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"rue ‘cniuuiorrerowwf GUABPIAN '

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A memos,

QEQEMQER 16. 1939

_ _ v azuuuiqwau anti _‘GIKKI‘.(((~‘-‘Q . _~ i

A Christmas Romance of Loving Service, intrigue and a a Lasting Happiness-The Reward of Sacrifice and Suffering 2

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With every slap of her powder puff resentment grew in the amber- eyed girl leaning close to the mir- ror. It was the color of her hair —such a dark red! Did any hair have to be so dark that never. even on top of a Fifth Avenue bus on a sunny day, be descriaed as red-gold? It was the right of every redhead to have her locks referred to, on occasion, as red- gold. And if her hair had to be the darkest red in the world, did her eyes at the same time have to be the very palest brown? Yellow. she'd call them. the girl decided gloomily. Too big for her face, too. as her face was now, so thin that it was positively peaked. Maybe if she did her hair a different way- but she no time for experiment. She was late now. And Paul Harris would be quick to tell her. not for the first time. that if she didn't earl enough about her job as ma- gazine counter mrl at the Devon Ariiis Hotel to get there on time, he, as manager. would be forced, regretfully, to accept her resigna-

tlon.

But indignation at her looks and against having; to hurry off to a-ork-cii Tiaiiksgiving Day toc!- itcins in a long list of re- . that Jan Payson had ac- .‘ '.l. TCrre ivas the nttittcr cf the ThLllli~IS,'l\'lll'; dinner she and Dara had ju-i finished. to the last scrap. Sh-s- had set her heart on Ii ring a broilcr for Dora's Thanks- ' g. and to that end had smiled l. prettiest evcry (luv for a week a‘. the customers who stopped at il“f stall for readin: matter or cig-

. . she had found. was . IIIGUIIITS good for a tip. but not this \\'C-€k——flll, no. she needed the marry too badly this iveek to have even an czztra nickel thrown litr tvav.

a

1'1 of iaickcls~shc was rum- nirt, .9 rti- sli- _~ l-iindbag now a-she \\’tl\ stir: sxe had lef! one for c.ir fare when she bought the lvro iozk t-ixops that had taken the

- sin; lircflcr. She

fikiiig liiii- alter . (lid lllill~~lllll as Stayed ‘vitn fro". i:.~.;l I) r1 till the last ~ m iiiito before leaving for her three to elivcn shift. she usuaLy rode dozin to the hotel on the S!!!)WHY-

-!!'5(‘ she shoiikiift have lioiizht

; she could have inan- n: d per ly well with a cheese siiidivicli, and they had cheese in the li-otlsi‘. Bu! Dora would have lllflsl=fi on CllVlfllllE her chop with lirr =' ‘er. and Dora needed all the mg food she could get. clan d, if ill-L‘ Thanksgiving spirit

f.i to ntovc any of the custom- ers to gzvc hitr a tip today. to ask

Paul Harris for an advance of _a. dollar on her salary. She Wlhd just lmaxine Paul's face as she mule hrr request-ins expression would be mixed. as if at the very moment of netting bad news _he lldrl caught a whiff of something whygh stirred up his easily roused disdain. like cheap perfume 0n Q16 girls he employed.

A thump on the door made her jump. so that her elbow knocked against, a slender vase standlngbon the dres=ei' and sent it crashing against the marble. The wilted red rosebud. which Jan had filched for Dora frqn the hotel dining room. and ivhich they had tried. with in- different success. to revive with as- pirin iii the water. flew headlong into the still open powder box.

"Whos there?" called Jan. know- ing that pcremptorv thump very well. but pausing to retrieve the rosebud, nuevertheless. It put off the actual moment of facing Mrs. llfafcrd by at least a split second.

"Who are yez expecting?" came the sarcastic rejoinder from with- out, and Jan. with a sigh. opened the door gingerly. Mrs. Mallard pushed it wide the minute the knob was turned. and took a step into the room. “Weill” she said.

