Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 14, 1922)
THE BEE: OMAHA. SUNDAY. MAY 14. 1022. 9-B LOVE and If Your Soul Spectrum Happens to Be Overshot With Blue To Jay, Try This lively, Humor ous Yam of College Life as a Remedy. II tii In hit tophomor yer and ekad cut mgr reaour by waiting (our hour day In th co-op dining hall, tin n a, freahmtn and rams there to ml H u lank of figur. but of an open countensne and a hopeful die position. Mb wss timid, pal and cheaply garbed, with llttl to command her to tha mas cullna ty scept golden braids, which In hr dlffldsnc aha triad to conceal, and two toft, blu wilh a wistful Jlaht in them that could not ba concealed at all. Whan aha could get It aha took tha moat Inconspicuous tabla. This happened to ba ona of hl. and a waiter leartia tt read human nature. Eh atudlad the bill of fara critically, frownlngly, a If consulting a ery faatldloua taata. but lie knew aa a matter of fact that aha waa doing "math" figuring thro ways from tha aoup or two from the dessert to get a combination that would give her the greateat aenaa of fullneaa for tha alight at depletion of her puree, Tha second time aha honored ona of hla table. Joseph Hancock emuggled an extra pat of but ter to her under cover of noma sxcess bread. 1 ho girl noticed it, of couree, and gave him a any, grateful ik. That waa tha first time that ha knew that her eyes, braldea being blue and wistful, had mine of pollahed diamond in the depth of them. The kindling of thoe spark ling light gav Jo aom kind of thrill, the exact duplicate of which he had never before known. "Gosh!" ha gaaped out In tha entryway, and ceneulted th mirror In the waahroom to make aura hla hair wa allcked back a amooth a glaaa and aa ahlny aa onyx. When for dinner tha girl again choaa ona of hi table Jo felt flattered and encouraged to apeak, but kept tha remark carefully within tha Una of hla profeealonal relation to her by suggesting, "Coffee poor tonight, but I can recommend tha milk." Ha said this In an un dertone neces&arlly, fend undertones almost In avltably have a note of tha confidential In them. To thla not tha girl responded. "I prefer milk," shs sdmltted, lifting the soft, blue eyes, "only only It doesn't taste Ilk tha milk wa used to get down on tha farm." ' "This will," assured Joe, proudly. "Leave It to ourself." ; At the lc box he dexterously manipulated th pitcher and tha glasses under ths very eye of ths Jap custodian, and th girl got a glass that waa half cream. "O!" she sighed, after taking a sip, and glow d upon him. "On th q. t," he warned, not with hi lips, but by lowering the screen of an eyelid for a aecond, tha accidental presence of the head waiter In the vicinage having compelled such ' discretion. The girl caught the, Import of th Ignal and bowed her face to her food, dlushlng alightly. Thla wa th first time Jo knew there could be color In those transparent cheek. "Th girl' anaemic, run down, starved!" he diagnosed, and satisfied some Impulse of his heart by smuggling two pats of butter to the side of her .plat. She acknowledged them with a grateful look. "My name's Jo Hancock," he confided, re arranging the salt, pepper and sauce bottles, and pretending to brush Imaginary crumbs from the other side of the table as excusing his lingering presence.. v "That's a good name," the girl said, smiling at ths sound as If it gavs her pleasure.. - ... v ' "Like It?"" remarked Joe, beaming. "Hancock is la so classic in American his tory, you know," she responded, as trying to be very pleasant, "and Joe la auch an honest name, don't you think?" Joe blushed beautifully. "What' yours?" he demanded, interestedly. - "Lela Lela Mason," she responded with frank simplicity. ' "Gee!" said Jo, hla brow rising. "That' a peach of a name." "You are awfully kind," ahe commented, and than, lest he should misunderstand her mean ing, tapped th glaaa of half and half signifi cantly. '.