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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1922)
5 VMS' E23 Coll??! THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, NOVEMBER 26, 1923 T7l ' jf?s y In the Classic Words of Mr. Sidney Skigg to Miss Maudlin Weskit, "Is We Is, or Is We Ain't?" SIDNEY 6KIGG majestically trod the rostrum and oozed oratory. .This was the organization meeting of the Amalgamated Order ot Laboring Ladies, and Sidney Sklgg was the inspired organizer. As he gazed the length and breadth ot the hall upon the sea of eager, feminine Afro-American faces he knew that his project could not fall, that once more in a rather hectic career he was to be made affluent as the result of an in spiration. His fervid voice rolled sono rously over the gathering: "An' bo, my deah sister'n, I says to you that us is gwine come into our own an' also somebody else's own. It's like the poeck says: 'T'getner we Stan's an' di vided we ain't worth nothin'.' Also, 'In unions there is strength,' an' what we is gwine be is the mostest pow'ful union which is, on account the white folks ain't gwine know nothin' 'bout us bein' unioned. "So I says to you now,; All of you ladies is got jobs. Some ot you is cooks an' some of you is nusses, an' some of you jes' wuks. But they ain't ary one of you which ain't willin' to git mo' money than ,what you now gits fo" doin the same 'mount of wuk. An' the 'Malgamated Order of Laborin' Ladles is gwine see to It that you does that same. "What you does is this: You Jines up heah t'night. It don' cos" you 'ary cent not now n'r never. You signs up an' you takes a solemn oath which you won't never go to heavom if'n you busts it. An' that oath says that at the end of th'ee months ev'y one of you goes to the white lady which you wuks fo" an' says you is gwine quit yo' job!" ; He paused impressively. There was a etartled, unbelieving gasp from the en thralled assemblage, a nervous twisting in chairs. Withholding momentarily the bombshell he was about to. explode, Sid ney Skigg's eyes sought the dusky face of the fair Maudlin Weskit, who was seated cn the aisle four rows back from the ros trum. Sidney dumbly pleaded with Maud lin to take note of his greatness. But Maudlin discouraged him with a stern stare of intransigent disapproval. Yet she was Interested, they were all inter ested, and nearly eight hundred pairs of eyes focused upon the face of the dapper orator and tensely waited his further ex planations. "Now lis'en at me close. Th'ee months turn t'night ev'y one of you says to yo' white folks that you is quittin'. You says that an' tha'B all what you says. By that time we is gwine have a thousan' members, ev'y one of 'em fine cullud ladies, which wuks on'y fo' quality folks. An' what you reckon happens when all them cullud ladies prognosticates to quit? What you reckons happens, huh? I asts you!" He hesitated, dramatically, then waved his muscular arms wildly. "I'se tellin' you wha's gwine happen. Wha's gwine happen is that 'bout th'ee or fo' hund'ed of them white ladles ain't gwine let you quit. They ain't gwine 'low it. An' when they says you ha'n't ought to quit an' why is you quittin' you says, 'Jes quitin', tha's all!' An' then they asts you will you keep yo' job if'n they gives you a dollar a week raise!" Came a tentative handclapping. The ' t udience was beginning to catch the drift ct Mr. Skigg's scheme. "An' so," continued the spellbinder en thusiastically. "Mebbe two hund'ed, th'ee hund'ed, gits a dollar a week raise, an you is jes' that much better off. An' them which the white folks lets quit, they comes down to the office of the 'Malga mated Order of Laborin' Ladies an' re ports that they ain't got no Job. An' tha's where I comes in. On account I keeps a record of all Jobs an' the wages which each cullud lady gits in said Job. So happens it that one five-dollar-a-week cook is 'lowed to quit, I sen's her to a lady which also she let a five-dollar-a-week cook quit, an' that white lady gits her another girl at the same price. In other words, them two gals jes' swaps jobs, an' not neither one of 'em loses mo'n a day's wuk, an' they gits a heap ot spe-ience tryin' out new jobs. An', sis