THE PEE: OMAHA. SUNDAY. MARCH 2fl. 1921
MILLECENT
Her Diamond Collar links the
Two Ends of Infinity and
Changes a Selfish
Woman's Heart.
There are two buildings In New Tork far
part as the atare. Nay. far apart aa the op.
tt.it n1 f Infinity. Vrt It ) ni4 alt thlnaa
move la circles and Infinity may gome timt tha
paradog Mcuaabl Join without smashing up
lha aolar yteni or tlia real eatate buatnaaa.
Ona of tli buildings faeea lha viaduct of
lha New York Central railroad, and ttertriQ
Irama via with each, other In paining llila tnaaa
of brick, lo drown out tha noia of lha nan and
rahbage peddlera In lha atreet below lha win.
", of lha building and below even tha wheals
of tha tratna.
old iioihri nten wlih adenoids wander by
li through Ilia lonr, hour a of tha day crying pit
ouiy for trouacre without nmra than ona rant
In tha leg-, nr for almea which perhapa a modern
Cinderella, with a No. S foot and a double A
pockelbook may aoma day put upon her grace
ful appendages when tha aolea ara renewed.
Children slip by this houaa on roller akatea and
banana peel. Joe, of iierennlal Ice, coal and
wood fame, Joa the ubiquitous, except when ona
wanta lea on lha Fourth of July or coat on
Chrlatmaa. la alwuya getting- a Inn of coat or a
half ton of Ira tumbling; Into hit cellar which
la part of tha building;.
Tha name of tha building la tha Albemarle,
a mlanotner. for by all tha In we of tha appropri
ate It should be called lha Bedlam. In It, out of
It, and around It, tha atmosphere ringa, horn-la,
screeches and whistles. It la chaoa dona Into
brt'-k and mortnr.
There ara 24 families tn tha Albemarle, and
aa ona ascends tha bra roddd stairway upon
worn and frayed matting; one heart tha turmoil
within. There la Mrs. Shamus O'liara. wid
owed, before prohibition, by the Golden Pheas
ant cafa on Ona Hundred and Third atreet. A
moaning; mechanical piano below her has pre
vented tha good widow reading the society notea
In her favorite evening newspaper, and. In spite
of herself, sha is trying to transpose "How Yuh
Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm After
They've Been Taree" Into "The Wearln' of tha
Green." An amateur trap drummer somewhere
In the reaches of the building Is playing two
four tlma In accompaniment, and Mrs. O'Hara'a
symphony Is also diluted with the walla of tha
10-month. old Erdman baby In the apartment
above her.
With 'William Krdman and his pale and hope
less little wife, the house Is typified. Mrs.
O'Hara, with the help of roomers and the work,
men's compensation act. affords the high rent
of $25, while young Krdman, a guard on the
subway, pays but $22. Erdman's baby has just
been weaned, so the father knows Grade "A"
milk costs 18 cents a bottle, while loose milk,
"an might'U be, Mr. Krdman, not so kosher,
'leven cents." William buys the 11-cent grade,
which his wife bolls, and for every bottle the
youngster drinks the father opens and slams 30
heavy train doors.
There are other tenants worthy of descrip
tion, to bo sure, but it is Mrs. O'Hara snd her
evening newspaper who touches the outside
world of MUlicent, and it is the Erdman baby
By the broad stone of the doorstep, engaged
In his 14-hour day of argument, is Blllett, the
janitor. . At least upon the pay roll of Judson
T. 'Walters, who owns this shelter, he Is titled
janitor, but by all the Just laws of the angels
it will be Mrs. Blllett who shall have the credit
in heaven. Blllett, like so many of his tribe,
has constituted himself a buffer state between
tenant and landlord. Complaints come to Bil
lctt and die with him. Demands for garbage,
collection, when forced tJpon him with a hard
and reddened fist beneath his nose, are referred
to Mrs. Billett, whose poor arms can hardly lift
the dumbwaiter upon its ropes.
