s
THE i OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 'lO.J',
Out-
A Story of the Bachelor and
the Elusive Overhead Lodger
v By Charles Belmont Davis
(Copyright by The North Amtrlcin Company.)
fT-HE thought bM eeourrad to roe of late, with aucn
, I - frequency and with so much Insistence, that I
X m "trdngly inclined to believe that It rout have
always Uin dormant lomtwhtri In ene of the :
colla of my bram. As a obild, and later as young man,
I enjoyed tho Mm moderate exhilaration wWcb ill .
cJty-bred. folk seem ! to feet for th clean air, the bluer,
eky, tb flowered fields, and tb sheltering forests of tbo
country; but aopording to thl theory, of late ao eon
tantly before ma, I can not well but believe that the
origins Intention of Kate wse that I ehould live ray.
little span of yaan on a well-watered, well-woodsd farm;
that such- a mind had been' allotted to ma .should
ripen under broad skies and a biasing ouh; that my body
ehould grow strong! la the open field; that the hora
punching bla oata tn hla stall, the fat pink pig n We
sty, the chicken and gsess and Che turkeya,in Che farm '
yard, 1 ehould count among' my Intimates. Just a aura
ae I am- thac I should have broadened in the pure air
and developed on the simple product of the farm, Just
ao euro a'm 4 that tinder the sams benign Influences 1
ehould have; mellowed In soul and body and lomi of these
data withered away in eh twlligtof, aa it fU over the
tiiaiua una crwiiHuif aarMiwi iuvo ins purpie nigni, nut-
things do mot always happen aa they were intended,
JTuet aa Fate was about to leave roe in peace' at a nice
old farmhouse, aomabody ma to have nudged Fate'e
elbow, and I waa Inadvertently dropped into a three
Worn bachelor flat on a aide atreet between Broadway
and Fifth avenue, although I muet confess my Imme
diate neighborhood la mora redolent of, Che former
tiorpughfare-4ha moral tone of the little street Itflprov'-.
log greatly aa It approaches the more aristocratic avenue,
Below me, en the street floor, there Is a shop where
guests from the nearby hotels and many ladles of the
stage have their soiled glove and lingerie shirt waists
cleaned,, and just over this there Is a more ornately
decorated floor where Madame Uuelqueohose sells' Palis
wats and msnteeux to a most exclusive carriage trade.
Above me there ta one more three-room apartment, very
much like my own, occupied at various times by various .
neighbors (name unknown) who glower at me and then
burry on through the ill-lit hallways. Across tho street,
Just opposite, there Is the stage door of a, theater much
given over to comic operas, and In front of this there
Is an Iran railing enclosing a small yard Where the
aurly doorkeeper lt all day and most of the night
playing with a black cat; and here it ,1s that the. chorus
girls linger for a last word with the men friends who
modestly accompany them afoot or more ostentatiously '
whirl them up in dark, ailent hansoms or in glistening.
noisy, brass-bound automobiles.
At the Fifth avenue end of phe street there Is a most
stately looking and somewhat old-fashioned apartment
bouse; next to this two fine examples or the old-time
New York, homes still occupied by descendants of the
original Dutch families who built them. Both sides of
ou street are "faced with shops much Ilka those under
my own modest home, and above these there are many
hives for men and women bachelors. Of my neighbors
I know, or the world at large knows, but little the
blinds are down and tave curtains drawn except on euclr
occasions as whan a flre-engtne clangs by or a parade
with a blaring band passes along Flfith avenue.
So far as I can judge, most of us on WO particular
aid street, always excepting those at tha two homes of
tha aristocrats, lead pretty much the same kind of Ufa
--that is, so far as our meals are concerned. For
breakfast we depend on our Vvisiting ivalete" and col
ored maids, and for luncheon and dinner w go to the
HoXbrauhaus or to tho restaurant around the corner on
Broadway. Of course tfhere are many and brilliant-ex-captions
;to vthie regime; . quite frequently1 at night a
grands dame, usually accompanied by a jeune fllle, from
usf of the two exclusive homes, drives away in the
TaanUy ooaoh, and hardly a night panes that a hansom
or. a glistening brougham does not dash around the
corner at our end of the street and atop before one or
another of tha dark, foreboding, brownstone fronts. A
young man, in evening clothes. Jumps lightly out, throws
away hla cigarette, and disappears in the dark vestibule'
at the top of the brownstone steps; but we all con-'
tlnue to peek out firom behind our green holland
shades, for we know that the best part is yet to come.