ter'n, I'se tellin' you, sooner or later ev'y white lady is gwine git her a gal under this plan, which she Is gwine give her a raise instld of losin' her!" He stepped back, smiling triumphantly. For a few seconds silence held then came a wild, tumultuous outburst Ot ap plause. And Sidney Skigg knew that ha had won. "An" now I reckon you-all desiahs to know where I comes In at, on account I thunk of this idee right outen my own haid an' does all the wuk. Sister'n, I is a flanthropist. I asts no money not none a tall. It don" cos' you one single penny to jine up. You jines an' you takes the swear-oath an' all what I gets out ot it is a share in them raises which you gits fum the white folks. At the end of th'ee months ev'y sister which gits a raise pays me 25 pussent of that raise s'long's ehe gits it. In other words, she pays me 25 cents out of ev'y dollar she gits mo' than what she got befo'. Ao' then ev'y dollar raise she gits after that fust raise, she pays me on'l 10 cents. Jes" one lil thin, measly dime. Rememberin' this, sisters you ain't payin' me outen yo' wages you is payin' me exclusive outen the profits I gits fo' you! An' now the lis's is open. I asts you to tawm on the right an come hence to sign yo' names an' take them oaths. Come one come all!" They came. They fought to inscribe their names on the list. Here was some thing new, something which guaranteed profit and exacted toll only from that profit. It never occurred to them" that this was' a very good thing indeed for the astute Mr. Sidney Skigg. The fact that at the end of three months he stood to de rive au enormous weekly income did not bother them. In the first place, that was three months in the future. And there wasn't a woman present who was not willing to join any society which ex acted no payment in advance. At midnight only a halt dozen women were left in the hall. And the last one to sign was Miss Maudlin Weskit. She ap peared on the list as the seven hundred and sixty-first member. Sidney Skigg had wilted visibly under the strain. He was slumped in a chair, with only the fire of exaltation in his eyes giving evidence of his triumph. For awhile he had forgotten Maudlin, but now as she reached for the pen and muttered the oath of tealty he rose and stood be side her. "I'se pow'ful glad you has Jined up, Maudlin." Her nose became 6lightly-elevated. "I ain't Jinin' up cause'ri you is the organiz er, Mistuh Skigg. I'se Jinin' up on ac count all my frien's is done so." He gazed at her with worshipful eyes. And then, assuring himself that they were alone in the hall, his hand covered hers. "Honey." Her hand was removed suddenly and completely. "You honey yo' ownse'f." "But, sweetness." "When you talks to me, Mistuh Skigg, I reques' that you addresses me polite." "But, Maudlin ain't we engage'?" '. "I ain't said we ain't." "But you ain't sayin' we is." - "I ain't sayin' nothin'." "Well," desperately, "is we is, or is we ain't?" "I reckon you should ought to know, Mistuh Skigg. If'h you mean, was we en gage', I answers that we was." "But, honeybunch ain't us gwine an bought furniture t'gether to put in our house when we gits one?" "Huh!" She injected a world of scorn into the exclamation. "Says which?" "Says ain't we bought furniture t'gether? Fo' hund'ed dollars' worth?" "No!" She -bit off the word violently. "Says we,stahted to' buy furniture, but ever sence you paid them fust fifty dol lars I has be'n payin' the rest. One hund'd and fifty dollars I has paid on that fu'niture an'-fifty dollars I is behime in my paymints. So I reckon it's m& which k buyin' it not us!" Sidney Skigg put out- a protesting . hand. "You is onfair to me, sweetness; an' that ain't the fondest thing I is of." "What you ain't fondest of don' intrust me none whichsoever," came the cutting retort. "I goes an' gits engage' to you an'-' we buys a heap of fu'niture, plannin' to pay to' same befo' we gits it. You pays the fust fifty dollars an' then you quits payin'." . "Man cain't make no payments when he ain't got no money." "Man ain't no man which ain't got money." v- "I Is got brains." "The kin' of brains you is got ain't no good without eggs." ... "But, honey," he pleaded, "ain't I plan nin to pay some mo' on our fu'niture?" , "Plannin' ain't savin' me no money. 