So the tenants of Judson T. Walters thrive
in their building, enjoying life as they may un
der the high rost f living, about which they are
forever talking and comparing notes on ped
dlers, grocers and other small tradesmen, or
boycotting, insulting and even assaulting, as tha
ease deserves, the purveyors of food and drink.
And in the Hotel Van Buskirk, at the pleas- -anter
end of infinity, dwells Mr. Walters and his
wife, and MUlicent.
The Hotel Van Buskirk is a colossus of hu
. man habitation which furnishes Jazz for the
tin ear and symphony for the connoisseur. It
reaches out one arm across half the world for
milady who desires a half dozen French snails,
and another into an adjoining state for the
prothonotary of a Pennsylvania town seeking a
boiled New England dinner.
Should the well known and oft sung Ah
Roond of Swat honor the Van Buskirk with his
patronage, it will print Its menus in Swattian.
It will curl hair, manicure fingers, shine shoes,
press trousers, be supercilious or informal, as
one may desire. It will rent a suite of rooms to
a king and in the chambers adjoining furnish
shelter to whispering revolutionaries. The cas
cades of Its saile a manger are more fitting as
an accompaniment to a honeymoon than Niagara
falls In short, the Van Buskirk, with its Allee
des Jardins, in which flutter the peacockdom of
New York, its checkroom boys, its head waiters,
its messengers, its actors looking like million
aires, and its millionaires looking like actors,
its wireless service, personal physicians, dentists
at all hours, has held the proud boast that It
can furnish anything except a navy, please any
one except members of the Anti-Saloon league,
and never lose its smile.
That was before the time of MUlicent.
MUlicent came to the Hotel Van Buskirk
with Mr. and Mrs. Walters. A suite of three
rooms and a bath were furnished to the couple
and one room and bath to MUlicent. Mr. Wal
ters could have been completely satisfied with a
large clothes closet and a cuspidor, only that
his wife knew more about spending money than
he knew about making it. which the size of his
income being taken into consideration, is knowl
edge raised to the th power. Mrs. Walters
could awaken at 2 o'clock in the morning and
be, as she would put it, de rigeur. Mr. Walters
could emerge from a Turkish bath looking as if
he had Just been in the path of an invading
army. ,
MUlicent, being a. French poodle, had it on
both of them.
Perhaps the reader should early have been
warned that this was to be a dog story and
the heroine a French poodle. MUlicent was a
French poodle of a particularly obnoxious
breed. To all those who have been sniffed,
smelled, snarled and growled at by French
poodles, or if they have been honored enough
to have been licked, sat upon, rubbed against,
or been favored by that perennial cataract
which a French poodle drops upon one from Us
red eyes, some slight picture of MUlicent can
thus mentally be gathered up.
MUlicent had the soul of a jilted danca hall
artist and the temperament of a retired harem
wife. She would coll herself, perfumed in attar,
upon the huge downy cushions furnished by
Mrs. Walters, where she grunted, wheeled, or
snapped as the occasion demanded. For Mrs.
Waltera MUlicent deigned to grunt and wheeie.
-She patronized her mistress as an ancient na
bob might have favored a willing slave.
To Judson T. Walters, MUlicent was about
1 pounds of incipient hydrophobia. To the
train of maids, valets, waiters, porters and hotel
clerks, and even the manager of the Hotel Van
buskirk, MUlicent waa "that damn dog in 908.
"Oo is muzza's 'lttle, wittle . bebsy." Mrs.
Walters would say. and In that phrase lies what
ever tragedy may be In this story and the subtle
connecting link between those ends of Infinity,
wife. ,
1 f ill ; WW v
nil Ci "
By Louis Weitzenkorn
A n of her own futility tnddenly Hoodud Mr. Walter. Why did everyone epeah in term of children
the Albermarle tenement, and the magnificent
Hotel Buskirk. With her baths, her manicures,
her massage, her curling, and her dainty, espe
cially prepared foods, MUlicent was exalted
above the canine proletariat. She was kissed by
Mrs. Walters, held up to the tobacco breath of
her "blggsy poppa," who was the Irritated Mr.