"Well what?" said Jan. bravely.

"Wall wrat?" Mrs. Mallord mim- ickcd ll?!‘ rromcr. Then. With a brusqiie cliattze of tonc: “It's the rent I'm after. Give."

She held out a large. rather grimy hand at the end of a stout ariii.- In spit of herself. Jan's voice shock a little as she explained (lint, since it was Thanksgiving. she hadn't expected Mrs. Mallard to ask for the rent until-

"Untl! Doomsday. I sup e!" broke in the irate landlady. "D0 yez know how many weeks you're bzhiitd now? Three weeks today and the third wcelt, is up. 'I‘hanks— givin‘ or no Thanksgiving?’

"But, Mrs. Mallord. I've had to pay for a tonic for Dora, and fresh egos and m!lk—"

"Yez can have till Saturday." said Mrs. Mallord. "to pay up or get. out, and I'm breakin‘ a lifelong ru'e of my house to le! you stay a day over three wecks-—Jacklcl Stop your noise!" she interrupted her- self to bellow into the stair well beyond the door.

"Aw. Morn! All the kids are gcfn'. Kin I 20? Kin I? Kin I?"

‘Fivclvc-trear-old Jack Mallord, three flights be‘ow at the foot of the stairs. having captured his mo- ther's attention by a series of ear- splitting catcalls. pressed his ad- vantage quickly, resuming what. was plainly an argument of long stand-

E;

in/z.

"I'll skin ya ally-e!" roared his mother. She turned back to Jan

"It's your notice." she announ- ced formally. and liimbered heavily toward the stairs. and the sounds with which Jackie was making the atmosphere hideous.

Good-by, darling." Jan stopped to kiss Dora's white cheek. "Here's your glass of water and the spoon for your tonic. Y?Otl vlirflll‘ take it.

n . Honey (me you glee ‘tmmew book I brought from the library. but don't read so long that you strain your eyes."

She smf‘ed gavlv ffflm W! threshold. then closed the door ooftly and ran down the stairs. It was drizzling, a fact. which she had

v no opportunity of noting in their

"Very well. "hen. hem it is in two

flat, for their two windows looked words: you're fired," aafd Paul. ob-

out on thb brick vmll of the house next door. hardly three feet away. That nickel she though she had.

roved to be nonexistent. Twenty

locks-a. generous mile-lay be- tween her and the Devon Arms. Not much of a walk, but quite a run, especially in the rain. And as far as she could figure it out, she would have to move at what was practically a run to reach the ho- tel anywhere near on time.

Keeping as close to the buildings as she could, the worn heels of her shoes sll ing on the glaasy-stnooth iron of s re trap doors, she sped away. zigzagging in the middle of the street on the narrow side blocks to catch the lights, cutting the cor- ners as best she could. She was panting. but dared not pause to catch her breath.

There was the Devon Arms. at last, across the street. Jar headed for the employes’ entrance, darting iri front of a car parked at the curb. So quickly had she bound- ed across the glistening stag. road that the man behind the wheel, with his foot on the starter, had no warning of her catapuiting ap- proach. At the instant she flew into his line of vision he rressed dcwn, and the long car shot for- ward.

The edge of the front fender bump-ed as smartly as she clipped past. It was not a hard blow. but it threw her off balance and she sprawled on the wet sidewalk. The man. with an exclamation of alarm leaped to the ground and lifted her to lier feet. "You are hurt!"

Jan turned wrathful eyes on him. “Hurt!'.' l'iii ruined!" slie cried. She dabbeci fcebly with lier hand- kerchief at the mud that streaked down the front of her suit.

"Allow me." The young man whisk-so oi.it a nugc square of fine iineiuatid began an expert job u! 11101;, "ng up.