8n "In th'ee months," she snapped, "I is gwine have that fu'niture." "But 'bout our 'gagement?" "They's on'y one thing 'bout our 'gage ment, Mistuh Sidney Skigg. I'se glad I had enough beforesight ' to make it a secrit!" And as she flounced from the hall, dis-. dalning his escort, he gazed after her with eyes in which true love burned brightly. "I begins to sispec'," he moaned, "that Maudlin don' love me no mo'!" In which conclusion he was only part right. Maudlin did love him, loved him as passionately as she had on that memor able moonlight night when she pledged him her heart, hand and weekly wages. But Maudlin was slightly out of patience. . It was all the fault of that furniture. Four hundred dollars' worth they had se lected at a big store on Fourth avenue; four hundred dollars' worth, deliverable when the four hundredth dollar was paid. One hundred weekly instalments of four dollars each. Their plan was glorious and sane." They were to marry when the furniture was theirs absolutely and In fee. Then they intended buying an automobile on the in stallment plan and so establish them selves in the forefront of colored society. The ten dollars down had been paid cheerfully insouciantly by Sidney. For ten weeks thereafter he shelled out the weekly installment of four dollars. Then, finding himself forced to seek credit at Bud Peaglar's Barbecue lunch room and billiard parlors for thrice dail eatments, he informed his lady love that the finan cial burden was temporarily hers. It did not bother her particularly that the partly paid for furniture stood in the r.ame of her subrosa fiance. She gave him credit for gentlemanly instincts and knew that he would cheerfully relinquish his equity to her on presentation of the proper amount of cash. But what did bother her was that the furniture man was waxing Impatient and demanding past, present and future payments. She argued, begged, pleaded and ca joled, but the furniture man was adamant. He convinced her that despite the 'fact nat he still held the furniture, any fur ther delinquency on her part would result in forfeiture of the money already paid to him. And the mere though ot losing Sid ney's fifty, her contribution of triple that... amount, and that elegant, polished furni ture which they, together had selected, was intolerable. And bo, after this last interview with Mr. Skigg, wherein she became convinced ' cnce and for all of his inability to help her out of the present pressing financial difficulty, she bethought herself of ways and means of escape. And that meant that the portly figure of Mr. Zekiel Binion was uppermost in her mind. Maudlin was not fond of Zekiel Binion, but that had nothing whatever to do with ber present calculations. What did count was the tact that Mr .Binion was very fond of her. So fond, in tact, that he spoke of his own glories only 90 per cent of the time he was with her, consuming the other 10 per cent in voluminous ex planations of the magnificence which would be hers should she consent to be come Mrs. Zekiel Binion. The following morning, after a night of deep, headachy thought, Maudlin led Mr. Binion into a proposal of marriage. And then, at the psychological moment, she re belled and turned him down He walked mournfully away from her, turning at the door for a lugubrious Parthian shot: "One of these heah days, Maudlin, you is gwine fin' out what a swell man you ain't ma'led to!" ' Three weeks passed and as each slipped swiftly away Maudlin found her back more solidly against the wall of trouble. On each .