albany for his firm. Twenty minutes later the maid again entered his room to remove the tray and leave the table clear for Tommy's forty minutes' desk work. He was putting his papers back Into In-to his brief case and slipping his boat ticket for convenience Into his cigarette cigar-ette case when a somewhat imperative knock sounded at his door. Having called permission to enter he turned to see the. maid again, looking much disturbed. "Excuse me, sir," she said swiftly and advanced toward Tommy with an empty tea cup In her hand, "but I couldn't help coming up to warn you not to travel by water this day. I've read your tea cup for the day and there's danger by water. Oh, please, sir, don't go by boat." Tommy grinned but couldn't help seeing the very real distress in the altogether charming face of the little maid. "I was just putting my boat ticket j to Albany in my case," he said. "It is so hot today that I'm going by river instead of rail. What's the idea about the tea leaves?" "Oh, sir, my granny and my mother before me have always read the tea cups for the day, and even as a wee bairn in Scotland I was taught to see the signs. I saw this cup on the tray, and so " the girl's cheeks were exquisitely ex-quisitely pink by now with the stress of her plea "I just came straight up to ask you please not to travel by water wa-ter this day." "Well," laughed Tommy, "if you see no more of me during the next few months you can suspect the worst. It was kind of you, however, to want to warn me." Then Tommy did a quite unexpected thing for him. He took the? pretty (lushed face in his bauds and kissed it. A second later there was a stinging sting-ing slap on his left cheek and the door closed with a sharp bang. Tommy whistled. However, he had not much time to think of pretty maids but hustled out and changed his mind about the trip up the Hudson. Hud-son. He went by train. He had no reason to offer. Just something apart from the physical man turned him trainward. The extras were all oiit by evening the same day. There had been a bad fire, followed by panic and a considerable consider-able loss of life on the boat that Tommy Tom-my would have taken. Tommy read each and every word about it, and as he did so the vision of a very charming face troubled and pleading with him insisted on coming between his eyes and the paper. And Tommy somewhat shamefacedly rubbed the cheek where the much-deserved slap had been put into effect. As a matter of fact, Tommy was tremendously sorry he had so suddenly sudden-ly kissed the girl and would have written an apology had he had any Idea of her name. The best he could do was to hope she would be at the hotel still when he again reached New York. But it was many weeks before business busi-ness again took him there and much to his secret disappointment he found .! that the girl had left. He was eating one day in one of the downtown Bohemian restaurants when he saw a crowd of heads all grouped around some one who was apparently a source of Interest. "That," said the waiter, satisfying Tommy's curiosity, "is Heather. She's making a small fortune reading tea cups at all the big and little ten rooms In the city." Tommy was a little unsteady about the feet as he made his way to the table indicated and some time later as he watched the girl called Heal her approaching and saw that It was the little maid of the hotel he felt even more unsteady. He didn't know bat what she would slap his other cheek when she saw him. However, Heather did nothing like that. Instead she very nearly fainted faint-ed upon seeing again one she had supposed sup-posed was long past the need of tea and cinnamon toast. "First, I want to apologize for kissing kiss-ing you," said Tommy. "I have no excuse except an overwhelming desire to do so. You were so adorably love ly " Tommy broke off to watch lleathet circle his cup three times to the left, then invert it in his saucer and also to watch with triumphant in terest the flame of rose that shot Into her cheeks "hut I have been sorry every day since." Heather had now picked up the cup again ami was Intently studying the loaves therein. "And what would the audi wives in Scotland do if they had those sign" in their early morning tea cps?' questioned Tommy. "This particular sign wouldn't be It any wife's cup." was all Heather wool' -ny. But her eyes told Tommy man .liings. |