IT Columbus Circle EUswcrth
'paused a moment and watched
the procession of people, motor
cars and carriages. He waa
uncertian just which way to turn. He
wanted to take a walk somewhere to
cheer himself up. Just now he ha dlcft
his scaly-brownstone-fronted boarding
house, in West Fifty-fifth Street, and
had walked to Eighth Avenue, and up
the four blocks to the Circle.
Would it be Central Park, Fifth
Avenue, or Riverside Drive ? Not.
the Pork; he had had shade and shad
ows enough all week. The shadow of
his still unpaid board-bill loomed
largest of all. Nor yet the Avenue;
that was all right when he had possessed
his top-hat the one he had bought
the first day he struck town, when his
fifty dollar looked big enough to see
him into a dozen successful "connec
tions." But he had sold that to a
"slightly used" costumer's in Sixth
Avenue. He laughed at himself now
for having been proud of it.
Pride! Ye?, that was the trouble
with him, he was afraid. Because ho
had been told a hundred times that he
was "so distinguished looking," he
must have been sheltering too good an
opinion of himself. There was that
promotion "racket" offered him the
day before;. because it hadn't seemed
just what he wanted, he had put them
off. If he had only decided to take
it !
No no shady parks; it would be
the sunlit Drive. He headed up
Broadway, timing his steps with his
light stick as gaily as he could. But
by the timo he had reached Seventy
second Street, his step was beginning
to Blacken into a worried lope. In
fact, he was so intent upon the pave
ment, as ho crossed at Seventy-second,
that he walked directly in front of a
big touring car booming towards River
side Drive. Besides the chauffeur, two
girls and two young men were in the
car.
The chauffeur threw out his clutch,
and Ellsworth looked toward the girl
'who had screamed. She was gazing
full at him, and the real relief in her
eyes, as she looked back over her
shoulder, shot electric sparks from his
heart up along his arm, so that invol
untarily he raised his hat, and Btood
stock-still staring after her.
When he reached ,the Drive, the car
was out of sight.
For a few blocks the passing people
and the remembrance of that girl
kept up his spirits. And then, grad
. ually, the sense of his real condition
was borne back upon him. Even the
delighted stage whisper of a woman
who pointed him out to her escort as
"Mr. Lockwood, the author of
'Shows,'" failed to rouse him to the
smile which he had so many times en
joyed when strangers mistook him for
a celebrity.
On he trudged. When near One
Hundred and Sixteenth Street the
farthest up the river he had ever been
he realized he was very hungry.
He had not partaken of the varie
gated boarding-house "dinner" that
well-known Sunday sort with soiled
celery, smelly soup, greenish-gray pota
toes, and sometimes vegetables spilled,
1 BJyiME!
as if by mistake, into birds' bath
tubs and left stranded along sido tho
boarders' plates. He would have en
joyed even that meal, despondent chick
en centerpiece and all. But he had
lacked tho courage necessary to face
the dragon eye of tho unpaid landlady.
He had stayed in his room, and now
he was devilish hungry.
"Must be a beanery up hero some
where," he said to himself, as he
plodded along. "Let mo see" (diving
into his pocket and fishing out some
small change); "I've still got sixty
two cents. Glad I didn't buy a paper
this morning. I may need that nickel
for coffee tomorrow. But a quarter
will surely get a feed; and tho balance
will do for my clean collars and car
fare". Walking on, his attention was sud
denly arrested by a low, wooden build
ing on his right.- Upon inquiry he was
assured by a passer-by that tho place
was a restaurant. Indeed, it was even
Claremont " Historic Clarcmont "
that Ellsworth had chanced upon.
He finally found his way to the low
steps, and in his innocence entered.
Ignoring the blandishments of tho
nearer waiters, he walked through to
find a table on the river side. As he
sat down and discovered the Btylo of
the place, a qualm shot through him,
and he resolved to order nothing but
a cup of coffee.
A glance to the left showed him the
bluish haze of the mystcric river twi
light. A glance to the right showed
him the waiter, over-whclmingly statu
esque, and with eyebrows hoisted, a
la Christy Girl. A glance straight
ahead showed him the girl who had
stood up in the motor-car and screamed.
She was looking squarely at him,
and his flush was no more sudden nor
deep than hers. Tho other girl and
the two young men were with her.
Ellsworth felt suro that she would
notico what dinner was brought to
him. Turning to the Christ y-cyebrow-ed-one
in sudden desperation he order-
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ed soup, tenderloin steak, various vege
tables and imported beer. Then, real
izing what ho had done, ho shivered.
Ho took up tho menu, found the prices,
made a rapid mental eaulrulation of
his bill and a cold bead of perspiration
started at the back of his neck.
Tho total but why dwell upon his
misery? Knowing' well that ho could
not pay, he nevertheless decided that
he was not going to forsako his stomach
in its hour of need. One tnp of hU
watch-pocket recalled to him that hi 4
watch had gono tho way of his scarf
pin, gold links, and the to-hat of
lamented memory.
He determined to drag out his meal
until that fateful party of four, at the
table in front of him, had finished and
gone. Then ho would send for tho
manager, explain the plight he was in,
and take his arrest quietly.
While he was eating, he noticed that
his entrancer's companions would steal
glances at him, as if she had been talk
ing about him. And how those four
lingered I And the champagne the
men consumed I Ellsworth had at last
finished the final morsel of his food,
and still sat there.
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