AHABE
by Evelyn Campbell
Copyright by Kvelyn Campbell.)
WNU Borvlee
"CHAPTER XIV Continued
, lie did not know why he wits there,
except that his body, no longer sub
jugated by mind, brought him, without
volition, Into a poor tragic comedy of
the dreadful night.
People hud been killed. Hobos nnd
blankets, brought from somewhere,
covered the still things with a spuri
ous ilecency. Ambulances were com
ing; their dlsiant clamor, dulled by
the heaviness of the air, bent upon the
shrinking silence.
A poor creature, once woman, gasped
at Brian's elbow: "Three of 'em dead
three! Something ought to be done
about It. Three of 'em Just like
that I" She snapped her fingers.
lie saw that there were three wom
en beneath a blanket on the ground.
Their feet. In high heeled slippers,
protruded from the shallow covering;
the edges of their dresses showed and
their thin stockings, drawn over slen
der, terrible limbs.
The black bulk of the patrol wagon
told about them. And then he saw,
close to his feet, a larger mound, that
must have been a man.
"He was runriin a poor girl In."
slithered a voice. "Served him right,
too, but he let her In for It same as
himself"
A helmet advanced upon them.
"None o' that, now, or up you go.
Clear out. you an' you I" Monotonous
with the duty of a hundred such
Eights,
The woman's voice faded whining
away. "Three o' 'em ... ail at
once:" As If that were a matter of
mourning.
Then T.rian heard another sound
too faint to be a sigh, but breathed
against his ear, like the echo of a lost
summer, lie turned his face and saw
her standing where she had been ail
this time, close beside him, so that he
could have touched her If he had
known.
"Linda," he said, and she put out
her hand to him like a lost child, as
he had known she would do.
They took the few steps to the pave
ment side by side, as If they belonged
to one another and had come there to
gether. The line of questioners closed
In behind them.
It was a dark street of closed shop
windows and little businesses where
women did not belong. A wide-open
poolroom was flooded with yellow
light A fruit stand, open to the world,
offered public shelter. They walked
on a little way, wordlessly.
Then all at once there was a door
opened to them. A broad, white-coated
arm .drew them, without contact. Info
the warm fragrance of a narrow place
where one must walk In single file or
be enwrapped In the steamy vapors of
huge coffee urns and frank griddles.
"There'll be a little corner back
beyond." explained Coffee John, sig
naling over his Ehoulder with a mas
sive curled thumb.
They went as he told them.
Coffee John had been there so many
years that no one remembered when
he came. Ills shop was large enough
to turn a window and a door to the
world and deep enough to shelter his
philosophy. From his narrow counter
he had fed the great ones of the city
and offered the cup of charity to the
lost children of God. He hud not
moved from this place, so that he had
grown wide and heavy and his face
was livid with the moisture of his sus
tenance. Hut he hadseen the world
go by and he knew of all its faces,
even the false ones, and what was
hidden behind the papier mache. His
broad back, turned upon Brian and
Linda, shut them Into a narrow
crevice of their own and stranded
them upon a shallow wooden bench,
wedged behind a little table spread
with pale, slipping oilcloth and pewter
spoons.
Cut he was there and she was th,ere
and that was enough.
"Why didn't you tell me, Linda,
Linda I What do you know of love If
jou could throw It away for such a
little reason?" he said.
She dropped In her corner, fragile
and bending from the outrlft of the
storm. Her face was a small white
triangle against the blackness' of her
furs. Somehow he got hold of her
hands and held them, warming them
until the thread of life came back.
"Tell me. Linda."
And she told him; meaningless things
that were freighted with the tragedy
of the world; dark, noisome things
like paths through a fever swamp.
She told of her shame that was weak
ness and her pride that was without
honor. She abased herself with words
no cruel that he abased with her,
and In the narrow cell they clung to
gether like wind driven moths, not en
during the blue white light. Hut
through It all he believed In her and
warmed her hands and through her
hands to her heart
"I could not let you be hurl through
me, Brian."
She wunted to go, In spite of his
arms. She struggled to be free, know
lug that freedom meant the end of all
things for her.
"You could not leave me you never
will, my sweet, my sweet I There Is
nothing else but you. There Is no
other life than ours! Listen, Linda,
we will find our own. It will be small
end tine und sweet, and it will belong
to Just ourselves. There will be no
grandeur and there will be on lies.
Those little houses In the snow that
bight don't you remember?"
A reporter finished his coffee In the
lighted front shop and slammed down
the cup,
"Not much news In a smashup like
that," be complained. "No news after
all the boys got It A cop an' a couple
of frails. Huh. lld you see it off,
John?"
Coffee John nodded, polishing a cup.
"Vas. I was lookin'. lie was a flue
man, though O'llara."
"Would have been. He'd have made
the grade or been down at the bottom
for keeps. Wooden sort of a guy,
wasn't he?"
"Yas. Like wood. Hard."
The door slammed. The reporter's
face, hurled sourly In his turned-up
collar, showed pale for a moment at
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"I Could Not Let You Be Hurt Through
Me, Brian."
the window. He glanced sardonically
at the broad man In his narrow groove
and vanished.
