The Innocents: A Story for Lovers

they pretended that the tea-room was open, and they did have six or seven customers. But late in September Father got his courage up, took out the fam

told Mother. She sighed and said,

they talked of the familiar city places they would see. They would enjoy the movies-weeks since they had seen a movie! And they

he job open for him. He received a reply. But it was from Pilkings's son. It informed him that Pilkings, père, was rather ill

h of understanding that he, who felt himse

rom him, pretending to read the Grims

ter slip from his fingers. "I-uh-" he groaned. "I-

at did the

't get my job back at all! I hon

im for inspiration, was indeed the mother now. She stroked his cheek, she cried, "Never mind-'course you'll get it back, or a better one!" She made fun of his tous

sapping him all summer. He longed for the dusty drudgery of Pilkings & Son's;

ere they going to do? They had left, in

s of the cold and empty tea-room, they talked of what they would do. Father had wild plans of dashing down to New York, of seeing young Pilkings, of getting work in some other shoe-store. But he knew very little about other stores. He was not so much a sh

ris Hartwig of Saserkopee, New York. As Father knew none of these suggestions to have any factual basis whatever his clear little mind was bored by them. Then, after a stormy even

ood girl, but she would badger us to death. She wouldn't let us do one single thing our way. She always acts as though she w

n of refuge. Whenever they seemed to be having a peaceful discussion of Lulu Hartwig's canary-yellow sweater

e dead, now, but a bank of purple asters glowed by the laurel-bushes, and in the garden plucky pansies wit

arbor. Then a day of iron sea, cruelly steel-bright on one side and sullenly black on the other, with broken rolling clouds, and sand whisking along the dunes in shallow eddies; rain coming and the breakers pounding in with a terrifying roar and the menace of illimitable power. Father gathered piles of pine-kn

gan and have a little band-concert, admission five bucks, eh?" Something of the old comma

e center of their house. Neither of them could abide the echoing emptiness and shabby grandeur of the tea-room. Before the fireplace they sat, af

the sea smashed unceasingly. But Father played "My Gal's a High-born Lady" and "Any Little Girl That's a Nice Littl

mounting light through the wi

though the whole world was coming to an end to-night." She turned from the window and

against the elements, with no apartment-house full of people to share the tumultuous

uld be nothing but sand and the terror of the storm.

there's something I can do. I want to do something again! Maybe some poor devil

l city raincoat and rubbers, and the dreary wreck of

"You couldn't do anything, and I don't dast

is raincoat. "I'll just run

her than the top of t

ic effort. The gods had set the stage for epic action that night, and his spirit was big

s. "Oh, I need you, Seth. Yo

portray it. While he strained with longing to go down and show himself a man-not just a scullion in an unsuccessful tea-room-Father stood on the edge of the cliff and watched the life-savers launch the b

with her head cuddled on his left should

drizzle. And Father was still virile with desire of her

as low and unhappy as he demanded,

been wrecked by the storm. The lattice-work was smashed. The gray bare stems of the crimson r

s, yes, I'll go to Lulu's with you. But we won't stay. Will we! I will fight again. I did ha

to co