- of three successive Saturday nights she visited the furniture man and handed him four dollars from her eight dollar wages. Each Sunday morning she inspected with increased interest the pom pous Mr. Binion. Each Sunday noon she decided that he was less Impossible. And. each Sunday night at church she longed to take Sidney Skigg for worse or worser with furniture or without. But it was on a Wednesday night that the decision was brought to her. On that particular day she was visited at her place ct employment by an agent for the furni ture store. That white gentleman talked gruffly, fluently, and damhingly. He made it very clear indeed that if she did not pay in full the overdue installments the total amount paid in would be de clared forfeit and her equity gone. That in itself was sufficient to bring her to the point of surrender. , , The climax was capped that night at prayer meeting. Mr. Sidney Skigg was there assisting the choir. It was his first vocal appearance in many weeks, and there was no denying the fact that he slung a wicked baritone. Not only that, but he used it once in a pathetic little lallad which was introduced to relieve an obvious tedium. It had to do with broken hearts and well - tended graves, where jilted lovers lay more or less peace fully sleeping. And after the meeting he joined her in the church, surreptitiously clasped her hand, and suggested that they be married that night. He had a friend, he explained, who worked in the court house, knew the probate judge and could arrange an Immediate marriage license. And the heartwrung Maudlin almost succumbed. Almost not quite. She emerged from the love maze dazed and 4 gasping for breath, thankful for her nar row escape, yet vaguely regretful. She dismissed Mr. Sklgg in a manner so posi tive that he became quit sure his heart was hopelessly smashed and his chances of her hand forever blighted. That night Mr. Zekiel Binion escorted her home. He proposed. And she, fright ened by her narrow escape from marriage to Sidney Skigg with its consequent in evitable loss of the already partly paid for furniture consented to become Mrs. Binion. They were strolling up avenue F at the time. They turned into Seventeenth street and Mr. Binion took the future Mrs. Binion up In his arms tor the first kiss of their betrothal. She yielded, then broke away with the question upermost in her mind. "Is you rilly got money saved up, Zekiel?" ..-.-. . "Money?. Me?" He swelled with pride. "Huh! Money is the on'y thing I ain't got nothin' else but". She sighed relievedly. Mr. Binion was not entirely convincing, but at least it was a pleasure to be engaged to a man who possessed an optimistic tongue. After Sidney Skigg poor Sidney! An' idea came to Maudlin. "Zekiel?" "Call me sweetness." t "Sweetness?" "Yeh, honey?" "I Is got on'y one reques' to ast of you lefo' becomin' engage'." "What you asts fum me Is a command fo same, my darlin'." "I asts this, sweetness. I asts that I ' an' you keep our 'gagement secret fo' awhile." "Aw!" x . She became impatient. "If'n you ain't willin' to keep it secret, then you nee'n't keepitatal!" "But if'n I an' you is engage' to git ma'ied?" "I never said we was engage' to git ma'ied. I jes' on'y said we was engage'." Mr. Binion shrugged resignedly. "Have it 'yo own way, Maudlin, honey. Lovin' jou like'n to what I does, they ain't nothin' I woul'n't do fo' you." He paused and looked pridefully upon her palpitant beauty. "Not nothin'." Deliberately and with malice afore thought her mind on th furniture- Maudlin vamped him. She flashed him an intriguing glance from beneath half closed lids. "You honest means that, Zekiel?" "Call me sweetness." "You rilly, truly means what you said, sweetness?" "Crost my heaht an' hope to turn to a tripe." "I wonder." Her head bowed; "Fo a long time, sweetness, I is be'n thlnkln' that mebbe some day I an you was gwine to git ma'ied to each other." "Hones'?" "Hones'. And so I is be'n savin' up a s'prise fo' you." : "Hot dam! Maudlin, I. Jes' loves s'prlses." "This is a turrible fine one." . "Tell it to me, honey; tell it to me." She hesitated. "I was thinkln', sweet-, ress, that when us got ma'ied we'd go to housekeepln'." She did not notice that his face fell slightly. "An' so a long time : ego when I fust oft decided that I was ,-wine ma'y you, I went down to the fu'niture man an' bought me to' hund'ed dollars' wuth of the swellest fu'niture which is." ' "Fo' hund'ed!" he choked. Zekiel Binion gasped for air. Facts were falling too fast for his comprehen sion. "Wh where I comes in at?" She took the plunge. "Sence this fu'ni ture Is bein' bought to' you, Zekiel sweetness I wants you. to loaned me them 'stalments I is behime an' lemme pay 'em all up." "H-h-hhow much them 'stallments is?" Again she hesitated. First she