Coffee John finished glossing the
cup. It shone like old ivory. Then ha
glanced at the dark shallow wall be
hind the partition. The two figures
blurred.
He handled the cup lovingly, yet
with delicacy; filled It with a stream
of dark golden liquid, touched it with
yellow cream from a private bottle
and laid three little cubes of sugar
upon the thick saucer edge. One could
have been no better served.
With a light step he went back to
them and put the cup before her.
"A lady might need war-r-mln on
on wUch a night" he said In a distant,
rumbling voice and returned to his
place.
She was spent and exhausted. She
had said all that she could say and
he had listened to nothing at all. Ilet
hand, moving, touched the handle of
the thick cup, wavering, but with a
sudden poignant longing for life, she
lifted It and drank.
The door opened from the night A
voice whined inquiries. Coffee John
came again.
"Your taxi's a-waitln out front, sir.
He's gettln' him a bite o' lunch."
They lifted new faces.
"The taxi! By George! Tell him
we're coming!" cried Brian,
THE END.
Language Changes Made
Over "Precise" Protests
Until about the middle of the Nine
teentb century it was usual in pro
nouncing the word humble to refrain
from sounding the h. Generally the
word was preceded by an instead of
by a. The changing to sounding the a
came gradually as a matter of usage,
a many changes In language come.
In the end usage must be followed,
though precise speakers resist It for a
time. Even In fairly recent years a
few persons persisted in pronouncing
humble without the h. The variation
you have observed on this point be
tween an early and a later edition of
Webster's dictionary is accounted for
by acceptance of the change by the
later editors. The gradual alteration
n usage concerning the word humble
was a subject of protest as long ago
as 1W3, when a correspondent of the
periodical "Notes and Queries" Illus
trated his contention that the b should
be silent by giving a list of what he
stated to be the derivations of words
In which the b should be silent. The
words were heir, honest honor, hour,
humble und humor.
Bomb-Proof Auto
The most costly and luxurious auto
mobile ever brought to China was
built In the United States for the
president of the Nanking government
The whole of the metal work on the
body of the limousine, and even the
hood, Is of half-Inch thick navy steel
plate, which is designed to shed the
bullets or bombs of would-be assas
sins. Two extra seats project from
the back of the car, built high enougl)
to permit the occupants to see for
wurd over the hood. These will be oc
cupied by special guards with machine
guns. The running hoards are un
usually long, for guards to stand, each,
with a revolver In bund.
Many Uiei for Carbon
Pure carbon Is widely used In decol
orizing, clarification, and purification
of foods, edible oU and fata.
41
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COOD-BY
This particular cabin was even a
more than usually dilapidated speci
men of its class, and the chimney, con
sisting mainly of the remaliw of an
old top hat, presented a comical p
pearunce. One of the tourists accost
ed a youth who was sitting content
edly on a fence.
"I say, my boy," he said, "does that
chimney draw well?"
"Sure thin, It does," was the boy's
prompt reply; "It draws the notice
Ivory phool that passes by !"
WHY PARROT SWEARS
"Why does your parrot swear so
terribly?"
"We can't help It, tny dear the
golf course lies right iu front of the
house."
Up for Dinner
Said the chamber maid to th tlecplng
guest.
"Gt up you lazy etnner.
We nfl the nhfet for a tablecloth,
There a company tor dinner."
Profitable Trading
Sambo borrowed a pair of rubber
hoots from .Mose. Time passed and
the boots were not returned. They
met
Said Mose Sambo, when Is you-all
gwlne gimme lt.it detu boots ob
mine?"
"Ah ain't got yuh-all's boots, Mose,"
said Sambo. "Ah dun traded dein fob
a pair ob mah own." llecorder.
Soma One Shuffled the Deck
Mr. Justwed For heaven's sake I
What do you call this dish you've
made?
His Wife I haven't the faintest
Idea. I made It from a recipe In my
loose-leaf cookbook anil I'm afraid the
leaves are not all In place.
A Helpful Suggestion
The Walter llow'd you like a slice
of nice hickory-cured country ham
with three or four fresh eggs, right
off the nest?
The Customer Fine! Just the
thing!
The Waiter Ain't It so? Too bad,
we ain't got none.
WHY HE WAS GOOD
"Her husband Is awfully good to
her, denr."
"Yea, so I've heard he's only hall
her size."
Sir!'.rity
Thli world Is a tumultuous scene
And our attentive care It claims
To tell the difference between
Elections, fight and football games.
A Slownett Explained
l'ou English are slow to see a
Joke," said the forward young womun.
"l'erhaps," answered the Londoner.
"But, you nee, real Jokes are so scarce
In our country that one has to tuke
a little time to inspect any article
that's offered." Washington Star.
Excuie It, Pleaiel
"How would you classify a tele
phone girl? Is hers a business or a
profession?"
"Neither. It's a calling."
Loit If Right
Mistress (Interviewing cook) Sup
posing I wanted you to cook an elab
orate dinner for about 15 people
would you be lost?
Cook That's Just 'ow the last folks
lost me. Humorist
She Soon Showed Him
He When I married you I thought
you were nn angel.
She I Imuglne you did. You
seemed to think I didn't need any
clothes or hats.
OUR COMIC SECTION
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