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a girl why can't he do it when no-1 away. And to her credit the thought?
body's round?" she complained to
Maggie.
"Well, say!" said Maggie. "I wish
to goodness he'd take an interest in
me."
"Well, I'm going to resign," de
clared Lizzie, and stalked toward the
private office.
The girls waited. Exactly at the
noon hour Lizzie emerged, a bright
crimson,' by the side of Simmonds,
whose arm was drawn through hers.
Down the aisle they walked, Lizzie
crimsoning still more as all eyes were
turned on her. So they went into the
street, and Bill, the boy who swept up,
reported at 1 o'clock that they were
having dinner at Haffney's.
"WelL what d'you think of that!"
ejaculated Maggie to the rest.
"I ain't going to stay in a place
vwhere such scandalous happenings
happen," answered the homeliest of
them, with a toss of her head.
Lizzie Holt's vain and -childish
mind was fairly turned by her em?
ployers attentions. She spent .-the
afternoon careless of the black looks:
of all around her. She "was living over
that'delicious hour again. Mr. Sim
monds certainly, was a gentleman,
even if -he was old. And somehow,
George and the trousseau had be
gun, to acquire a secondary impor
tance in her mind, -r
Before- they -left Simmonds had
asked for her address. He had hint
ed that possibly a visitor might call
in a taxi for her some evening when
she least expected it That was all
he had said. But that night, when
the reaction had come, the girl faced
the problem in her room alone more
seriously than she had ever faced
anything. .
She was not so ignorant of life but
that she could see the meaning of her
employer's, maneuvers., But she
was ignorant enough to feel helpless.
She could not face the -crowd in the
store, again. Either she must be true
;ta George or well, she saw the alter-
of George triumphed.
The next day she left her rooming
house and engaged a room in anoth
er. She did not return to the store.
She obtained a position with Mar-
shall's, and in a week she had com
pletely forgotten the incident, except3
that she felt a little proud of herself
as the heroine of a quasi-adventure, j
'Behind the perfumery counter of
Marshall's Lizzie was in her element..
An attractive1 girl, she sold moreu
goods than any of her competitors.
Her salary was already $9 a week.j
Two instead of one now went to
ward the trousseau. ,
Then one day a familiar figure en
tered. He was an old gentleman with
a fringe 'of white beard and he wasj
accompanied by a very motherly
looking old lady. They came slowly
up to the perfumery qounter. Sim-1'
monds looked up, to encounter Lizl
zie's frightened eyes fixed on his.
"Why, bless my soul, it's Miss
Holt! Here, mother! This is the
young lady I was telling you about
who disappeared so mysteriously
from the.store."
'The motherly woman came up o
Lizzie.
"My husband has been talking to
me so much, about you," she saUL J,I
am sorry you went away. But I un
derstand how you felt. You see,
Herman is a little abrupt and strange
in his ways. 'Go away, Herman. I
am going to talk to Miss Holt now.i
''You see, my dear," she continued,
"we lost our only daughter a year
ago and Herman was passionately
devoted to her. And after you got to
working in the store he came home
and said to me, 'Mother, one of our
new young ladies is the very image
of poor Lucile.'
"I told him that it must be imag
ination but he kept talking about you
and so I promised that I would call
and see you. Yau. know Herman is
always interested in his young ladies,
but he really felt like, a father to-
sativ.e,quite plainlyaslfeejiours
arjfewqre 1
ardiyou.AiidiheiknowsshowjjhariLi.
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