- "Kind la my middle name to some people," -he boasted. .. , In th next few minutes, as young Mr. Han cock bualed himself with sundry goings to and fro, occasional irresistible glance were stolen at th meek golden head yonder, and a design and a program began to tak form within his mind, a design slightly predatory In on direc tion, but nobly charitable In another. t- "Chef,", he began, Impressively, when ap proach and petition might be mad to that dark, majestio presence who presided in the kitchen, "when -I say 'Small steak' you give me a small steak, don't you?" "Ah ho' does, college boy," affirmed that - sweating lump of ebony with an air of con clou rectitude. - "Wall, now," proposed Joe in wheedling tones, "from this on, one in a while, you are going to hear me pip 'Steak small' Instead. That's a high algn take me? When you hear it grab a T-bone, cut the bone out of it and fix It up so It will go by the checker1 as a piece of round." ; -' ' i Th black chef looked thoughtful under hla white cap. and increased the measure of his frowning dignity as he weighed the cool sugges tion to organise a system of petty larceny. "Ah gits, you, .Mlstah Hancock," he admitted at length, "but what else does Ah git?" The emphasis was significant. . Jo thrust a half dollar into th yellow palm of a black hand that happened to be ' mysteriofisly open and conveniently near. "I can't keep this up, you understand, Sam," he explained, putting pressure upon the halt dollar till It weighed like a golden twenty. "I'm workin,' my way; but lt'a for a poor little girl, a freshle. She'a halt starved, and, just as a matter of humanity, I've got to fatten her up till ah can do herself Justice, in her studies at least." ; ' Joe got a good deal of plea into his tones, and the black man had a sympathetic heart, as well as a palm that itched. "AU right, Mlstah Joe," he conceded, grand ly. "I'll collide wid you on de proposition; and, one In a while when ydu-all's finances will stand it, you collide wid me," and he tapped his pocket and rolled hi eyes, both significantly. "You're on," declared Joe, with a croak of emotion in hla Utterances, and hurried outside to make a suggestion to a certain young lady as he tor off her meal check. Now, in simple truth, the cheapest steak was beyond Lola's means; yet she could not appear ungrateful, and came the next night determined recklessly to major on that viand. ws a miracle steak that she got rich, ten der, juicy, unbelievably palatable. And as the days went on other miraclea were wrought in the old dining hall. Instead of being drowned in a thin blue fluid called by the trade nam of milk, her cereal of mornings and her , rice puddings for dessert were smothered in a froth of rich cream. Jo Hancock, too, began. to appear more in. the role of a prestidigator than a waiter. He could be loitering along th aisle, ostentatiously looking out for th wants of his patrons, and maybe backing up against her table as he made way for aome one to pass, or even while he exchanged a few casual words with the head waiter; but, lo, when he moved off there would a small extra pitcher of maple syrup for hr hot cake upon th table which had got been titer far. Joe must fcev b carrying that pitcher around la hi hip pocket till th op portune moment arrived; yet haw h had den It without diaaater was more than ah could vr understand. A for th benignant elelaht of hand performer, by th end of th very first k h beian to get aa ua aolfieh msn's reward la se Ing that Lela' hollow cheek war filling, th first faint bluan of a roe color that wa to be permanent growing wp on them. "Mi' fattening up! Bhs's fattening up!" he chuckled, exuberantly. Then hla mood becani rspt and sober. "Dice her little heart!" he breathed softly, Thla utterance waa follow ed by a peculiar dissolving sonsstlon in his breast. Jo did not understand thla. It wit a feeling that cmbar raaaed him. He obtained re lief from It by approaching lle with a bold auggeatlon, for practice had mad him skillful and success had made him daring. "Don't do any mor 'math' over th menu card." b told her,- seising a moment when such confldencs was possible, know what we've got, and I'll kno wwhat we've got. and I'll se you get th beat there) I each time, and I'll fig th check." "But I It right?" gaaped th girl, with round, worried eyea. for conacianc has been troubling her. "Right!" ejaculated Jo, pursing his lips and frown ing. "Of court it' right. This la a co-op hall. Isn't it?" Lela did not sea Just why this should make a differ ence, but Joe said It did, and he was a sophomore; shs waa only a freshman. Besides, ths world had dealt rather skimpily with her hitherto, and hers was not