decided upon the truth, then determined that there was no use piking. "Fifty dollars!" Mr. Binion's portly figure wilted visibly. "Fifty dollars!" "he gasped, incredu lously. "Cash?" " "Cash money. Co'se that ain't nothin' to a man which Is got a heap of money like'n to what you is got. I woul'n't ma'y no man which fifty dollars was real money to." "When you wants this heah fifty dol lars?" "T'morrow." Zekiel Binion hesitated. Here was a matter demanding severe Judicial thought. Fifty dollars! But on the other hand it was a good investment, and he had worked mighty hard to obtain Maudlin's . consent. " 'Tain't so easy glttin' titty dollars." "Oughtn't to be hahd to' a fine man like'n to what you is, sweetness." "No. Co'se not. On'y " She stamped her foot. "Does you git it fo me tomorrow, or ain't we engage'?" He slipped. He fell. "I I gits it for' you t'morrow. We is engage'!" And the following afternoon he handed her ten crisp five-dollar notes. There was nothing cheerful about him as he did so. There was, in fact, a rather pathetic droop to the lips and a sagging of the ample waist line. But such a radiant girl as Maudlin, he figured, was cheap at the price. "You pays up them back 'stallments," he said, "with them fifty dollars. But does you espec' me to keep on payin' fo' dollars ev'y week?" She held her head pridefully high. "I mos' suttinly does not. I is a lady, an' a lady pays her own 'stalments." She dared hold no converse with Mr. Skigg. She knew that she. was naught but a weak woman, and that she could not hold outforever against his passionate avowals of undying, if poverty - stricken love. And Sidney, convinced now that he was definitely and permanently relegated to the discard, slumped into a slough of despond. Maudlin's attitude fostered that belief. For Maudlin wisely refused to trust her self in Mr. Skigg's dominating society. That was where the fifty-dollar loan from her present fance proved a good Invest ment. Knowing that Zekiel Binion had .invested in Mr. Skigg's furniture to the tune of half a hundred dollars, she was ' afraid of an expose should Zekiel and Sidney get together. Sidney she could handle. Zekiel was utterly impossible. With the approach ot the end of the first three-month period in the life ot the Amalgamated Order of Laboring Ladles, . Sidney Skigg found himself too' busy to worry constantly about Maudlin.. For some weeks the dapper Mr. Skigg had found the sledding not at all to his liking. He was wearing his belt two notches tighter than usual and pork chops had become to him a mere matter ot memory. For a hearty meal of that succulent deli cacy he would have bartered his chances of paradise. And tor a full platter of barbecue meat ' And then the three months' period ended and a cataclysm descended upon the good housewives of Birmingham. On that memorable day precisely eight hundred and two colored servants pre sented themselves before their mistresses and announced that they intended to leave. In almost every case the dialogue which ensued was the same. "Leave!" Horrified. "Going to leave?" "Yas'm." "Why?" "Jes' gwine leave; tha's all." ; "Aren't you satisfied with the place?" "Yes'm. Puffec'ly satisfied. But I reckon I'se gwine leave." "But you can't! Don't you know that I've got company coming and " . "Awful sorry, ma'am. But I'se jes' sort of got a hankerln' to leave off turn wuk." A tew more than five hundred prostrat ed housekeepers allowed the conversation to end there. Approximately three hun dred of them, driven to desperation, delved more deply into the problem. "Isn't the work easy enough?" "Yas'm, the wuk ain't so turible hahd." "The hours are easy?" "I ain't kickin' bouten the hours." "Then why are you leaving?" "Jes leavin', ma'am. Tha's all." "You can't leave! I refuse to allow it. Eupose I raise your wages?" "Dunno, ma'am. ' Reckon I might stay on if'n you was to do that." So it was that three hundred and twenty domestic servants members of the Amal gamated Order of Laboring Ladles re-, ceived an average salary increase ot one ' dollar per week. They did not reneg on the share due Sidney Skigg. Such an Idea never oc curred to them. And at the end of the first week of the new dispensation