Sometimes she keeps us waiting a Jong Ume, but it Is
weli worth the while, for ah Is always looking quite
lovely In her diaphanous filmy clothes and a lace ouat
hl hat (generally black), a mass of sold trinkets
f. lLiwt8t iml square gold purse swinging from
her white-gloved hand. Ae they puw we can see the
glow of the girls dress and the man's broad shirt
front snd the little red light from his cigarette. It is
not difficult tor us less fortunate Ones to imagine that
we calk even detect the smilintf features of the callow c
youth and hear the low laughter of the girl, for we
know, that they are off to the gay world of red lamp
ahadea and' Hungarian banda. Of vintage wines ana the
very best of French cooking-
J Of the many lodgers who- have occupied the rooms
over my own I cunnot recall any one Who was the im
mediate causa of .hansoms or highly burnished broug
ham sbloeking our thoroughfare. Of the personality of
these various lodgers, I have, as a rule, been wholly
ignorant At intervals 1 have met them on the stairway
once there was a little child who playod about the hall
ways In a loneljr sort of way and with whom I ex
changed greetings, but for the most part my acquaint- '
ssce has extended no further than a passing glance at
ye new and unknown name over the letter-box next to
my own, and the occasional sound of anonymous foot
falla overhead. ;
I was a little surprised not a little annoyed, too
one afternoon, to- have my nap Interrupted by a sharp
rapping at my bedroom door.. Although rather Inade
quately clad, I opened the door and paw a messenger
boy standing in the dimly lit hallway. With one harrd
he offered me a telegram and with the other the book
which he wished nre to sign. The light was bad. and
my eyes were still heavy with sleep, land, at the first
glance, 1 failed to see my name on the soiled page at
which the record was opened. I
-Sign it yourself," I said in a most -peevish manner,
and, talking the telegram from him, I slammed the door
In his face.
Still calling down curses on the correspondent who
had so thougrhtlesaly Interrupted my nap, 1 switched en
the light and glanced at the writing on the envelope.
The name was that of a woman, and one which I had
never met with before. 1 hurriedly opened tha door and
called down the stairway; but the messenger had dis
appeared. , Ae the name on the telegram was hot that of either
or the occupants of the two shops below me, 1 ot once
reached tht? logical conclusion that it .must be that off
my unknown neighbor overhead. Without more eiio 1
got into my bathroom slippers, pulled on a long over
coat, and startsdp the stairs leading to the apartment
above.
In answer to my knock the door waa opened by a
jgoung girl, and, in the subdued light of the room back
of her. it s-emed to -me the brilliancy of her beauty
was quite spt-otacular and almost too wonderful to be
of this workaday world. In any case, I know Chat the
drowsiness from which I had been Buffering left me as
suddenly and as completely as if i bad i been thrust into
a cold plunge. T
v The girl's costume is not easy for me to describe"
but, apparently, it consisted or yards of tumv lace, with
many bide bows sewn on it. and endless narrow blue
ribbons running through it. On the whole, so far as
quantity-went, with the exception of the bare arm and
throat, she. was fairly well concealed. I Barring the strip -Of
bare ankle,' showing between the bottom of. my over-
coat and my' bath slippers. I might safely make the same
claim for my own appearance. The girl was quite with
out embarrassment, and for a moment stood at the door
'smiling at my confusion.
"VVpn t you come In?" she xald at last, and I fol
lowed her on to the center of the room.
- My neighbor was undoubtedly- an ,artlt, and I had
evidently sttftnbled into" her workshop: Through a dim
orange light I noted that the tinted walU were par
tially draped with pieces of tapestry, ornately embroid
ered copes and srtolea from the Italian churches of the
early part of the last century were thrown over the
backs of some splendid pieces of old - furniture, and
many half-flnished sketches and unframed portraits :
stood about on easels and against tha wall of tha num.'
An great confusion. 1 must confess that the condition'
of the room jdid not speak well for my neighbor in her
capaoUy J of housekeeper. The pictures, the draperies
.the furniture even the floor were covered with a thick
layer '-of dust., which apparently had been allowed to
accumulate for weeks, and was In the most extraor
dinary contrast to the spiritual, almost eery, beauty
-f the girl and Wie glisten8g freshness of her. volumi
nous lace petticoats.
- "I am very sorry to disturb you," 1 said, but I have :
brought you a telegram, whioh wm lift me by mistake.
You must pardon my drees, or rather the lack of It. but
tha messenger Interrupted my forty-winks."
"Forty-Winks?" ehe repeated, and shrugged her pretty
Shoulders. '."That's what it used to be a long time ago.
but pow it is fairly an orgy of sleep. You can not
deny that, when you were youns;, an alarm clock suf.
fined, but todav it ia neeenaarv tar vnuv man n -
Vl0! In time for youri dinner hour." -i y
My unknown neiahbor looked at. me with a curious
4Mte wistful smile, as If Phe wera quite out of humor
"un. my cacneior ways: mfnta. croel the room to
where a h!rh lamp stood, looked at the address, on the
telerram, end then carefully tore ofT-tne end for the
envelope. She stood under .the broad orange lamp-shade.
her small, piquant face, with Its deep, warm coloring,
half turned toward ma; tha soft golden light fell full
on a great mass of wavy bronze hair, the well-rounded
throat, and . tha wonderfully pibk-and-white arms. I
could not help wondering If I ahould ever see them
again. In all -ways she was the embodiment of youth
and health and condition, and yet the very brilliancy
of her beauty, seemed to surround her with a certain
glow which set her apart from the ordinary human, and
waa Immensely impressed, tod, by the fact, bdbh at the
time and afterward, that when she walked the soles of
bar tiny Turkish slippers left no mark on the dusty floor.