a natur to fly In th face of Providence. With Joe the casuistries re solved themselves quit a easily. He waa getting so in terested In this girl, so fasci nated by the growing round of cheek and increasing shapeliness of arm and shoul der, that his appetite dimin ished. He waa eating very little himself. Whatever th co-op loat on Lela Mason, Joe wss sure it mad up on him; and yet he felt no pang of starvation. It waa food and drink to him Just to stand off and gaxa at her when she did not know that be was gaslng; and it was positively thrilling to observe her delighted flush at dis covering his glanc upon her. She was still sparing of conversation, but such eloquent messages of thanks and grateful appreciation as she sent to him across that old dining hall! And pretty? Why, the girl waa going to be beautiful was beautiful already. In his own absorption with that bright spectacle it did not occur to him that others might be discovering that nascent beauty also. That "Fat" Franklin, for instance, a proud junior, possessor of an automobile and such wealth that he could faro sumptuously on T-bone steak three times a day it he so minded, and who got creams and , syrups and butter galore by the simple expedi ent of paying extra for them that he, who waa accounted one of the boldest and most success ful "queeners" in the college, should this day for the first time have contemplated with the interest of discovery th reddening roses, the rounding curves, and the soft blue eyes of Lela Mason,4 was a consideration quite below the threshold of Joe Hancock's consciousness. "Some queen, I'll say!" murmured "Fat"' Into his coffee cup, and assayed her boldly with an expert eye. v - For Joe to have known about this would have disquieted htm greatly, and today nothing dis quieted him, because, a second week of their casual acquaintanceship having passed, he had ventured to ask Lela to step out with him, and she had consented modestly. It was a blissfully boy and girl time they had together. They ex changed life stories and found several pleasant parallels. Joe heard with sympathetic admira tion how Lela mind hungering for an educa-, tlon living wlthTa maiden aunt poor almost as herself, had scraped and pinched her way through high school and was at last here, pinching her way through the University and sharing the expenses and the discomforts of an attlo Chamber in Mrs. Mcllheney's rooming house with Irma Woods, a girl as poor and aa ambitious as herself, - And on the very next occasion of their step- ping out together perhaps because it waa in the moonlight this time and' under the grand old campus oaks Joe Hancock found himself desperately in love with Lela Mason, but when ho tried to strangely put the new, the supreme emotion into words his tongue was tied, though his heart pounded and tor at it fastenings. The next afternoon he stood before a jewelry shop, gazing upon traya of rings, diamond rings. And then a great Idea occurred to him. A ring would break the ice. The production, the prof fering of the golden circlet with its tiny eye of fire would disclose his heart and high intent in a single gesture. Thereafter all would be easy easy. Daringly, as Hobson Into the bottle neck at Santiago, he went in and priced the rings. But here disappointment couched.. The only ones he would have considered adequate were tagged at from $500 up. Mercifully, how ever, aome dlamonda are smaller than others. There were diamond rings as low in price as $25, yet the one which was the very smallest -that it aeemed to him his self-respect could otter and, at the same time, the very largest to which his impecunlosity could aspire, was priced at $110. To be sure, Joseph Hancock had not $110 nor any portion thereof to spare above the raw necessities of his lite, yet in his days of struggle he had learned one lesson surely. Money was to be got by working for It. He strolled about the town and found a pile of bricks that was to be moved a halt block from where they had been dumped off the flat cars to the spot upon which they were to be built, Into a pottery kiln. It waa a wheelbarrow job, and the contractor confessed he waa in no hurrV to have the bricks moved, construction being delayed by other ele ments. Joe engaged himself to move the bricks, working two hours a day, for