THE SUNDAY FICTION MAGAZINE; MARCH 26, 191&
Tlhie
Me
HE prevalence of beo
".; pie who my that they
vcan see no beauty in
; By JosepK Ernest
Bwfrcted i Irving K. Manoir.
the r skyscrapers of
New Yofk -does -not over his large, good-humored "features, halls and places where-they fox-trot In
prove- that - the sky- to his masstre shoulders, his base- Greater New York.
scrapers are not bean- bell pendant, of the lulu-fado on
tifuL It demonstrates nosed shoe;: Finally they daxxled him' dry land they took to the water, practie-
merely that many people are condemned with smile ot frank comradeship. inc complicated steps on the decks of ex-
to task-labor in these buildings, losing ."Why,. yes, 1 don't mind coin to lunch cnrsion steamers,
thereby a certain perspective; that many with : you,"v irid. "V:.; s
more lack the perception of beauty;
and that still more never find them-:
serve across vaw mw ui nmnnKj
Like " thousands who work ' on ; the
New Jersey side of the ' " v
Hudson,' Cliff Ryan knew
mil lax l&fmai,
beautiful in all of their
varied aspects by - day
and night. He had crown ":
. up with the most impos
ing of them. In the in
tervals of punching a ma
chine with a bank of num
bered keys In ' the big
Remson factory across :
the river he bad watched
daring -story piled on
story until the summit
was' crowned with a glittering-,
triumphant dome. '
7 The Remson factory, as
you have possibly noticed '
with a pang of grief, is a
sort of ; Brobdingnagian
packing-case punched full
of - holes for . windows, a
staring- utilitarian satire
on the marble" - magnifi
cence across the water,-
Often, while at work
on bis stool in the ac
counts department, Ryan
would steal a glance
across the busy river at
the aspiring pinnacles of New York, and
the sight would stir him to unrest. He
would run a huge hand through his crisp.
-- ---!' 1 " 1 'x
w j - ..
A fcor o,
light
flashed
across
his face;
it wjas ;
ashy gray.
pretty, arms was more than ever like a '
,- ;JTm sorry, you said "that, Cliff,' she'
answered. f
. . "You mean that I'm not rich enough?
. "lJe, I guess I mean that you are too
poor.? 4 . - r
Ryan recalled the pessimistic Burrows
strictures on girl clerks,, and .writhed-- ln
It was in this way that wardly.
"At that," added Mary, turning
-on him a sweet and somewhai
discrepant smile,. lf I Tever- do
marry anybody, I shall want him
to look-something like youT :
: Ryan's optimism returned in U
flood. Money, after all. wag the
only difficulty. Well, thousands of
peoples quite ordinary in appear
ance, made money in bundles,' On
his way .home that , night he regis- .
tered a decision to earn promotion.
He would become a startling ex
. ; - ample of . dynamic enV
ciency. The Remson peo
ple had never realized his
ability. - It.was possible
that he had never given
them " the chance. He
would -. now proceed to
show -them that he must
be - regarded as one of
their, rising young, men.
After all, you had
only to woik!
-, He titon ished
Borrows greatly b7
arriving two .min
utes 'ahead of time
i on 'the morning.,
when be entered, the of
fice fired with thts reso-'
lution. Burrows, on ac
count oft his large and
growing family, had
BRILLIANTLY flushed. Mary leaned
ever the raiL She swung her hat by
the ribbons, baring ber calm brow, to the
. cool breeze that blows off the end of Man
Ryan felt that there was something de
cidedly unusual in the. atmosphere. The
customary piles of figures were not await :
ing him on the' deskv- On the other hand,
a. curtly addressed envelope stood on edge .
between the keys of his adding machine. -He
tore it open, and av moment . late '
.A .A...'-.. I- 7 ' . ... .. . M. .
siareu ai - outtows in uuii smazcmenw
Burrows smiled -weaklyj .. v . - ,-
" "Canned P exclaimed, Ryan. Whit s
VpliOiS never been able to afford
the luxury :of , unpunctuality, . He
was already at work, and he greet-
They had a slight disagreement Uter Ryan, coming under the simultaneous in- xl Ryanwith a queer air of constraint.
-. . ,: .--t. ... vi. because she Instated on nevina: her 'own flueace of Marv Oilman and the skvscraD- Apart rrom tne circumstance inai aaary
tawny nair, ioruuf uuku w u - - . ,.- - .
,iMt with a heave of his -bow- cnecav nut tneur reiauons were ouerwise . era py nigni, was prungea mio emotions -t
erful Bhoulders. It was a mysterious emo- estaWished twjste of bis depth. "
tion that he never tried to analyze, and . ship. -n"-- - - :- JT . V
the strangest feature of it was that be de. - By leanlngvback a little on bis stooLat
rived the same sort of thrill, only with re- Rran found, he feoold see the
doubled force,: from seeing the back of unUM playing on her dark hair and the
Mary Oflman-s-neck.1 , : ' shapely line; of her neck and shoulder;
. An adventurous colleague of Ryan's and the -was something in that Une
had left the accounts department to adorn Wctt cc81011 uldeB TjiuuL' The portentous. Incredible
a different sphere In the West. A . few Wood, accompanied by ta thrUl like W;,, of th.giant buildings In the boa.--.vi,n
i.t-: hU Rvan was still wondeir- electric shockvThe skyscrapers, even In -tl; di-trlet slid Maast them serosa; the'
Ing what kind of raw youth would fuT the their sundown tintswere nothing Wackwater, wearing their lighted wln-'rotttt bad ' ' v-V. .