Walters, and to her door there ran an almost
unending stream of growling and sullen ser.
vants.
It was at this stage of the proceedings in the
life and adventures of MUlicent that Mr. Wal
ters took to solitary drinking. Like a moving
picture. vampire, if Mr. Walters can be imagined
in such an insidious role, he coddled the bar
tenders of the Van Buskirk, attempted to drink
the vile soft concoctions which answered to the
former highball and fizz, until finally, in a fit of ,
desperation, he bared his woes.
"Mike," said Mr. Walters, after many hope
less attempts at ' "Orange Blossoms" and the
like, "Mike, I'm the father of it."
"The father of what?" demanded ' Mike,
picking up the half drained Orange Blossom
from the bar and'smelling it suspiciously.
"Of that dog!"
"You?"
, "Yes," replied Mr. Walters, the tears welling
into his voice.
Mike looked around. The few faces at his
bar were familiar. He dodged out of sight a
moment and then, reappearing, said cryptically:
"Sixteen dollars."
"Take twenty," said Mr. Walters, shoving
two tens at the bartender. "I'll be back for
another when It's gone."
Mr. Walters took the carefully wrappel bot
tle and vanished to his dissipation.
It might be argued that a man of the caliber
of Judson T. Walters would have walked into
suite 908, arranged MUlicent carefully upon sT
mound as a fullback would the ball at tha start
of a Harvard-Yale game, and place kicked the
French poodle through the window into the
great beyond nine or more floors above the as
phalt of obliteration. For Judson T. Walters,
as hundreds of New York flat dwellers have oc
casion to know, is one of the largest, shrewdest .
and, between the hours of 10 o'clock in the
morning and 4 o'clock in the afternoon, hardest
of landlords to be found in the area between
Rochelle and Coney IslanS. Yet, like thousands
of other business men, he was of sentimental
nature, which only by dint of long cultivation
could be subdued during his work day. And
his particular sentiment was Mrs. Walters.
Mrs. Walters had everything that Judson T.
Walters revelled in vicariously. She had youth,
beauty and what he called "the continental
poise." If he amassed the dollars, she adorned
them and softened their commercialism. When
ha drew upon his bank for several thousands, he
saw the money transmuted into a lovely woman,
gowned adorably, scintilating with just the right
Jewels, smiling, graceful and quite the center of
all pictures in which she chose to place herself.
What he could not understand was MUlicent,
and yet a psychologist could have explained MU
licent to him in such a fashion that his heart
would have leaped for joy.
One of the first events in the crescendo chain
of Milllcent's tragedy was several columns of
notoriety furnished the hotel when Mrs. Walters
casually stepped 'Into a Fifth avenue Jewelers
and purchased a diamond dog collar for Milli.
cent MUlicent flashed her way about the city
In the Walters' limousine, and two hours later
every city editor in New York had dispatched
photographers and reporters to the Van Buskirk.
In the morning Mrs. Walters, her do, the
hotel, Mr. Walters, and Mike the bartender
were gloriously displayed upon the first cage
and "jumped inside." Chambermaids, clerks,
bellboys were Interviewed and even the members
of the corporation which owned the Van Bus
kirk. Then an evening paper, the favorite of the
stout Mrs. O'Hara back in the Albemarle, ap
peared with this editorial theme, heavily leaded,
down two columns of its back page:
"Bolshevism and Diamond Dog Collars."
"How Silly Women with Too Much Leisure
on Their Hands Are Giving Foundation to An
archists and the I. W. W."
Several effects followed quickly upon these
events.
One of the most potent was the bill which
Mr. Walters received from Milllcent's jeweler
calling for the payment of $5,000. Mr. Walters
proceeded to raise rents generally, and in par
ticular those of the Albemarle. Also, he became
distempered.