Mr. Skagg found hmiself possessed ot eighty dollars and some cents in cash money. As soon as the pressure of work lifted Mr. Skigg set out violently for Sally Crouch's Cozy Home hotel. He negotiated the first block in ten flat and the balance of the distance in a trifle less than noth ing at all. He summoned the overstout proprietress of that colored hostelry and ordered the finest meal she had ever pre pared, price no object. Two. hours later he shoved his chair back from the table. Within him there was a beatific sensation . of unutterable fullness. For the first time In. a month he was emancipated from the gnawing pangs ot hunger. He sent out for a 25- cent cigar. And then, beneath its cloak ot fragrant smoke, he inspected his cash. Eighty dollars! Eighty dollars this week and next week and the week after that! Confronted by the physical pres ence of the cash, Mr. Skigg was stunned. He knew himself now for a super -Napoleon of finance, beside whom all other Napoleons were raw amateurs. In his : hand was eighty dollars in cash and e.Ighty dollars in cash is many imes more important than eighty dollars in written figures. And the glory of it was that this first payment stamped the Amalgamated Order of Laboring -Ladies with success. Ot course, Sidney knew that eventually the society would disintegrate. But that calamity was far in the future and, mean while, he was to become wealthy beyond all dreams of avarice. Meanwhile, Maudlin Weskit was plumb ing the nadir ot misery. She knew from current gossip that the order had been, impressed with the seal ot success and that Sidney Skigg was wallowing in afflu ence and destined to continue wallowing. She did not love him any more tor it, but certainly she did not love him any less. For a brief instant Maudlin considered . goingg to Sidney and making a clean breast qf it That idea was discarded al most as soon as born. It would never do for no man ot Sidney Skigg's code of honor would tolerate for a moment the t thought of another man's financial con tribution to his own set of household fur niture. Also Maudlin was confronted by an ad ditional problem. Being a girl of keen perception, she was well aware ot the fact that her status in the household where she was employed was none too good. Should she abide ty the laws of the Amalgamated Order ot Laboring Ladies and announce her intention of leaving, her mistress would bid her god speed.. She was not so poor a- nurse as to be discharged ; she was yet too poor a one to become the recipient of a raise in wages. That afforded a loophole, of course. Yet Maudlin stood. in terror ot Zekiel Binion. She was afraid to alllow that ponderous, egoistic gentleman out of her sight. It, therefore, behooved her to re main at her present place of employment So that she reluctantly drew 25 cents from her weekly eight dollars and car ried it down to the office of the order. She placed the money on the desk of Mr. Sidney Sklgg. "I gotten me a dollar raise. ' Heah's yo' two bits." He tried to return it "Aw, Maudlin, 1 don't want to take money fum you." "You is got to take it, Mistuh Skigg. Tha's the oath which I done swore at." '. "But, honeybunch . . .." The stark tragedy of the situation well nigh wrecked her resolve. Tears hovered close to the border. Here was the desirable Sidney Skigg still consumed with love of her . . . and she bound ethically and financially to Zeeklel Binion. "Ain't you gwine make ma'iage with me, Maudlin?" She shook her head. "Don' you love me no mo'?" "Love ain't got nothin' to do with it, Sidney. Not nothin' a tall.". "Well," hopefully. "I'se got money now. See heah eighty dollars less one meal, An' I'se gwine have eighty dollars or mo' coming in ev'y week fum now on henceforthward. Eighty dollars, Maudlin TJs c'n be the swellest cullud folks in Bummin'hanl. Please." "O-o-o-oh! Sidney," she wailed, speed ing for the door lest her affections should overcome her. "Even fo' eight hund'ed dollars I couldn't do it!" In the days which followed misery dwelt sogglly with all three of them; with the melancholy Sidney Skigg, with the wracked Maudlin Weskit, and with the entirely bewildered Zekiel Binion. Once and only once Mr. Binion made the tactical error of chiding Maudlin. "Seems like that you ain't happy 'bout bein' engage' to a fine teller like'n to what I is." "Seems like ain't is." "It's most is. 