When the girl had finished reading the telegram; she
put It 'back into Its. envelope and held it toward me.
'TWa is not for m," aJd. . -
Then why did you read it?" I gasped, out of pure
surprise. . ,
"Because I wanted to know what was In it" '
"Do you consider it you right to know everything
that is In every telegram or latter?" I asked. "I should
think your curiosity might lead you Into considerable
trouble." - '
She smiled at ma pleasantly enough, but It was tha
kind of smile that a mother might vouchsafe her way
ward child.
"My interest," he said, "extends
no father than. Our Street. That IB
my province."
"If that is your province, than,"
I said, "where may X find tho lady
to whom this is addraaaed?" :
"She is a vendeuaa in tho bat
shop of Madame Qualqueohoss, on
the ssaVnd Boor.".
I bowed my thanks, and- as there
seemed no further exouso for ma to
remain, I started toward tha door,
when I conceived what at tha time I
considered a splendid Idea and a
subtle piece of detective work.
"Will you not write 'opened by
mistake' on this?" I asked,' "and sigh
your name?" t
Again she looked at mo with tha
same sweet, superior smile, and, with
a knowing look in her big eyes,
slowly shook her head. ,
"1 am sorry." she said. "Tou
know you were really very kind to
bring me the telegram. Ooodby."
"Good by," I repeated, "seems
hardly neighborly. 'Might It not'
rather be au revoir?"
"No." Bhe caid, entiling, vl fear it
might not. Neighbors are, after ail,
but a question of geography, and the
result of a certain sameness of in
come. An enforced meeting over a
stray telegram can hardly ba said
to constitute an. introduction."
For the first Ume the tone of In
difference, the almost severity of her
language, brought to mo a painful
consciousness of my bare anklea and
my otherwise somewhat Informal
garb, and I clumsily started to back
toward the door.'
"Oh, very well," X aaid, assum
ing, a manner aa flippant aa I could
well master under the circumstances,
"if you prefer it that way our nappy
meeting will be just as If it never
was." .
Bhe ' slightly inclined her pretty
head, "Just as if it never waa. she
repeated-
When I reached the door I
bowed low, trying my best to be gra
cious, and, at the same time, to con
ceal my bare anklea. "I can only
trust, then," I added aa a parting
word, "that fate will be so kind aa to
once more throw us together in our
very narrow hallway,"
1 was wall on my way down; the
stairway when I felt conscious of the
girl having followed me to her door
way. As I turned she leaned over the
Smiled
banister and whispered: "And you needn't look for my
name in the letter-box in the hall; it isn't there, really,
Uoodby."
I returned to my room, where I found my breakfaet
waiting for me, but for the rolls that had atood the
test of fifteen years I had no appetite; and the cream
too struck me as unusually sour, I read my morning
paper, and, although I learned on the very first page
that one pear friend had been thrown from his automo
bile and another had had hla head cracked open at polo,.
I could not switch my thoughts from the young woman
overhead Here was beauty and health and condition
enougui to make the front page of any newspaper seem
dull enough, and I confess that her indifference, which
might bsve been construed by the more fastidious as
crass rudeness, annoyed me a good deal. Before my
cigar was half-finished, I threw aside the papers and,
hurriedly finishing my- areesing, went down to the ves
tibule on the lower floor. Bhe waa quite right; the little
brass lettor-oox next my own bore the name of a man,
and, judging from the fact that it waa stuffed full of
advertisements of new cheap restaurants and "home"
lnundries, it had evidently not been used for a long ,
time. As soon as I reached my office 1 called up the
abent from wrom t rented -my apartment. The agent
was a personal friend by disposition,, a cotillon leader,
but by mneritanre the owner and agent of many houses,
of which mine was ores.
"Pardon me. Grayson," I said,, as soon as I could get
him to the telephone, "but I believe I have been a pretty
good tenant, have paid my rent the first day of every
month, and never complained about my neighbors."
"You are in all things,'' Grayson drawled, "the per
fect tenant."
"Good!" said I. "Now, after fifteen years. I am going
to ask you a favor."
"Is it a plumber or the man with the white enamel
paint? It's always one or the other with you tenants."
"Neither," said I. "but I want toiknow all you know
rbout the beautiful young person that lives in the apart
ment over mine?" - '
. "Nothing at all, personally," said Grayson; "but I'll
.ask somebody in the office here," , t ,
There wan a few moments delay, broken by the
rumblings ol an indistinguishable conversation 'through
the telephone, and then Grayson began again;
"That apartment was rented to an artist ohap named
Hoffmeyer for six .months on an unexpired lease. He
said that, as he was away from town bomeUmea for
quite a long while, painting portraits, he would pay in
advance, which he did. That' all I know." i
"Do you i suppose the beautiful person is Mrs. Hoff
meyer?" I Ssked. , '. .