"All ingot. all right." said Jan impatienuy aftsr a minute. “'1‘ltat'h do. Ini so idle flow that it's better lo ccnie lii a utllc travel-slanted; lier eye fell u.i inc chauffeur‘; rap Lyn; on lite front SJJL 0i the car, and txavclid baCk to the it!!! ess young mun and his dcspezulely apoogetc air.

"I don't know how you kcop your job, if you can't drive any bcrlicr than that." said Jan seitlcly. "As a matter of fact. Ive a goon mind to cciitplaiit i0 your emplugm-r “Ilaybef slie atldcd darkly, "I ought to sue him."

“Let me—" said the chauffeur.

“Oh. skip it! 1 was only try.ng to scale you. I won't make trou ale. I know how tough it is to get a job these days. And I am lat: and haie to rush."

“But-J’ btgan the young man.

Jan, who had the door open by this time, waved a friendly hand, grinned a frieridy grin and disap- peared. The young man stood for a moment, staring at the slowly closing door. Then on an impulse he bounded across the sidewalk and gently pushed it open. Jan was just entering another door at the end of a long corridor. He heard a shrill greeting from within.

"Jan!" a girl was shrieking. “Gee, Jan, your late! Paul has been hav- ing kittens all ovei" the place!"

The young man withdrew his head and iralkcd thoughtfully back to his car. Jan! What a name for a girl. And what a girl!

ll

Molly, the telephone operator, was in full jiossession of the facts. and she lost no time in relaying them to Jan. There was what Paul had said when, watch in hand. he had observed that Jan was ten minutes late. There were the increasingly flnent comments he had made as the minutes ticked on. as the quarter past the hour arrived and Jan didn't: there was. at twenty minutes past. his final explosion and the subsequent trans- actions over the telephone-of which Molly was also cognizant»- which resulted in the hiring of a new magazine counter girl

"You wouldn't have thought he could get one right in the middle of Thanksgiving afternoon, would you?" finished Molly sympathetic- ally.

"Is she here yet?" was all Jan could think of by way of reply.

"No," said Molly, “but he's paying Elsa, that pretty waitress, to take care of the counter till the new girl comes. She'll be here in half an hour. A tough kid, if you ask me. I took a. dislike to her voice the minute I heard it on the phone."

"Well." Jan arose from the single chair the locker room afforded, "I suppose I'll have to go and take my medicine.“

She walked slowly toward the manager's office and down the two little steps that led to the door in a remote corner of the main lobby. Her fingers had just touched the knob when the door opened sudden- ly from the other side. For the sec- ond time within the hour she was thrown off balance, but this time she did not actually fall. She simply careened against Paul Harris. who had just wrenclied the door open- all his movements were as ‘arisk as machine gun fire-and knocked the carnation from his buttonhole.

"Oh!" said Jan, "excuse mo." She stooped to pick the flower Just as Paul made the same gesture.

Their heads clicked. “Gh!" said Jan again. Paul straightened. stepped

grandlyiasidc and waved his hand for Jan to enter. She edged past him cautiously. and went to stand beside his desk while he retrieved htls carnation. blew upon it to ra- vive its freshness, and restored it to his lapel. Then he turned to Jan, pleasure in the task before him shining in his pale blue eyes.

"Well, wreil." he began with what he intended for a smile, “so we're here at ast, are we? Such a bother isn't lt, come down to work every day. And quite lmpossibie to get here on time. Yes. ives. yes." as Jan attempted to speak, ‘I know just. how it ls. First one thing and then another. and before you know it, you're just 5 teeny bi-t late."

"Understan, Miss Payson. I don't mind personally. But I'm here to see that the rules of the house are obeyed. And ff I can't get one person to obey them, there's always someone else who wfll."

"You're firing me, aren't you?" Jan interrupted, her bitterly tried temper slipping its leash. “Then wh-y don't you say so?" Her voice broke and she stopped suddenly, tears smartinig against her eyelids. Why did shc always have to cry when she was angry?

viously enJo misery. "Stop a‘. the cashiers window for your

money." He tu ed toward his desk and Jan. w te now and trembling,

stood a moment, wondering lf there wasn't some appeal she could make some explanation that would cause him in give her another chance.