Then, whether it was from her sudden leap
into 'fame or from some underdone slices of
roast beef, MUlicent, like an actress emerging
from the white light of notoriety, likewise fell
into a distemper. Mr. Walters found herself at
war on all fronts.
I have, since reaching, this point of my
chronicle, made a special study of distempered
French poodles, and my observation's lead me to
assert that they are difficult to get along with.
The virus of distemper is frequently in the teeth
and nails, and from MUlicent it was communi
cated to one manicure, one bathmald, one coif
feuse, one dietitian (male) and one bellboy.
From such small numbers grow general
strikes. If ever the ghosts of Leon Troszky and
Nicholal Lenin walked through the backways of
a New York hotel, that hotel was the Van Bus
kirk. Unrest seethed like frying fat.
First came the scratching by MUlicent of one
of the proudest, most exclusive, and haughtiest
manicures to be found adjacent to Long Acre
square. That young woman, engaged to marry
the head waiter in the grill (another inside rev
elation as to the carrying on of dynasties), be
gan spreading anti-Millicent propaganda, which
had a telling effect among the waiters. A similar
event occurred in the case of the bath maid, who
was In love with the chef de mayonnaise. Then
the coiffeuse was nipped by the poodle's sharp
teeth, and a week later a delegation waited up
on the hotel's manager. The result was an ulti
matum, and Judson T. Walters was politely in
formed by a superlatively affable clerk that the
general manager was waiting at Mr. Walters'
convenience, to speak to Mr. Walters. Would
Mr. Walters see the general manager now? Boy,
show Mr. Walters to the manager's office!
Judson T. Walters, without clairvoyance, un
derstood. "What's the verdict?" he said, sitting down.
"I'm sorry. Mr. Walters. We'd like to ac
commodate you and Mrs. Walters here, but "
"Not the dog?"
"Not the dog." .
"Is that an ultimatum 7"
"I'm sorry, I assure you. But well, our
help are threatening to quit, many of the guests
are complaining "
Mr. Walters walked out to the elevators and
prepared to settle his domestic problem. At
heart ha had an instinctive sympathy for his
wife, but he now prepared himself for a dissem
bling and hypocritical role.
When he entered his apartment his face be
tokened that of a man Just emerged from bat-
tie. It was a purely histrionic mask and In a
Jerky, angry voice he Informed Mrs. Walters of
his interview with the manager below. It was
almost the truth that he repeated to her with
Just sufficient fiction to place the hotel official
in a.he role of a hard hearted, merciless animal
hater, a man without respect for his guests, a
coward, bullied by his employes and fearing
the loss of Mrs. Walters patronage as a severe
blow to the social patronage of the Van Buskirk.
It was a long story he told, and Mrs, Walters,
holding MUlicent upon her lap, listened care
fully until her husband, by reason of touching
every note from Injured innocence to sacrilege,
ended with this remarkable word performance:
"You see, dear? Now don't you worry your
little head any more. Just listen to me, I
raised the devil with the manager about this
thing. I told him we wouldn't stay in this place
another day. He begged me to be reasonable.
Well, I finally said I'd put it up to you. Now,
honey, I've got a vacant apartment in the Albe.
marie one of the tenants er was quit, and
there's four big rooms which we could turn into
a wonderful little home for MUlicent, and you
could get some one to take especially good care
of her there. Jacobs could bring her to you
here every day, and this blasted hotel would
lose that amount of money we are paying for
Milllcent's room and bath. What do you say?"
The idea of revenge struck Mrs. Walters, but
with feminine instinct she drew back for ques
tions. "Is this place what did you say It was
named?"
"The Albemarle." Mr. Walters almost
choked upon the resonant word.
"Is it far from here?"
"It's on Park avenue."
"Oh, really? Then it must be lovely," said
Mrs. Walters, whose knowledge of Park avenue
extended not quite so far as the New York Cen
tral kept in its tunnel. "I'll take her there my
self." "Now, dear, I wouldn't do that," remonstrat
ed her husband, conjuring up a picture of the
tenement. "You're worn out. Let Jacobs take
her over in the car." Then, he added quickly,
as an adroit afterthought, "I'll tell you what,
I'll take the poor little thing over myself."