vacant chair, be arrived at the" office to "comparison. He had to draw P.daw, llk6 apangies. -k , V ; Suddenly he flamed into. anger, to cross
find the departed one's place etartlingly breaths to Tereome. fho .feoltag..;.;,, v; ijuonnments.-. areo't - theyTfJSsM in a few, etrldes. and. burst, into
occupied by Mary Oilman. - - quiciuy appearea tnat the advent ot
Mary was by no means raw.; She had Miss Gilman; had not produced the same
the profile of a handsome boy. the finely impassion-on her other colleagues. - Bur
molded arms of a lassie statue, and the tow for Instance, was moved to disgust,
perfect self-psslon '-of a .traffic police-.H u man who dyed his hair,
man She installed herself In the midst of wa ont to complaln.of the growth
- her masculine coUeagues aTlf shead his family as a man might bemoan the tnifcln, bow. many thousand years men
, been directly appointed by fte:" -- - - have been toiling and fighting and invent-
InetaWyByaii ' lliifej7behliid:j at -ao -M . norning. lnJf xtvt her ou!d build thing like test-of his personality ,
noon to take corert but detailed stock ot V There', mar-. . ' . . -. -After 'three years work! What's tho
her Those statuesque "arms showed to ried men wltb amllle tP10 "Some work!" assented Ryan. "Some- coinplalnt? Haven't X . earned my 20
arsluge m the operation of how,, whenevef I look across at them I perT ,
pins toto a hatrIneviUblyralw . . . "Is that all yon earn! What, did you
'Oitaum- waa WedlJitely2awaii otMa toi- T' )f hr Men' are wonderful.- said Mary, sigh- start atr , ' "
- spection;-She swung round to dete ing, "When I think of the way they've, JThe same-$MThat' Just the point,"
rrankennrovaLPv struggled wHh their hands "T and : brains replied Ryan, thinking of .his shattered
WM- she said. " "You might sV well yott won me kicWnv Jn since the world began, all to make It a resolution. " ,v
. " a. . thev can count ud to twentv some fellow v. . .j .tnj..'i
av it. - .fJ'-1 v ". ; .cuuuvrwuiv )im.- tw.wviuou utu vuuurw- ..- ib, inati jun ids jioiov; aErcea wf
Mary admiringly. "They- always seem, to the omce or tne cniei accountant. ; Tne
be saying what a fine thing It Is to be- a ..cniei was a oesiccaiea man, wiin coia, ex
man." J 'K -..T- . :-nreselonle3sHeyes that had seen nothing
,-Oh. 1 dunno," Ryan replied. "It Isn't but figures for half a lifetime. He fixed
the swell cinch, yon girls think It Is.- r bis pale orbs on Ryan'a vest-
I wasn't thinking of cinches. --1 vm Tm fired, eh?" Ryan demanded hotly.
"That's the way it looks to roe,", the -
have been toiling and fighting and invent- chief replied, in a voice as colorless as tha
"11 you insist on knowing It blurted
Ryan, "I was just thinking you were some
' marries them- and makes , them .- stop at'
-home."
to live in, I wonder who told them it was chief in bis pale, dry voice. '"The mar
their Job!" ''.i- ;.'' - - ' .--.v ket's dropped from under you since then.
lOOjgy, . - , vv-?' V -'-T.-.?-' ... - . AU' ' un ,ru wuii , . i uycvv ;vu usnn vn yuiuog some
- "And wondering who wished mW
office, and whether X like the fox-trot, and girl U drawing $15 a week she can't see. distant, -? .The.-; wake rushed away from. ' .'.The chief stared still harder at Ryan's
if I Jive with; my f olks-theymostly o,: mtn h dW?1n notlwith them in a jeweled swirl that made Ryan's vest and Jabbed( around his desk for the
'-Well the'siswerlls "that-.if ;I; sU fcead arrimBa looked at'lCary flao eyealnjcr i, . C-" -S' , -
. talk Instead of hunting some lunch I shall : ' A grain, of truth underlies most utter- instead, and .found In them a. more dan- :. don't -see that I've anyright to dls
-faint ot a i'-i r Ances of this sort; but at Cliff Ryan's age gerous hypnotic light JBis strong hand, cuss this 'company's business ;with out
Ryaugofr up,. .keenly mte8ted. along the rail, closed 'suddenly sidera," he snapped.
TLet me show;i-you ;a' lunchroom,; beMoreover, Miss Gilman' was obviously able "over her capable fingers. . - r- ir"' " Clearjy there was nothing more to be
Tolunteered.'-., Sv 'r'-;--v; i .-t r- -toseehlm without artificial aid to ylslon. . - "Honey ' kid,"- he murmured, 1 wish said., Ryan swung out, grabbed his hat
Mary Gilman's reply, was characterls- So they continued to, see a. great dealof you'd, let me do just that for you!" -, . and shook the dust of the Remson factory
-tically self-possessed. "Her gray eyes met each other, not 'only around the Remson -7: Mary turned her gaze on ibe skyscrap- from his feet 'with a certain emphasiSV
-his in a iook ox open appraisal, traveiea xaciory oui aiso m many 01 vne uance ers again.-, j.ss pronie imi ,retxi. pn nw : - ,,ji,ib m rv-m iuj -