"How aaould I know?" said 'Grayeon. "Why don't
.you run" upstairs and ask her yourself?" "
"Are you aware," I continued, somewhat aggrieved at
'Jrayson' ignoiahce and indifference, 'that the platform
of the fire-escape on that top floor extends to the build
ings on either side, and, if the rear windows should be
' left unlatched, any one could enter the back room of the
partmnt eithnn from the fire-escape or even the roof?"
"To you who live there," aid Grayson, with a most
aggravating nasal inflection. "I have no doubt that those
are most illuminating and stirring facts, but te a com
muter from Irving-ton, like myself, believe me, they are
wholly without interest. I know or care nothing1 about
your beautiful neighbor. However, in a general way,
I would take a commuter's advice 'Stop, look, Hsten!'
' I have said that I did not know my neighbors, which
is quite true, but I did know something: about one I of
them, who happened to live almost directly opposite me.
Bhe was employed as a stenographer downtown during
the day ana enea out a rauirr miseraDie eiuirnte uy
making, neckties for a very limited trade at might.! I.
watched for 'her the next afternoon until I 'saw her
entei the house opposite, and a few minutes later open
one of the windows of her apartment. I hurried . over
and wss a : once admitted to her little sitting-room,
which looked out over the street. I told her the osten
sible object of my visit and the name of the client Who
had recommended her. : 1
With a show of much pleasure he brought , Oqt a
great variety of silk stuffs from which the ties were to
be made. Pleading a lack of light with which to see
the colors. I carried the silk to , the window. .Then,
casually. I looked at the windows of the apartment over
my own. and saw that they were not only closed and
the shades down, but apparently the window-sills and
the windows themselves were gray with dirt and duet.
"I Mve directly opposite," I Udi No. 14. Appar
ently my neighbor in the apartment over my own is
away. One must cross the etreet to really learn what
s going on in one's own house."
'I never thought of that," said Miss Dawson, "but I
beTleve I do know more about - my neighbors across the
xtre.tt than of my own fellow lodgers. you must be
quite aiona at night now in your building those win
dows' have not been opened for a long time?" ,
"You are sore I" T asked.
"Oh. yes,' she said, "I am quite sure, because a German-looking
young man used to alt there every after--
noon ' smoking a pipe just about this time. I quite
miss him."
I don't think 1 ever saw him," I said. "He had a
wife,' I believe."
The girl shook her bead. "Perhaps but I never saw
her. I rather imagined he was alone. A colored girl
used to clean up and cook for him, I think."
. I ehose the silk for several ties, and. having given
my Order, Wd Miss Dawson good night. It was quits evi
dent that I could learn but 1U tie of the beautiful lady
overhead from my neighbors across the street, and it
waa equally apparent that, for ope reason pr another,
she chosd Ho confine her operations to the rer of the
apartment,. For the next few days my ears were forever
listening for a noise of. any kind from overbeadV but I
could bear nothing. The girl neither seemed to come
nor go, at least by the staircase, her ; letter-box re
mained stuffed with circulars, and the window-allhi of
ber front windows begrimed in dust. If she left or
entered the house, at least while I was in it. then X
was convinced that she did so bqr way of the flre-eeoape
-In the rear. r . " ..
The days and nights passed on, and I heard or saw
nothing of her, and I admit . that X became restless.
and bowed .with much condescension at her reflection'
peevish with my friends, and very in at ease. There
Were times when a glance and a few words from a pretty
- neighbor would have passed almost unnoticed, and have
been at once overwhelmed in the swirl of other things.
But there was notso much of a swirl to my life these
day it was much mora orderly and more carefully regu
lated In every way, and not nearly so full of incident or
. adventure. I mow preferred a quiet dinner at ray- club
to the. noise and gayety of the restaurant: and whereaa
I had formerly been a most persistent theatergoer, at
present I found it difficult to rit through any play, how
ever worthy. Formal calls and parties I had given up
entirely, and the women I had. grown up with and knew '
-really well. I found Just a little old and a little too
devoted to home interests and their daughters' social
successes. Of course aa the mothers were a little too
old, the daughters themselves were just a little too young;
so there 1 was, a human pendulum swinging between the
two generations and the pendulum swinging a little
more slowly -every year.
It was, perhaps, a week after my interview With my
neighbor when 1 saw her again. 1 had returned from a
supper party after the-play, and, although it was late,
I picked up a book and, dropping Into an easy chair,
prepared for an hour's quiet reading before going to bed.
I had barely become really interested when I heard the .
door of the apartment overhead Close, and, a few
moments later, a creak from the shaky banisters told
me that soma one Was coming downstairs. As noiselessly
as possible I stole across my sitting-room, and. puillng
aside the silk curtain a very little, peeped out through
the glass In the door leading to the hall, and saw the
evl cautiously tiptoeing her way down the stairs. She
wa. apparently dressed very much as 1 had seen her
before, but - her voluminous and beribboned petticoats
were partially concealed by a wonderful pink affair of
lace and diaphanous silk a most extraordinary garment,
I thought, for a young woman to choose for stEeet wear
; at 1 o clock in the morning, fibs wore no hat, nor head
covering of any kind, but the bronze-colored hair had
ajFparently been arranged with the greatest possible care.