Again Mrs; Walters' instinct lifted within
her, or, in common parlance, she "smelled a
rat." After a moment's thought she suddenly
rose.
"No, dear. . I'll take her there. Muzza won't
let her 'ittle pettums get lonesome, will muzza?
Would you mind calling the car, dear?"
W'alters hesitated. He knew what a revela
tion the Albemarle would be to his dainty wife
when she saw it. Yet his turgid words of "Park
avenue" had led him to a point from which with
drawal would seem suspicious. He felt his
wife's questioning stare. Well, either way, he
was caught. He sighed and went to the tele
phone. .
It was an hour later that Mrs. Walters
glided softly over the cross streets of tha city
to Park avenue. With MUlicent upon her lap,
and the limousine filled almost to bursting
with the dog's cushions, her baslnette, her soaps,
her perfumes, her manicuring set, and a hun
dred other of the poodle's toilet and dietary ne
cessities, Mrs. Walters puzzled upon tha strange,
ly changed attitude of her husband toward the
dog. Once she was tempted to return and de
mand an explanation, for she felt certain the
farther up Park avenue the car proceeded and
the dingier the buildings grew, that thera had
been collusion against her and her pet.
Then she decided to gather up all tha evi
dence possible and for the moment MUlicent was
forgotten as Bhe gazed out of the window of her
automobile at the range of railway, where the
New York Central lifted itself from the depths
of the asphalt Into long streamers of glis
tening rails, semaphores, and perlodio trains far
into the upper reaches of the city. The car
went on, the viaduct blotted out her vleV to the
Uft. gt:d p her right thera reared lha red bi U k
trntm.iua with tttatr windows like augary
Ma. ihalr gaping doorwaya Ilka tha worn and
rococfo mouths of tinaelad Coney Island nton
tt.ia. flha saw lha collided tret lined lth
puthoarta, with hnrda of women bargaining
for grorarlaa, for atockinga, for lamp wlcka; a
street that waa lha lng-t and narrowait de
partment atora In lha world,
Tha sight faaclnat.d hrr. Ner before had
Jacobs drltan hrr Into llila quarter of New Tork
City, nor, for that mattrr, Into any other juar
tr whera tha fringe of gentility waa even mat
td or airlnry. Tha long and jeweled awerp of
Fifth avenua, tha cool curvea of Itlvorslde drive,
thoae boulevards of lha city, aha knew. Hut tha
pukhrart diktrlrt, the red brick barracka, tha
rumbling viaduct of lha Central, this waa new
land, and aomethlng Inaida of her pained Just
a Uttla.
Tha rar turned lo lha left and paused under
tha viaduct, than went alowly north a few yard
and ram a to a halt. Mrs. Walters looked out.
Kite aw a half dozen dirty children gazing with
awe at her, and ona or two of greater temerity
rama clou to tha rar and rubbed their dirty
(Inters down tha gloaa of Us paint. Hho saw a
lolling figure upon tha atone ate pa of tha build
ing a. which aha had stopped auddrnly straight,
an wl en Jacobs, her chauffeur, spoke to him.
Then tha figure quickly took a pipe from his
nmuth. removed a soiled and shape lea rnnaa of
cloth from his head and unllmbered In her di
rection. Willi a shock aa of cold water striking
her, Mr a. Walters realized that aha waa before
tha Albemarle her husband'a choice of a resi
dence for MUlicent!
In tha next moment Jacobs hnd opened the
door of tha rar.
"Beg pardon, ma'am, but this Is It. Would
you Ilka to apeak to the superintendent?"
Again there rama a suggestion In her mind
to turn back without further effort, and she
clasped tha wooly poodle closer to her. But
a new curiohity waa mounting within her, trans
cending her feeling of outrage, and aha nodded
assent to tha man's question.