'Cause if'n it seems like is to me, then so far as I is concerned at it is is." She flung around angrily. "Ev'y time jo' opens yo mouth, Zekiel Binion nothin' comes out!" "But Maudlin " "Zekiel Binion you ha'n't better ast me no mo' questions. 'Cause if'n you does I is libel to tell you what I rilly thinks. An' If'n I does that same, Zekiel, you is gwine be mo' unhappier than what you now is!" And for once in his self-centered life, Mr. Binion saw the handwriting on the wall, deciphered it and was wisely silent And, meanwhile, Sidney Skagg was do , Ing the heaviest thinking of a brilliantly thoughtful career. The money was com ing in weekly. Eighty-four dollars the second week; eighty-six the third; nearly ninety the fourth. Money, money every where and nary a woman to spend it on. The Amalgamated Order ot Laboring Ladies was a sensational triumph. Female domestics clamored for membership and Sidney was becoming captious. Only the best was his rule nowi only members with a prospect of returning dividends. No second-class cooks or nurses or maids allowed on his roster. Suddenly the long, wide feet of Mr. Sidney Skigg came down to the floor with a bang! For a few seconds be sat rigid, Jaw dropping, eyes popped open. Then he rose and paced the room in a frenzy of thought. ' And finally he executed a hand stand and kicked his heels together in the air. It was the ultimate gesture of triumph. Once again mind, bade fair to rise supreme above mere matter. Sidney Skigg was nothing if not a man ot aetlon. His Inspirational scheme was desperate, hazardous, demanded that he take a gambler's chance, but Sidney was in a mood and financial condition to balk a"t nothing. ' - - Within two hours he had rented a cozy bungalow on avenue G. It was a little gem of a place with radishes and lettuce growing In the front yard, rose vines curl ing above a neat veranda, and four ele gantly papered rooms within. In the rear there was a chicken run and a place for more vegetables. But Sidney did not stop there. From his battered old trunk he rescued the original furniture contract, and immedi ately made speed to the store. ' "That furniture I was buyin' down heah; Boss Man: how much money is owin' on it now?" A consultation with the bookkeeper elicited information which tore at the heartstrings of Sidney Skigg. "One hun dred and twenty-eight dollars!" Sidney was sad yet elated: Bad over the fact that Maudlin had slaved to keep up the installments elated because there must have been good reason tor so doing. "If'n I was to pay you all them hund'ed tin twen"y-elght dollars in cash money, Boss Man, could you deliver them furni tures down to my house on avenue G right away?" The furniture man agreed and Sidney Sklgg paid over to him one hundred and twenty-eight dollars, taking therefor a receipt in full. Then he signed a new contract, paid down twenty dollars addi tional, and added to the delivery order a cabinet phonograph and a half dozen jazz records. From there he went to the courthouse, where his janitor friend prevailed upon the probate office to issue a marriage license. And, four hours later, when dark had settled gently over the city of Birming ham, Sidney Skigg presented himself at the home of Miss Maudlin Weskit. At first she refused point blank to grant him an audience. But finally she cUd, and from that moment she was lost. Sidney did not allow the conversation to veer into personal channels. He In formed the teary Maudlin that something had transpired which was epochal. There was something vitally concerning them both which she must see. He refused to go into details. And, finally, by preying upon her curiosity, he Induced her to ac company him. There was little said between them as they walked down avenue G. Rather there was a silence which was pregnant with possibility. Sidney's heart was thumping in his bosom beneath the new lavender silk shirt purchased that after noon. And Maudlin, sensing that some thing tremendous was about to transpire, . was content to keep silent They paused before Sidney