Even In the dim light of the hftfi she appeared most
lovely, and from my hiding-place I watched 'her until shs
disappeared down the- staircase leading te the shops and
the street. The front door Is a heavy one,, wlttj a" stiff
lock, and it is impossible to open and abut it without
making a considerable noise. I stood in the center of
my room, waiting for some moments, but, hearing no
noise of any kind, I opened my door and walked down
the hallway to the' head of the stairs. They were quite
deserted, but a shaft of strong white ligftt fell - across
the hallway from the open door of the shop of Madame
Quelqueehose. I . cautiously stole down the steps and
gently knocked on the door-frame. .
"Come In," said the voice of my neighbor from fho
far end of the shop. It was a long, narrow room, the
walls covered with pink brocade, and at regular dis
tances there were white-and-gold showcases, with long'
mirrored doors; the floor was carpeted in dark green, -
. and standing abowt in carefully arrayed confusion were
a number of gilded, spindle-legged chairs and many ta.lL '
delicately stemmed stands, topped by gorgeously flowered
and beribboned, -hatsi The girl had already- opened
. several of the showcases., and 1 saw bewildering rows
of lace coats and cloth wraps of many delicate shades.
My neighbor-was- standing- before a mirror; a heavy laoe
coat fell from her shoulders, and she was carefully
placing on her well-noised head a broad,-black hat With .
a great bow of dark green velvet on the side. , v"'
"Do you like It?" she asked, sofitly patting the bronze
curls over her forehead. i .
"Beautif ul! said I, "How did you get In?"
"It's very simple. When Madame Quelqueohose stays
late at night, she leaves the key under the door-mat, so
that the boy can open the shop In-the morning. It Is
perfectly safe except from you and me. I stumbled over
"the key quite by accident. T. . v
I carefully removed several marvelously plumed hats
from one or the spindle-legged ' chairs and sat down.
"Do you come here of ten' of nighta?" I asked.
The girl surveyed herself critically in the glass, and
pushed the hat forward over her forehead and the bronxe
curls. "Quite often," he said. "It's rather an. amusing
g-ame. You see I flay I'm different people on Our
Street." . .....
"Splendid!" I aaid. "Who do you think yon are
now?" .
She glanced in the mirror at the reflection of the
spreading hat. with Its dah of brilliant color, and then
down at the loosely hanging la.ee coat, reaching almost
te her patent-leather slippers. -
"Who lo you think I am now? she repeated. "Now
I am the Bachelor Gtri across the street hardljr the '
person you would introduce to your mother although,
perhaps, you might to your sister.' Respectable, maybe,
; but. after all, 1 am a little young' and a trifle pretty,
perhars. to live alone; and. when a girl does that with;.'
a famliy in Harlem, the neighbors will talk. And then '
I constantly dine with men alone" tha girl turned
-and shook her pretty head at me, but the smile that
v played about her red lips seemed jut a trifle knowing
and" rather worldly "but you can't blame me, can youf
Ever since father lost faia fortune in a wheat deal, the
fiat uptown ii to terribly dull and I do like a soon
dinner after Bitting about all day really doing; nothing.;
And then it isn't aa If I didn't oall on mr people every
fw? days and spend a month during the eurmner with
them la it?" She sighed at her own filial davetlOn.
- 'D you auppeee the people on Our Utreet,' I Mked,
"know Just when you are etarting out to visit your f oUs
and just when you are off to a matineer' . '
VI -wonder," Bhe aaid, wluh a alight contraction of er
delicate eyebrows, 'l wonder. But J do so love these
occasional dips Into Bohemia,
"The threads whten draw you back to the shores of
com paraUve respectability e-fter these dlpaM suggested,
'are, In reality, but eMght. Be careful they don't enap
some day, and leave you -floundering about aad calling
tor fcelp " ' - " v
The girl , smiled moat eheertWly- "I oould get help
all right in Bohemia. It's being left to flounder on the
eh ores of the dead aea !of respeotabtllty that X fear.
They ao love to Bee one 'of their own gaepin for Ufe
on the hot sands." . - V r '
.( "Well enougft for the f present," I aaid, Dut how
about the future? wow you nave
health and beauty and the capacity
; of youth for pleasure, put that won't
last always- omo day tbo shadows
and theoroWe-ftst and the oreaaea
will oome, and 'the young men win
stay away that is. If they haven't
already married young woman who
live with tfcalr foUta. For aome.rea
'son young men seem to prefer young
women for wives who live with their
folksno?"