The children, meanwhile, hod crowded up to
tha running board and she was treated to a
fringe of comment, a pale, childish reflection of
parental Judgment which caught and held her
attention.
" "Gee, look at the pup'."
"How d'yer keep her clean?"
"Say, missus, let me toot your horn, will
yuh?"
"Hey. Moishe, she's klssln it."
"Give ua a ride, missus, will you? Wo
alnt never been In one of the things."
At this remark, Mr. Billett, humbled now
that ha faced the scintilating wealth of his em.
ployer, pushed the children roughly from the
car and addressed himself to Mrs. Walters.
"Don't mind them kids, lady, they don't
know no better. Did yuh wanta see me?"
"rre you the superintendent of this the
Albemarle?"
"Yes'm, I'm the Janitor. The name's klnda
rubbed ofT, though."
"Is there a vacant apartment in the build
ing?" "Yes'm. fourth floor." Billett, from force of
habit, almost quoted the rental, and was about
to invite this magnificent person in when second
thought prompted him to wait.
"I should like to see it," said Mrs. Walters,
rising from her seat and preparing to alight.
"Sure, missus, I'll take yuh up. It's not
what you're used to, I'm thlnkin', though."
As she passed over the sidewalk to the door
way of the Albemarle, the eyes of the children
followed her wistfully. The sight of Blllett,
however, and the remembrance of his daily
curses and threats kept them at a distance, but
the moment Mrs. Walters had disappeared into
tha shadows of the entrance they crowded in,
talking and exclaiming and making childish
speculations as to whether the "swell' was com
ing to the place to live.
Mrs. Walters followed the Janitor in. The
odor of cooking offended her nostrils and she
was amazed at the din that assailed her ear
drums as she climbed the three tortuous flights.
Then she found herself In a narrow chested set
of rooms that seemed to run into each other as
it the walls were gelatinous and could hardly
hold up. They were covered with a dark brown
paper that in places hung in strips or showed
grayish where the plaster was revealed in un.
even spots.
"Would you mind opening a window, Mr.
"Billett, ma'am. William Billett."
"Thank you, Oh Mr. Billett, did you say
people lived here and just moved out?"
"Yes'm, they was pay twenty-two an' we had
to raise it to thirty. They "-'
"Thirty? Thirty dollars a month for this?"
Her arms gave an involuntary jerk, and
.MUlicent squeaked in pain. Mrs. Walters looked
at the dog, and then something on the floor
caught her eye. She walked over and touched
the object with her foot. It was a doll, a small,
celluloid doll, such as babies play with in their
tubs. It was streaked with dirt and something
red and sticky like soft candy or jelly seemed
to have been smeared upon its face.
"Was there a baby hgre, too, Mr. Blllett?"
"Yes'm, the Erdmans have a k a baby.
They took a furnished room downstairs "
"A furnished room one room one like
these?"
"Yes'm," said' Billett deprecatlngly. "Some
people'd do anything to save money."
"But ' Mrs, Walters mind was in a con
fusion of cross thoughts and pictures, "but how
can three and a baby live in ono room? Oh "
And then, as she looked at the separate
looms of this apartment her mind selected de
tails, evidence against the man who had tried
to trick her, who owned this rookery. Judson
T. Walters was due to stand trial.
She, noted the bathroom, a compartment
actually two feet by four, with a tub in which
a 6-year-old child would have been cramped.
The plumbing shaky and dripping. The tub
gray and leaden, the floor eroded by water, the
planking loose and soft. In her mind she tick
eted the multitude of noises, the water roaches,
the windows, warped, bulging in their frames
like things overfed.
As she took in these details, Blllett kept up
a running fire of remarks, about the work he
did, about the work of his wife, which he care
fully minimized, the irritability of the tenants,
the general uselessness of doing anything for
them.
, "A tribe of Indians'd treat a house bettern
this," she heard the janitor say. "They ain't
no use doln' anything for tham, Mrs. Wralters.
They wouldn't appreciate It."