the sum of $110. How the unusual toll tired him! And how his tlngers stiffened until he was no longer a successful juggler. Once he waa nearly detected by the Jap at the ice chest. Another time he capsized a pitcher ot maple syrup in his pocket and had to go through the duties of the break fast hour with the gooxy stuff saturating trous ers and crawling maddeningly . down his leg. Pride, of course, kept him from disclosing a mishap like this to the only person who could have regarded it sympathetically and not hu morously. But the greatest disadvantage of all was that the brick contract made such inroads upon his already overmortgaged hours as left him now no time at all for Lela -except on Friday nights. Moreover, his strategy ot th ring; which in- LE AEN. By 'Cm1tI ytmnlt, volved a complete surprise, forbad him to offer any explanation of what he was doing with hi afternoons. This waa a vital error. It pemitted Lela to infer that Joe Hancock's interest In her was merely benevolent. Mor dangerous till, it left her with ample time In which to receive the now proffered attentions ot "Fat" Franklin, which she did with a good conscience and a woman's natural pride in having attracted on of th bigger fish in the pooL - But, blissfully unconscious of these errors, Joe loaded and wheeled and piled in hope, find ing full compensation for ail his labors and .deprivation in th increasing pulchritud of Miss Mason and the ever-beaming warmth of her smile up to that moment when, glancing out of the window of the dining hall aa th mid day meal waa in swing, he observed the girl coming down the graveled path chatting gaily with Milton Franklin. - Now It must be explained at this point that Milton Franklin had the faculty of rubbing cer tain kinds of people the, wrong way, people whom, for one reason or another, "Fat" con sidered less than his equals. He was not popu lar with waiters. The mere sight of him with l ela gave Joe an incipient case of dispositional pip. Joe was not even aware that they knew each other, yet from their manner they aeemed painfully well acquainted. The sudden stoppage of his heart passed, however, with Lela's cheery' greeting, and that organ thumped proudly as he girl started toward her accustomed table. : But there followed to her place the obese and self-assertive young Franklin person.' "Allow me!" "Fat" said grandly, and pushed in Lela's chair for her; then took the opposite . one. "I'd like to push his face in th slob!" growled Joe away down in his larynx. "Walter!" "Fat" called with an authoritative voice. "Waiter!" Joseph Hancock was Instantly furious. Duty compelled him to take Mr. Franklin's pomp ; ously given order, but even while doing o be was planning to provide that presumptions In terloper with an experience and a dinner he could never forget. . By the time Joe actually reached ths purlieus of cookery his specifics tions were, complete. , "One steak sma-a-H!" he bawled, and, draw ing near enough for the purpose, he slipped the chef one. ot those rare half dollars, whereat the whites of the dark eyes rolled and a black face nodded alert comprehension. "And, say, Sam!" Joe's eyes narrowed to that tenae and eager whisper in which 'dark plots are laid. "Besides that, have you got a steak in the house so tough a dog couldn't eat It? If you have, and can do anything to make it tougher than it is already, do it; then camouflage It with onions and slip it to me." "He-he-he-he!" laughed the chef aa he read the gloomy tracery, upon the boy face a one reads headlines in a newspaper. "Some guy done buttin in on dat 111 gal, huh!" he gurgled. "Butt-in la r-r-right!" growled Joe, grinding his teeth. " -. Face beaming, throat chuckling, hands con spiring, the black chef "collided" with enthu siasm, and the contrast between the two din ners served at one table that night waa a malicious triumph. ' The perspiration stood out on Milton Franklin's face aa he sawed at his steak. Lela's cut easily, and she lifted the juicy, morsels to her Hps with the consciousness that she had never had a finer. , "Say," "Fat" protested to her as his exaspera tion and hla meal reached their climax together, "this is the soggleat potato I ever aaw in my life. Not even th co-op hall can make 'em any soggier. This bread la positively petrified. -No bride