The girl made . a little grimace
at mo by way of the mirror, and
swung herself about bo that she
oould better see the hang of her lace
Boat in "the baok. "ParhapB." ahe
aaid, ut, you ate, I've really had
no experience. Now, you're awfully
old,' and you no doubt have watched
the people on Our ftreet grow up.
and it hag made you sour and dia
pontented nd eysloal. Tou forget
the day you eame to 0r street. I
wager you you had no thought of
crow'a-feet and wrinkles then. I
doubt If you knew a natural com
plexion from rouge, or even enamel,
in those days."
, "Quite right, my dear' I aaid
and the fact that X aaid "my dear"
was admission enough that her sup
positions were perfectly, correct "I
came here twenty years ago, and
every woman waa beautiful then,
and every complexion was the work
of God. But now!" I threw up my
hands in mock horror.
Bhe turned and looked down on
me, wide-eyed, and slowly shook her
head. "Twenty years on a aide street
in New York!" ahe aaid. "What a
life-wnat a life! You are, of course,
the oldest Inhabitant,' and your con
stitution must be a marvelous affair
to have kept you going all that time.
Tou shduld have crawled off to die
in your native town long before thla.
A refuge for reclaimed women or an
inebriates' home should have had
your name carved over its door years
ago. Just think' of your spending
your own money for twenty years
it's shocking! Don't you really feel
like dying?-1 should think your aches
. and pains would be Quite unbear
' able."
I slowly stuck my legs out be
fore me and stretched my arms above
my head. "You see," I said. "I am
Still quite-strong. X admit that X am
somewhat more temperate in my
habits', and now that you mention the
fact th& I am awfully old, I don't
mind confessing that I have been
thinking a great deal of late of moving to a home In the
country."
The girl turned ' sharply from the mirror to Whioh
aha had returned -and looked down at me, ae if to sat
isfy herself that I waa quite serious. Finding that X
was,' she broke into such loud and merry peals of laughter
that the broad bat wabbled on ber head until It was neces
sary to hold it on with both hands.
"You" ahe said, with real tears of laugftvter glisten
ing in hee eyes "a country squire. You would die of
ennui in a wee!"
1 admit that her laughter annoyed me, although I
confess her. youthful beauty more than made up -for
this, tor it seemed to radiate the more brilliantly every
new moment I was near her.
"You-don't understand," I , said with considerable
asperity, "You're only a child and can't appreciate the
beauties of nature the paeslon of the middle-aged for
the blossoming flower of the fields and the love we feel
for the shadows In a crystal stream."
Bhe ceased her laughter and eat down on a chair
facing my own i and interlaced her long' pink fingers
behind the back of her pretty head. "Don't lose your
sense of humor," she said "blossoming plants and -crystal
streams, fiddlesticks! Of course I can appreciate
the beauties of nature, I could leave all. this tomorrow
and never come back. X could live on milk and honey
and dream away my life under an apple tree, with only
the birds and insects for my friends, but I am young
and still sensitive to beautiful things; my pulse is fresh
and strong and my lungs are yet free from the tainted
air of your great city. Should you, for instance, draw
a breath of perfectly good air into your lungs, you
would probably collapse entirely. And if you didn't,
you would grope your way back to thia and and
tejuvenate. My dear, good old man"
"I am Just turned forty," I interrupted.
"My dear, good old man," she continued, "you may
dream of blossoming plants and crystal streams, but
the poison ot the .town Is in your veins. A man who
has driven a racing ear over oiled roads never returns
to a top buggy.. The rooms overhead, believe me, will
know you until the end."
"Knowing thie." X said, "and with your lungs and
your heart, no doubt, still so pure, why do you not go
at once te your apple tree and your bird and your
tnsects?" '
"Why?" she asked me. "Because the power to go Is
still mine. 1 am juet looking lit a She door of Our
httraet, and t confess that it looks warm and comfort
able enough. I am like one of my insect friends if you
will, fluttering in a circle about the flame you love eo
well, but the circle is yet a large one. my wings are
still Intact, and I can fly away should I so will it. Be
sides, all the ' woman on Our Street do not wear lace
coats." She put aside the broad hat and tho long coat,
and going over to the mirrored case, took down a white
cloth cape, exquisite in its simplicity, and drew It closely
about her slim figure.
"And how?" I asked.
"Now X ate the Jeune FHle at the end of the street"
at the moment it seemed to me that ' her whole ex
pression had softened materially, and there was a timid
almost shy, look In -the big -eyes "Poor, if you wilL"
she continued, "and let behind: ashamed of my address,
but still proud of my name. My chance are dimmed
of course, by the daughters of the trust kings from the
middle west, but I have still a few relatives who live
about Washington Square and a few scattered along the
right side of tne park. They give me teas when I come
out and ask me to their - large dances in winter and
ttheir country places in the summer. And I am always
carefully chaperoned."
'And you get money presents at Christmas?" I BUg-, '
gested, "and your rich relatives speak of your sovertv
as if It was Inherited tuberculosis." .