Mr3. Walters finished her survey and started
toward the door. She descended the dark and
odorous stairs amid the mad symphony of piano,
drum and varied human voices. She shuddered
and clutched MUlicent closer to her as she
emerged, with Billett at her heels, into the day
light of the avenue, into the midst of a score of
waiting children, who greeted her and her
poodle with more exclamations.
A stout woman with a copy of an evening
paper in her hand was also occupying the stone
step of the entrance as she passed, and a cut.
ting remark came to her ears.
"The laldy ain't goln' to take the apartment
Git out of the way, kids, so the pup kin
breathe."
"You shut up," growled Blllett, who had also
heard tho words. "Who'd live here with the
likes of you blockin the door?"
Mrs. Waltera walked to her waiting car, but
the sting of those last words of the stout woman
had brought the crimson to her cheeks, and It
was almost In a whisper that she directed
Jacobs to return to the Van Buskirk. Then sha
gave the expectant Billett a tip, the door of her
limousine was slammed, and In the next mo
ment, to a chorus of childish shouts, aha waa
carried away, '
On tha return trip cf her automobile Mra.
Waltara intd tha panorama of tha city upon
which at first aha had been fa Intent. Jiistaad,
through her mind, aa It It were a film ecrn,
there ran a recurrence of tha pictures aha had
Ifft behind her In the tenement. And, like a
film, avery epi'rnre of words lhat flaahad ui
on her mental union burned whitely In this
phr:
"tut out of tha way, kids, go tha pup Vln
breathe."
Pha wrenched lieraelf free from thta dls
trewlng repetition and tried to think of tha
mora Immediate problem thut aha waa ap
preaching at the rata of 20 miles an hour.
What would be tUe result of htr Interview
with Mr. Waltera? Hhe reaented blllnrly Me at.
tempt to get rid of Milll-cnt by placing tha
poodle In the tenement and rhe waa grim with
determination to make hint f"' hrr reaentment.
And then cnina theaa words again:
"Uit out of tho way, Lid. o lha pup kin
breathe."
Phe atralghtened tip In her sent. The pnln
rf this phrase brought an Idea Into her tulnd
like a lightning Haitli revealing the object a of
lha night, and It aeemed to bo one which satis
fied eeveral angles of her problem, Hhe picked
up the speaking tube and aked Jamba to draw
the machine to tho ruth. Tha chauffeur left
his scat and opened the door.
-"Jacob." she said, "I'm nnxloua to find a
good home for MUlicent. It there hue been
an unfortunate occurrence) at the hotel and I
do not wish to keep her there. Do you know
of any one who would like my dog well enough
to be kind to her?"
"Well, ma'am," begun the chauffeur, awk
wardly, "If you'd expect cologne wuter baths an'
cream an' cheese, I don't know. You ace,
ma'am, a dog'a an expense these days. I got
a little hoifie of my own an' my wife would like
a dog, but we couldn't do what you do for her.
We got a little girl, too."
A bciifo of her own futility suddenly flooded
Mrs. Walters. Why did every one speak in terms
of children the moment bho placed her foot be
yond the childless portals of the Hotel Van Bus
kirk? Children! Then, with no apparent con.
nectlon to any thought nho had In mind, there
came, as if upon tho air. the nnme "Lillian." It
seemed llko the faint tinkling of a bell in her
ears, and like a vignette she saw dimly a
piquant, laughing face and dreamy chiffon and
pink rosebud ribbons.
"Jacobs," said Mrs. Walters, rising quickly
and placing MUlicent upon tho pile of cushions
beside her. "I shall go hack to the hotel in a
taxi. You take the dog to your home and give
her to your little girl. And then, Jacobs, go
back to the Albemarle ond ask the Janitor to
take you to the woman who lived in that vacant
apartment. When you see her tell her and the
Juiltor that Mrs. Walters has made arrange
ments for her to move back and that the rent
will bo tho same as before." Sho stopred speak
ing a moment, then added: "When you come
back to the hotel, please say nothing about
these arrangements to Mr. Walters."