ever baked a harder loaf. , And, further more, I'd like to meet th guy that put hair oil on my rice pudding." , He fumed a moment while Lela looked em barrassed and murmured: "O, I am ao sorry, Mr. Franklin." "Most delightful company I've ever had In this hall. Mis Mason," mumbled Milt, "and poorest dinner! Miserable waiter you've got. We'll eat at my tabl tonight, and we'll get soms service. The last sentence of this speech waa framed particularly for the ears of young Joseph Han cock, just tkea bringing the soup to the next table, but It was Lela who answered it, flushing with Indignant surprise. "Why no!" she negatived loyally and turned her blue eyes up to bestow a glance of eloquent comfort upon Joe. "I've had a delightful din ner. I think I have the best waiter in the hall. I wouldn't leave him for anything." Without appearing to hay overheard, Joe's Mr. FrmMin.- JW tmd with dignity f "FmL" features wreathed themselves In a heavenly smile. Sweet revenge and sweeter reward had floated to hla ear In a single speech. "He' rotten, I'll ay," declared "Fat" grump ily. At the word fresh rag got up In th heart of Joe, rage and a further thirst for revenge that. parched and constricted his throst like a consuming fire, while1 kindly fate Immediately afforded the opportunity for retaliation. The fidgety young freshle Just behind "Fat," for whom the soup was destined, not nottcing the near approach of th first Item of the luncheon, chose this particular fraction of time In which to half rise and readjust his chair. In so doing hi shoulder either cam in violent contact with the ministering hand of Joe, or seemed to. Anyway, the aoup plat waa tilted and sent a small Niagara of rice-tomato fluid cascading in a hot douche down the back of the Franklin neck and inside ths Franklin semester shirt, thereby. In fact, debarring that garment from being a semester shirt at all, sine it would now lose it right to that title through having to be laundered at a time when th semester waa only well under way. "Wow! "What In blinking blazes? I'm scald ed!" These and other phrases, ldeaa and ejacu lations did Milton Franklin erupt as he leaped violently Into the air. - "You you clumsy Idiot!" he cried, and lifted his hand to strike. A rather mighty hand It was; for, despite his fatness. Franklin was some thing of an athlete and noted for hi strength of arm. But already Joe Hancock's next strategy was developing. ' His glance was bent upon the fid gety, embarrassed froshle who, guilty or not . guilty, was to furnish the alibi demanded by th exigencies of the waiter's situation. "Now, see what you did!" he exclaimed, hotly. "When you alt down, why don't you stay down? If you're going to get up under a plate of soup, why don't you ring a bell or something? You . better apologise to Mr. Franklin now." . "Him apologise!" snorted, "Fat," sarcasm and anger mingling. "Not him! Tou! And apologies won't let you off, either." Actually "Fat" was drawing back that brutal fist of his and going to awing it against th smooth but now alightly tanned cheek of Joe Hancock; arid Joe, full of fight, waa ready for him. He waa younger by a year he was slighter by 20 pounds but all that trundling of wheel barrow loads of bricks had given him arms of steel, and It Is possible that when he swung his fists it would have been aa If he had a brick In each hand, and that one of these, landing con veniently on the rotund target ot a stomach which "Fat" presented first, and the other fol lowing to the chin, might have made wreck of Milton Franklin, But nothing of this kind hap pened, for Instantly the little girl waa standing between them, Straight, taller than she had ever appeared before, her cheek glowing, her eye expressing indignation, resentment and biasing rebuke. . "Control yourself, Mr. Franklin!", shs said, with dignity. "I could see It was a pure acci dent. Mr. Hancock waa not in the least to blame." ' "An accident?" queried "Fat," incredulously.. "Not much It wasnt any accident This fellow' - taken a dislike to me, 'sail." But "Fat's" fist had ceased, to menac. The girl' eye had cowed him, or elapsing seconds had given him tlm to s cool off. "Why, Mr. Franklin! How could you say that?" reproached the girl, and Milton began to feel ashamed for his b rashness and to be more immediately