! The girl sighed, but went back to the mirror and
with a smile of pleasure noted how charming her piquant
face looked peeping out from" the high braided collar of
the white- cloth mantle. -
"'It' an awful struggle. I know." she sighed, nod
ding her head at the face in the mirror, "to be ao wise
in the ways of the world and yet to look on at It all
with innocent, meaningless eyes, and then, dear mother
Is so difficult. She cannot understand why mosey should
rank above beauty and pure worth, and why the price
of eggs and butter go up while the morals of the young
men go down. She insists that X marry an old - man
like youreelf. whose securities have, withstood the panics
.of twenty years, and whose wild oats have been
garnered long ago and forgotten under the dust of the
law of limitations." .
"A horrible alternative, I aaid. fuming Just far
enough to see myself In the mirror of. a neighborly
showcase. "And yet my hair Is net even gray. I
admit that 1 have recently regarded marriage as a
remote possibility, but-' ' .
'A remote possibility!" she echoed. . "A man so set.
In wa ways! You're really too absurd. Wy, I'm Sure
you have your bath drawn and your coffee served withr-
tn five minutea of the same hour every morning, of the
year. You should apply to the nearest hospital for a
trained nurse, hot at one of our oldest homee for a
child-wife." ' v ' -
You're very dlsoouragjng. I said. "You forget
that a bachelor's passion for a quiet married life is
dearer te him than any Chi Rg, except big love of freedom.
Can't yeu play you are somebody else T'
"Surely." the girl answered In a most flippant man
ners Bhe threw the chaste white cape over the nearest
hair, and, returning to the showcase, took down a
most bewildering affair, which, with a proper spirit ot
awe, I draped about her White shoulders. It was a
wrap of great intrinsic worth and of superlative beauty,
all of gold-spangled net, over roecolored ehiffon, with
very large, ruffled sleeves and an immense flchu of
, ohiffon and lace, From one of the stands she took a
.broad felt hat .with a heavy binding and drooping'
plumes, 'all of the most exquisite shade oC domlngo
pink, and. going back to the mirror, placed it with
tmioh care ever the mass of bronxe curia. With her
hinds on her hips. - ahe ! turned and twisted before the
pier-glass, until she was, to all appearances, quite satis
fied that, the girl and hat and wrap were a combination
of nature and artifice, at its very. best. With a broad
sweep of the mantle, a riot ot gorgeous color bewilder
ing in Its very audacity, she took a few steps toward
the chair to WhWh I had returned, and oourtesled low
before me. .There was po further any. attempt to con
ceal the knowledge In her soul. It shone brasenly now
through the big meaning eyes, and about the arched
lips there was the suggestion of a most knowing smile.
'Charming.' I aaid, .'quita dharsalng!" and I drew
my coat "over my broad shirt-bosom as it hey very
presence ohiHad me. . "But what a wicked, cruel tittle
smile. Whom does it belong tor ,
'My Idea." she said, looking at herself In the mirror
with the most frank smile of adulation over her own
' eauty, "was to be fascinating rather than cruel. It
pleases me to think that I am the Show Oirl who hag
sublet the apartment from the gisl in No. 87. the one
who has gone on the road with The Maid and the
Mandarin.' "
"A show girl." I mused aloud. "Personally, . i do
not like the type. I have often seen you trail the
balayeuse of your silken skirts across the pavement on
your way to and from your eisctrio cab, but eo far
you have been a stranger -to me. I have even been
urged to attend your supper parties, and each time X
hae refused. So you see. my young friend, there ia
one crime on the calendar of Our Street of which l" am
still Innocent" -
"Still Innocent!" she laughed at me, and I hated
her, for her laughter seemed so very hard and had a
metallic ring. ''Still Innocent!, Quite right X am a
bird of plumage, whose brilliancy daxslea only the un
trained eye of the very youngr or the fading sight of the
very old. Soggy, middle-aged respectability knowi me
for what X am, a mummy dressed by Paquln. Escaped
me In your youth perhaps you have, but after all, that
long since, and X am a product of the present century.
But, X wager you, the swish of these silken skirts will
yet be muslo to your faded hearing, and soma day.
believe me, you will be a willing and an honored guest
at my supper table."
"As well say," I protested, "that I will ask the very
pretty vendeuse who is forever leaning against the
door-frame ot No. tz to dine at Sherry's, or that I will
put up at my dub the haberdasher's clerk across the
way."
'Pardon me,' said the girl haughtily, tilting her
dimpled chin in the most charming fashion, and aa If
my 'last .remark bad given serious .offense. "You are
quite wrong to mix the social and commercial life of
Our Street The Vendeuse and the Haberdasher's
' Clerk, however worthy, have not even the status of the
Extra Girl and the Chorus Man who use the stage
door opposite; or of, Carlo the bootblack, who 'knows
the inside story of every pair of shoes on the block; or
even of the Telephone Oirl at the corner drugstore, who
can ring any of us up without looking in the book.
