Joan Thursday

nically but liberally to the remains of pork and cabbage. Her mother tilted a granite-ware pot ove

he service with an

p courage to say, with

pted with a sibila

faces with an angry glance. "In God's name!"

of her head, Edna with a timid pout. The mother's face betrayed no emotion whats

ot additional memoranda in his note-book. Infrequently he spoke or, rather, grunted, to indicate a desire for some dish beyond his reach. Curiously enough (Joan remarked for the thousandth time) he was punctilious to say

t always been so sorry, she knew nothing of the history of her parents; but she liked to think of her father, that he had once been, in some unknown way, superior: that he was a man ruined by a marriage beneath his station. To think this flattered her own secret dreams of rising out of her environment: girls, she had heard, took after their fathers-and vice-versa: perhaps she had inherited some of Anthony Th

ar round his neck, shrugged a shabby coat upon his shoulders and, pocke

fore a voice broke the hush in the stuffy little room, a voice

bad day, I

ed on the oilcloth. Joan, abandoning her determination to air her

t ain't like he wa

es remote from the four walls of the slatternly room. Her thin and col

been easier to stand-all this." A faltering gestur

to pet the un

other!" s

withdrew her hand

Le's get done wi

ir wretched state touched her less than the fact that she must continue forever

ly," she grumbled-"and I don't see anybod

with hatpins that stabbed viciously. It had grown too dark to see more than a vague white shape moving on the surface of the mirror. But she did not stop to lig

sister with news of her misfortune: tonight she was

g storm, which she had quite forgotten. She drew back into the vestibule: she coul

with an uncommon lethargy, or stood or squatted apart in little groups, their voices hushed and querulous. The roar of the trains on the nearby Elevated seemed muted, the clangour of the Third Avenue surface cars

ilhouetted structure of the Elevated and the less distinct profile of buildings on the far side of Central Park, the clouds blazed lur

cloud of acrid dust. A few drops of lukewarm water maculated the sidewalks with spots as big as dollars. There followed a sharper play of fire, and one more near. Children ran shrieking to shelter, and men and women dodged into convenient doorways or scudded off clumsily. The wind freshened, grew

nor fear. Self-absorbed, her mood almost altogether introspective, she weighed her reckless plans. The crisis bellowed overhead in a series of tremendous, shatteri

ce. He had a long, strong body poised solidly on sturdy legs, short arms with large and efficient hands; and bore himself with a careless confidence that did much to dissemble the negligence of his mode of dress-the ill-fitting coat and trousers, the common striped "outing shi

a broadening grin

indifference

r the rain

tatue of Patience by a sculptor

ccord with the humour of the day

in' for Jeems to bring around

't be here till da

ustin; he felt himself outclassed and, shuffling

onight, Joan? A

weather with the Dook de Bonehead," the girl

iddle, all right," said Austin p

mmering rain-drops, Austin desperately casting about for a conversat

Joan,

nterrupted: "you're b

wja like to go to

us eyes to him. "Wha

egfield's Follies-N'

brief pause devoted to analysis of his

nd I got a coupla weeks lay-off while they're gettin' ready to

ath. Then her face darkened as she glanced a

et an umbrella. Besid

ella. The shower was, in fact, fast passing on over Long Island, leaving in its wake

lla, Joan with a hand on her escort's arm, her skirts gathered high about her trim ankles-splashed through lu

ce which the girl had theretofore shown him, and planning bolder and more masterful step

left the cross-town car at Br

life which nightly scours Longacre Square, with scarce a perceptible change in volume, winter or summer. Yet she accepted it with apparently implacable calm. She f

" he explained in an undertone. But Joan remained a target for boldly enquiring glances for full ten minutes before he reappeared. Even then, with a nod to her to wait, Austin went to the box-office window. She was not deceived as to the ge

ably in her ear as an elevator carried them t

whispered, with a look of gratitu

steel, palms and potted plants lined the walls. A myriad electric bulbs glimmered dimly throughout the auditorium, brilliantly upon

. Ultimately they found seats at a small

s well not've come. Joan smiled his ill-humour away, insisting that the seats were fine. Mollified, he summoned a waiter and ordered beer fo

tertainment of this character a point of view fresh, virginal, and innocent of the very meaning of ennui. She sat forward on the extreme edge of her chair, imperceptibly a-quiver with excitement, avid of every sight and sound. All that was tawdry, vulgar, and contemp

table-top and chattered at Austin with a vivacity new in

pture her warm young hand) Joan became aware of a number of figures issuing from a side-door to the stage. She saw them marshalled in ranks of two-a long double file, vaguely glimmering through the obscurity. And then the comedians darted into the wings, the lights blazed out at full

with pulses that seemed to beat in tune to the drumming, the wistful beauty of many of the painted faces with their aloof eyes and fixed smiles of conscious self-possession, the richness of their uniforms, their bare powdered arms, the pretty legs in their si

ll her brain was drowsy with memories of the splendour and the glory; fragments of haunting melody ra

sleeve of her shirtwaist. She did not notice them. To his clumsily playful advances she return

reflected up from the gas-jet burning low in the hall below. The smell of humanity and its food hung in the clamm

the difficulty of finding word

help her out: "Well, I g

ry: "O Ben! I've ha

go again-next week? I guess I ca

inded her. "But-Ben-didn't you

ouldn't find the fella I w

so so

Cheap at the price, if y

won't go again, unless yo

about that." He ed

back and offered her hand. "Good

t. "Ah, say! is this all I get?

, Ben

cost you nothin'.

Ben-bu

at's the way you

rosity had stung her beyond endurance. Without stopping to think-blindl

hed in a soft voi

d his lips to hers. "Oh,

er skin. She wanted frantically to get away, to regain possession of herself; and wanted it the more becaus

oft with the note of wooing, was yet vibrant

waist and his big hand res

e pierced her confusion the memory of the knee that had driven her from the car, only that afternoon: symbolic

a voice hoarse with a

at's the

uch me like that?" she pante

y by elaborate diplomacy would he ever be able to re?stablish a footing of friendship; weeks must ela

a surly voice. "I don't see as you

oke if she continued to parley with him. "Well, I do!" sh

tering; and she heard him

wakened loathing of Man. On the top landing she paused, blinking back her tears, digging her nails into her palms while she fought down a tendenc

st crack widened between the door and

she walke

e was not thumbing his dope. His fat, hairy arms were folded upon the oilcloth, his face turned squarely to the door. Instinctive

drawn up on the lower rung, purple lisle-thread socks luridly displayed, hands in his trouser-pockets, a

es questioning her parent. Butch did not move

th the incisive and precise enunciation which she had

epeated, stammering. "Wh

" he suggested w

ghtened figure, into

what do y

have a right to know what you do and where you go. Keep still!" he snapped, as she started to interrupt. "Speak when you're spoken to..