Joan Thursday

he had been on her feet all day and was very tired, so tired that the prospect of being obliged to stand all the way upto

ity. Pausing momentarily before the corner where the girl was waiting (as if mockingly submitting themselves to the appraisal of her alert eyes) one after another received t

ich she received with a semblance of blank indifference that was, in reality, not devoid of consciousness. Youth will not be overloo

e was, in fact, something over eighteen, and at heart more nearly a child than this age might be t

was of opaque linen, pleated, and while not laundry-fresh was still presentable; her skirt fitted her hips snugly, and fell in graceful lines to a point something short of her low tan shoes, showing stockings of a texture at once coarse and sheer; to her hat, an ordinary straw simply trimmed with a band and chou of ribbon, she had lent some

she was yet mysteriously different. Men looked twice

scaped being ruddy, and her skin matched it, lacking alike the dusky warmth of the brune and the purity of the blonde. She was neither tall nor short, but seemed misleadingly smaller than she was in fact, t

g, and that very intensely if unconsciously. Her mind was not only active but was one of considerable latent capacity: something which she did not in the least suspect; indeed, it had never occurred to Joan to debate her mental limitations. Her thoughts were as

file was edged with fire-of-gold against a sky of tarnished blue-a sky that seemed dimmed with the sweat of day-long heat and toil. The city air was close and moveless, and the

ved out to the middle of the street and boarded

ehind her were ten masculine knees in a row, before her five masculine heads: ten men crowding the two transverse benches, some smoking, all stolidly absorbed in newspapers and indifferent to the intrusion of a woman. None dreamed of offering the girl a seat; nor did she fin

otion, there was a grateful rush of air; when at pause, the heat was stifling and the fumes of cigarettes, pipes, and cheap cigars blended to manufacture a mephitic reek. A slight sweat dewed the face of the girl

her in between the rank of knees and the rigid back of the forward seat. By the time the car crossed Forty-second

ee which the man behind her was purposely pressing against her. Then for

uld. Then abruptly she twisted

ust, his face swam like the mask of an incubus

ous glances lifting to the

is car? Or will

ant; then she had her answer i

e matter with

lbow was grinning with open amusement, and another, seated beside her tor

goin', sister, why do

had compelled th

ar, and dropped to the cobbles between the tracks. She staggered a foot or two away, followed by an indistinguishable taunt amid derisive laughter. Fortuna

eventh Street, and had another mile and a half to walk. But with all her weariness, she no longer thought

n!

d indignation, she walked rapidly, anxious to gain the refuge

always plaguing her: hardly a day passed.... Well, anyway, never a week.... It wasn't her fault if she was pretty: she never even so much as l

o much as asking her name, or if he might call.... She had expected him to-like in a book; but he didn't, nor had he (likewise contrary to her expectations) at any time thereafter been known to haunt her neighbourhood. To her the affair was like a dream of chivalry: she remembered him as very handsome (probably f

she was sure that some day their paths would cross again. But it had a

he presently ascended a squat brown-stone stoop, entered the dingy vestibule of a dingier tenement, pressed the button below a mai