Believe me, the persons you mentioned have no stand
ing whatever and heaven forbid that they should -have
any effect on our life. They are but transients, at
best and ihave no more, Intercourse with the people f
Our Street than they do with the casual shoppers from
Broadway or Fifth avenue."
"I like that" I said. "Do you consider yourself one
of as just because you have subleased an apartment for
,a few months?" In some-nook or corner of the shop
Pay beautiful neighbor had discovered a cur tain -rod
painted white, and, using it as a Laff, such as the
ladies affected at the time of the empire, she proceeded
to parade slowly up and down In front of the row -of
mirrors, and smile and bow with much condescension
at her reflections, just as if shs wre greeting ber lady
friends in some royal gardens. She really seemed to
have forgotten me entirely, and I found it necessary to
repeat my remark,
"Because you have rented an apartment In the
neighborhood," I said, "during the short run In Mew
York of the company of whksn. you are a member, does
that make you one of us?"
"It makes no difference," she said slowly, stalking
with a great manner up and down before the mirrors,
"whether 1 or ' another enow girl occupies the room.
The character of the tenants never varies on Our Street.'
The girt who sublet her apartments to me used the
same saohet powder in the bureau drawers as I do.
and the same violet ammonia tablets tor her bath the
scent waa unmistakable in' both eases. Should your
ghost dare ths natural hasarda of Our Street and return
here after your .demise, it would find another bachelor
- ensconced and very muoh like -yourself. There would,
be a different brand of Scotun on the sideboard, per
haps, and a new face on the bureau-top, surely, but
the general effect would be quite the same'
4 'You are terribly cynical for one so young," I said
"Do you even consider yourself a fair example of your
, tvpe? Do you really i for one moment think yourself
typical of a kind of neighbor with whom I must, one
' day -be neighborly? Even M' flowered fields and run
ning brooks are not for roe, surely do not tell me that
one day 1 must kneel to yeu and your cape of gold.
Because X have tasted sherry in my youth,' must I turn
to brandy in my old age? If, from mere exhaustion,
one drops out of the rush of a great city, is It necessary
to look on such beauty as yours before I can return
to action?" , , -.--, -
- The giW stopped in front dt a mirror, and. drawing
herself to her - full height grasped her staff in both
hands and looked steadfastly Into the glass, as !? ae
were posing for a portrait by some great master. Then
In answer to ray question, she slightly inclined her bead
toward the Image in the glees. .
"I am typical of ray class, and I am typical of the
pleasures of your city. I am for show, and I dine with
the one who considers it moot worth his while to pay
'- lor- mv presence the pleasure of dlniny opposite so
much beauty and suck fine clothes, it is only a ques
tion of time when most of you come to paying for your
pleasures you love your restaurants better than . your
- own dining rooms and your theaters better than your
libraries. Believe me. yours is the city of boughten
happiness. Yeu ask me if 1 am typical of my class. I
am no more typical of my class than you are of yours
no more typical then Carlo the bootblack, or the
Girl Who Makes Silk Ties for extra money with which
to buy theater tickets, or the Jeune Fllle who is
. stranded at the end of the block, or the Bachelor Maid
acrces the way who doesn't live with her folks, or the
Decayed OenUewoman Who runs the lingerie shoo at
No. 2, or the Telephone Girl at the corner drugstore,
or the other denizens -,of the wide streets, who, behind
drawn shades, watch: the I if of the city rush on
- inruugu i a .cA- luvruuj-.i bi w any or us OT in?
side street ever run for publlo office or corner a wheat
deal and become famous in a night Or do any of us
fail and hang out the red flag of the auctioneer? Kot
we we take the middle courts and live on the safe,
: easy banks of the stream, and watch the ebb and flow
of the tide and wait."
. The girt laid . aside her Improvised wand, took off
the plumed hat end hang the spangled Wrap In the
" mirrored ease. Togerner - we rearranged the shop as
wb hait found It. locked the dene ltiil hM tho itmtr unA-
. the mat Slowly 1 followed her up to the landing be-
fore my door. With one step on the rtalrway leading
to the floor above, she stopped and held out ber hand
.'. to': me. ,
"Gooobyr" sne said, "and for the last time." r-
"Surely not Thetr' X urged. "I don't even know
your name."
"My name, she said, "my name Is Youth."
"Youth?" I repeated. '
'Youth, tf you will," she said. "I'am the spirit of
the crors-town streets I am the writing on the wall
I am the grist ready for the mill you are the chaff
ePAAnw as 41ia eririi' si . i
S XW.VJ J V JIS T I
She. started tip the stairs, but after she had taken
few steps turned, and, with the sams wistful smile
nils
ber
naa iovea eo mucn.- tooxea uacx at - me over
shoulder.
"Ooodby, old man." he whfn-d; "goodby!"
"Good byl youth. X ald. "We've bad me good
times together, you and I. Here's God e peed to you,
whichever path you choose!"
r The girl smiled bark at me. hesitated for a mo
ment and then with no mor woro ran lla-htty; up the
stairs, and X heard the door close sharply behind her. -?