conscious of the embarrass ments of his physical condition. Besides, the head waiter was on the seen by this time, rebuking Joe, staring severely at the fidgety freshman, and assisting, by ths sacrifice of many paper napkins, In wiping off th neck of Mr. Franklin' person and the back of his coat But no amount of wlplngs and no sacrifice of napkins could make Mr. Franklin presentable for the street or the lectur room. He had to depart lgnomlnously tor his rooms, a bath and a new set of garments from the Skin out He went dripping soup from two heels and with a lowering glance at Joseph Hancock. Gloating and exulting In th discomfiture of "Fat" and before her Joe, unaware how soon hs waa to turn a new page in the book of his knowledge of womankind, started out to have a happy afternoon with hla bricks. Never hsd the toil seemed so light Never had a panorama of such entertaining memory pictures reeled before his mind. Whenever these reached their climax, with "Fat" red-faced and deluged, sputtering and squawking. Jot was compelled t Peter Clark Macfarlane St' et his barrow down and give way to tits of un controllable laughter. It was in the midst of one of these attacks of the rlslbles that he turned the new page, when right before his eyes a huge open automobile, full of merry "studes" of both sexes, cam whirling down the street and was held up mo mentarily by the passing of an electric train. In that moment Joe discerned that "Fat" Franklin waa at the wheel ,and that the merriest of th party waa the girl who sat beside him, a girl in a blue sweater, with a knitted cap ot the aam color pushed to one side by a wealth of golden braids, which she seemed aa anxious now to dis play as she once had been to conceal for It waa Lela! She was rocking from side to side In sheer exuberance of spirit, allowing the cadences of silvery laughter over aome wit of "Fat's," no doubt to peal out so that they sounded to the lover's Jealous ear even above the rumble ot the passing train. In the same instant that he saw all this Joe curled up and dropped behind th screening heap as if one of his own bricks had struck him where his belt buckled. For a moment he waa alck with the pain of Just such a blow. Then; manfully, he sought to master himself. "Didn't take her long to make up with him!" he groaned In a hollow voice, and then raised hla head cautiously. They were gone. "Me wheeling bricks and her Joy riding!" he mut tered, Sickly. , , . The afternoon waa apoiled for Joe. But, luck ily or unluckily it waa Friday afternoon, and Friday afternoon had always been succeeded so far by Friday night - Friday night was his night to be with Lela, when he could see her, step out With her, talk with her, with no "Fat" Frank. ,11ns, no automobiles, no anything else to make the slightest claim upon her attention. Yet he decided this evening, when she cam in to din ner, to be distant. ' But he couldn't manage being distant with her. For one thing, it was plain that Lela had been discovered. Half the seniors in the place were tossing goo-goo glances in her direction tonight Humbly, confidentially, Joe communi cated his intention to visit her tonight "as per usual." To his consternation, she confessed a "previous." - Joe was hurt and showed it; whereupon the young lady reproached him with: "I didn't suppose you'd mind if I got. the chance for a ride. They have come so seldom, you know; and, besides, the visibility has been kind of low of late as far as you were con cerned." , c . The remark was without emphasis and purely by way of explanation, but it stung it pierced and the gall sack of a young heart's bitterness was suddenly filled. "Mind? Sure not. Go ahead. I'm glad you can get 'em. Get all you can of 'em," Joe urged, and waa careful to urge it cuttingly. "And don't mind me, I'm nobody. You don't need me any more." ,-.. . The girl stared with round-eyed astonishment, and then resentment curled her beautiful lips. "O, all right" she retorted, "if you want to be selfish!" and switched her golden braids. Selfish! He selfish, after all this sleight of hand! Could she, after accepting his uncounted pitchers of cream and boneless T-bones, turn about and coolly accept another fellow's auto bile rides? And on his night, too? If It were so, elastic Indeed was the conscience of a