Skigg's bun galow. Maudlin gasped rapturously: "It's elegant, Sidney!" "You rilly think so?" "It's as sweet as sweet as as home baked ham!" "I is got the key to it," said he. "Lemme show you inside." Nervously she waited on the porch as he stepped within and turned on the elec ' trie lights. Then he threw wide the front c".oor and escorted her across the thresh old. - At first she did not understand. And then slowly the idea penetrated her brain. There was her lounge, her center table, her dining-room suite, her ornate bric-a-brac. And, in addition thereto, a phono graph valiantly spurting music into the room. Sidney, stopped the music and faced her. But if he expected rapture he found only consternation. "Oh! my Gawd! Sidney what has you went an' done?" He explained explained tremulously yet fluently. No lover of romance ever argued with greater force. He sketched the hopeless history of his undying pas sion for her, of this last heroic plunge for success and, as he talked, he slipped a nervous arm about her waist and held her tight against him. And then he pro duced the marriage license. Maudlin wept. She longed to cuddle In the protecting arms of this magnificent man, but lurking in the mental back ground was the specter of the insuffer able Zekiel Binion and the fifty dollars which he had paid upon this furniture which now graced the home of Sidney . Skigg. ... There was stark, unmitigated horror in , the vision. She knew Sidney and she realized that if he should discover her engagement to Zekiel Binion their own tffalr would be forever at an end. He would then think that she was marrying him for his money. And she wasn't; it was the Injustice of her position which tortured. And suddenly she faced him. "Sid ney?" "Yes, honey?" "You wants me to ma'y you t'night?" "Oh, sweetness " Her face flamed lavender. "Don't call me no sweetness. I hates that word!" "I'd ruther ma'y you than " "Then lis'en at me." She spoke with fierce passion. "I ma'ies you t'night on jes' one condition. You gimme fifty dol lars fifty dollars cash money. I goes home to get me my trousseau. I come back heah in two hours. You has the preacher an' us gits ma'ied. But, Sid ney you promises you ain't ne' gwine ast me what I do with them fifty dollars you is gwine loaned me now!" She bent forward tensely. And quietly he reached into his pocket. Therefrom he extracted two crisp twenty-dollar bills and a ten-dollar note slightly torn at one end. The remainder of his cash a single frayed dollar he returned to his pocket. .He placed the fifty dollars in her hand. "In two hours, Maudlin, honey," said he, "I'se gwine be heah with the preacher." It was a woman wildly delirious with happiness who left her future home and made amazing haste to the mansion on Highland avenue where she and Zekiel Binion were fellow servants. In the butler's pantry she found the impressive Zekiel, and into his palm she pressed the two crips new twenty-dollar bills and the ten-dollar note which was slightly torn at one end. ' "There's that fifty dollars you done loant me, Zekiel. Ev'y last cent of it!" Zekiel was hot averse to accepting the money. In tact, he appeared very much relieved. "An now," finished Maudlin, "it gives me great pleasure to tell you that I an' you ain't engage' no mo". Not even a lil hit!" Zekiel Binion protested, but she only laughed. And finally he turned away angrily. "I always knowed you was a Id jit! " he growled surlily. "Any woman w.hich has got her a chance to ma'y me an' don' do same is a fool!" Maudlin flung out of the house. To her own room she .went and began pack ing a frayed' straw suitcase with her honeymoon garments. And meanwhile Mr. Sidney Skigg had been busy. Arrangements for the mar riage ceremony were satisfactorily made with Reverend Plato Tubb of the First African M. E. church on the basis ot spot cash. And suddenly Mr. Sklgg bethought himself ot something. He delved into his pocket and produced therefrom one vet eran dollar bill and a few nickels. Clearly it would never do to get mar ried with only that amount of cash on hand. He dived into a telephone booth and called the house where Zekiel Binion was employed. When Zekiel's voice (Concluded on Pass 8.)