It was half an hour later that Mra. Waltera
enters her apartment In the Van Buskirk.
She found Mr. Walters in the state of a small
boy expecting a whipping, and with that Inher
ent psychology of women she know how to treat
with such a mood. He had smoked innumer
able cigars, interspersed with a dozen cigarets,
and had she kissed him she would have dlscov.
ered evidence of other fortification.
She leisurely removed her hat and gloves,
stood before a mirror, and, still maintaining her
silencfe, watched his reflection narrowly as she
went through the maneuvers of arranging her
hair and applying some face powder. The air
grew heavier as she continued these slow and
methodical movements, and she saw her hus
band begin to pace up and down the adjoining
room, casting a guilty glance at her with every
turn he made.
When she had given him sufficient time to
tie up each separate and expectant nerve she
calmly walked to the telephone and took down
the receiver.
"Let me speak to the manager, please."
Jud3on T. Walters halted his pacing.
"Hello," Mrs. Walters called sweetly over
the telephone, "Is this the manager? This is
Mrs. Walters yes. I want to tell you that Mr.
Walters and I have decided to give up our
apartments here. What? Yes. We shall quit
Monday. Thank you,"
She returned the receiver to the hook and
faced her husband for a moment and then took
a chair. At this Mr. Walters exploded into
speech.
"Look here, Martha," he exclaimed, "what
is all this about?"
"I should imagine you would know."
She laid a heavy accent upon the word
"you."
"It's all over this damned dog."
"What did you say?"
"Its all because of the dog. Well, what
could I do? We were ordered to take her out."
"Judson," said Mrs. Walters, evenly, "have
you ever been in the Albemarle?"
"Er. Occasionally. Why?"
"Why? What a question! You dont deserve
to own property."
"Indeed," said Mr. Walters with some pique.
"Perhaps you could manage It better and get
diamond collars for dogs."
"Judson, please remember I am not at the
Albemarle on Park avenue." Her words cut
with their sarcasm. "Yes, I do think I could
manage It better, and that is exactly what I was '
coming to."
"You mean "
"I mean I want you to give me that build
ing y.-hat do you do, make out a lease o deed,
I believe?"
"Now, don't be foolish, dear. You don't
want to bother about that place. It's not a
woman's work. I'm sorry you you went
th re."
"Will you give me that place or not?"
Mrs. Walters rose from her chair in the man
ner of ono about to take a decisive action,
"But dear why why do you want It?"
"Because it isn't fit for a dog to live in, If
you want to know."
Mr. Walters lit a cigar and allowed himself
enough time to ponder upon the strange ways
of women and their pets. Suddenly he said:
"It seems fit enough for children."
"Judson!"
Mrs. Walters turned away and walked to
ward the adjoining room.
"I'm sorry, Martha. Please. I didn't mean
to hurt you. Certainly you can have the build
ing. Go Into the real estate business if you
wish. Fix it up and make it a ken a private
home for MUlicent. Do anything you wish,
dear, but don't be angry because I was hasty."
Mrs. Walters turned.
"Then you will give the place to me and I
can manage it Just as I please?"
"Of course, dear, anything."
"Will you make out the papers tomorrow?" ,
"The first thing. You are going to fix up
that'apartment you saw?"
"I certainly am. Why, Judson, it was awful.
To think of even MUlicent living there. That
bathroom, and those terrible windows, the floors
ugh!"
"Do as you please, so long as you love your
husband in the bargain. I shall make that part
of t'.e deed. The consideration, we call it. 'In
consideration of love and affection upon the
party of the second part, the party of the first
pa t deeds, conveys " Walters laughed In
relief, and came to his wife. He placed his
arms about her, then, suddenly, remembering,
he asked:
"But, honey, why do you wish to leave the
hotel?"
"Because," said Mrs. Walters, alowly, and
with a strange look in her eyes as she held her
gaze up to her husband, "this hotel Isn't a fit
T)Uc tor child to live In."
Copright, U'g,