woman. ' Jo, turned scornfully from her presence, but sum tlm during th ensuing sleepless nights perceived that the fault was all his, that he had been a' fooL He had argued that because she accepted T-bones so radiantly she loved him. Were the other young fellows to infer that be cause she accepted their automobile rides witb equal radiance she therefore loved them? Un thinkable! Quite unthinkable. But the beans were already spilled, for next morning Lela Mason did not sit at his table. Upon the other side ot th room shs ate cereal with thin, blue, watery fluid upon It, and hot cakes lubricated with ons little pat ot butter per cake and sweet ened with one lonesome tiny pitcher of syrup. Joe was mad for Lela to know that his re sentment had melted, that his heart was bathed in the bitter waters of remorse and his soul en vironed in an atmosphere of deep contrition, but she would not even look in his direction. Days went by like this, and even weeks weeks of agony for Joe, but weeks of giddy hap piness for Lela Mason. A hard, skimpy life had become suddenly rich, varied and Joyous. Half a dosen of the best known men in college con tended for her idle hours, others among them besides Franklin owning automobile, and aha il ' lit rtl mm ill m m. J took scstful advent! of her opporiunlil Tat th bright-faced girl wa x full of euniradviy gratltud to mak Je suffer Interminably fur thla brash rudeness of uuprt4 youth. On Might Jo found hr sitting s-rnly at hi tabts. Rh greeted him with th eld frank mil .and hi heart plunged Ilk a wild bora In hi breast lisp dwelt one mor In him, high hop, bacauaa h fait that th tint war peculiarly auspicious for him, fr'or on thing, th brick war almost whealad, and, for an other, th day of th annual track mt and field sports between Doneer and Hranai.tt.r univer sities waa at hand, "rat" Franklin, a man of sporting proclivities, was bonnd to hsv hi In terest la romance wllowd up for a brief in larval bsfor and attar that field day by sbaorp. ttoa la Its vnt, for flerv wss th rivalry be twssn th two Institutions. On th very day b.for th mt Jo wheal hi last brick and declared himself off of wheel barrow and bricks for life. Hut ths contrsctor proved that hs wss a man with a heart by sdd tr.g somewhat to Jos's stipend. "You did a neat Job," hs confessed. "!!rr'a a bonus of $11." ' Bonus! Th word had never had an sdequat meaning to Jo until that minute. 'Thank you," h gulped, hi ty lighting with gratitude aa h perceived how much mor luatruus a dia mond could be purchased for $1!S than far 111. But when Joe, after shfddlng overalls snd dolling for ths street, coasted Into ths offing before Boy Lee' Jewelry atora h encountered th shock of his life. "Kal" Franklin was Just entering ths plac. Through th window Jo saw him purchase a giant sparkler, saw him dig In all his pockets for money, and thereafter writ something on a cardan I. O. V. for balance, no doubt And "Fat" was no senU mentallst. but cold and practical. If. the day befor a loyal rrioneer man would need all th money h could raise, "Fat" Franklin had stripped himself of funds and mortgased hla futur allowances, It wss because he hsd slresdy mad definite arrangement with th finger ahlch that diamond waa to adorn. Th world turned black befor Joe's eyea II ctushsd th $12$ down deep In .hi pocket snd turned ickly away. In front ot him was "Kst's" car. standing at ths curb. He recoiled from th csr fiercely and turned north, when that his heart wound might ba torn afresh hers csma Lela Mason, looking, If posstbl. mor swest and wlnsom than he hsd sver known her to appear befor. But Jo could have no grievance against Lela because h had lo ther. Th light of th girt stimulated while It pained him. He was even abl to recall that shs always came down from "lab" about this time, free for several hours, and Instantly grasped the situation. "Fat." wltjt his car conveniently psrked at the corner, and hi diamond ring in his pocket was waiting to take her for a ride; and during that ride Within Joe's soul wss the sound of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, and ths reign of darkness that was outer and terrible as he thought of what was to occur upon that ride. Yet Joe's waa no craven spirit, and prlda had saved many a face. "Hello, Lela!" he chirped, bluffing mon strously. "Gosh, but you're looking snappy this) aft" Th girl stopped dead to gas with playful surprise. Is this you, Joe, or somebody els?" shs de manded. "Gracious grandmother, but it's a joy to see you on evhlbitlon in th p. m. hours one more. On what aector ot ths educational front hav you been effacing yourself In th after noons of lata?" Jo could only flush. "Still keeping the dark secret, hey?" shs ral lied. "O, all right; I won't tease. I'll just b thankful for amall favors. Whither shall w dawdle for aa hour?" She tossed him an armful of books. Something clicked in Joe's reeling brain. Ob viously, than, Lela had no dat to rid with "Fat" yat "Fat" Jo wa perfectly surs, had In his mind a date for a rid with her. Now, there 1 something in the male wooer that can mak hi mendure with stolo fortitude hi own excruciating agony whll finding a grim pleasure in tantalising, at th moment of victory, th rival who ha beaten him. Jo saw a chance to spoil "Fat's" plan for a ride and th fixation of a diamond ring, and eagerly he leaped at It He had th time, he had th girl, and yonder at th curb stood a ahlny new touring car with upon it a- algn: "For hire, $2 per hour." In Joe's pocket were $12$ that were now of no us to him whatever. "What say to a ride, Lela?" he proposed, and jerked his head In the direction ot th public car. , "O, I would love it!" she exclaimed, eyea sparkling. Jo gazed at thoss eyes enviously. Looking; at them so near, so cordial and so warm, It waa difficult to realise that he had lost them; yet Within him, carefully concealed, was the knowl edge of the truth, and sorrowfully, as ona takes flowers to a funeral, he was paying his last re spects, f Outwardly, Joe was a game sport. "Jump In!" he said to Lela, and held open he door tor her. "Where to, sir?" Inquired the mahout , "Down the line," said Joe in a big way. "Glv her the gun." Lela shot a little- glance of, admiration. It was astonishing how well ho did it She had never felt admiration for Joe before, only grati tude; now she nestled close to: his sids, looking up at him with a vague, new kind of emotion. . As they rolled slowly down the street, past tho service station, there was "Fat" Franklin (tiling his tanks. Lela did not see him, but Jo lid, and it was worth a million dollars to observe Fat's" start, his stare, the drop of his jaw. They passed out of town, and the car swung jn and on over long miles of polished boulevard ?d surface between a verdant panorama of field ind garden and orchard, Lela manifesting her onjoyment In many ways. "Going to the track meet tomorrow?" In , nulred Joe. "I think so," Lela answered, but a bit doubt fully. . v Joe's mind seised instantly upon this doubtful note. She thought so ! It had not been settled definitely then, but she was depending upon . "Fat" , ,. ' ; - Now, It could knock an awful hole in a man'g pocketbook, taking a girl to that shindig to morrow and seeing her through on it ail tho way round, and "Fat" well, Joe had reason to know that Just now "Fat" was quite denuded of funds; in terser English, he was broke. "I'm Just crazy to go!" the girl confessed with shining eyes. From under his lids Jos peered down side wise and assayed the woman critically, thea asked himself a man's question about this soft little thing. Would she, engaged to Milton Franklin, coolly abandon the possibility wlta hsr accepted lover for a sute-thlng trip witk on who was a rank outsider so far as her reaj affections were concerned? The eager, wistful face gav immediate answer. Joe could not ba left in doubt for a minute. "The little vamp!" he murmured under his breath. "The littla salamander!" 1 The girl went down in his estimation. He had been reverently afraid to touch her before. Now he threw an arm around her and drew her to him. He believed that he could have kissed her. a thing he had once wanted painfully to do, but that all at one he did not car about particu larly. If he had kissed her it would havs been to crush his lips against hers and then fling her down like a plucked flower. The littles vamp! Working us all for T-bones. for auto rides, tor whatever she can get out of ua!" Jo aaw that his love for the girl was dying a quick and merciful death. It seemed as JJf mh mil at have read his thoughts. Turaisst atBI (Tsra to Face Taata. ,