Harris," she began.

He picked up the telephone, ask- ed for a number, glanced over the mouthpiece as he waited. “That will be tall, Mm" Payson." he said,

I D0011.

Jan went out mechanically. a - pod at the cashier's cage and wi shaking fingers signed the slip which released the hotel from fur- ther obligations as to wages. care- fully put the meagre amount of cash in the zippered inside section of her hand bag. Jobless again! And she had looked so long before she'd found this job! But then Dora hadn't needed so many things and they had had enough for ren-t. Now the few dollars in her pocketbook could scarcely placate their land- lady even for a day. Well. some- how she must try to keep the news from Dora a ll tle while-perhaps something would. turn up.

Paul Harris absently tapped a pencil on his glass-topped desk and gized out at the rain that was now coming down in torrents. Holidays were always a dreary business. even at the Devon Arms. Employes dis- liked coming to work and they showed ft—were even st otimes downright imoudent. like that girl he had just fired. Pretty little thing she was, But Paul had learn- ed long ago that there was no place for sentiment in his business.

He sti‘l remembered his first job. What a greenhorn he had been! Working till all hours. Then that last night when H-elen was in the hospital and he had wanted to be with her—that night the owner nad insisted that he stay on. He had stayed, too, but he had never seen Helen alive again.

If only he had had the training then that he had now. and the salary-what rte eould nave done for Helen! Btu: how useless il was to worry over the past! The point was that now he knew how to Je more insulting than the cust:m.=rs on occasion. to rarass ard intimi- date tlicse under him. until any hots! cunt-er counted himself lucky to have ‘Paul Harris-Manager" on his stationery.

Paul threw the pencil down and rising. pulled his morning coat into its usual meticulous. creaseess fit. It was generally profitable to walk around the lct/el at odd hours. Kept the help on thei_r toes.

As lie waited down the corridor the magazine stand was directly at tlte end of the vista. His step quickened as he caught sight of the blond Elsa taking to a dark-haired zzirl who was looking over the stock. He advanced swiftly and Elsa turn- ed red as she glanced up and saw him standing before the booth.

"I was just explaining to -to

Miss—

"Fay Elkins," the girl supplied crisply.

Paul looked her over in stony sil- ence and she returned his stare with bold black eyes. She was not the type. he decided instantly, for the Devon Arms. Needed plenty of ton- ing down. Bad voice. for one thing. and tco much lipstick 0n an over. wide mouth. The patrons of an ex- elusive hotel like this were apt t0 be finicky about those who served them-they liked unobtrusive types. And this was not the time to risk offending the clieritale. In fact. Paul had been trying to think of some way to attract more custom- ers to the place. Now he merely nodded toward Elsa and she slip- ptd thankfully back toward the kitchen.

"You've done this, work before. Miss Elklns?" he demanded.

"Oh. yes." The girl, with an in- grstlatlng smile, leaned comfort-- ably over the counter and pre- pared to make a conquest. "I've been in some of the best hotels in America. I guest. Of course the last Job I had wasn't so good-"

"I see." Paul's curt tone cut across the girl's words and brought her to an upright position. "Vfell. you understand that this is a very good position and we expect our

employes to observe certain stand- ards of dress and behavior. See me in the morning at eight o'clock."

He had the satisfaction of seeing her affected manner disappear be- fore the stinging rebuke in his voice and he knew that for a mo- ment the girl was on the verge of walking out on him. But the next

minute her glance dropped and she said suikily. "Okay. I get it."

Paul turned. satisfied with him- self. just in time to see a. tall !r..ky figure advance 0n Molly. the telephone operator. In his hand he carried a chauffeurs cap and Paul without seeming to watched his progress to the switchboard and the lengthy conversation that foi- lowed. After a few minutes. how- ever. when the man remained. Paul moved toward the raised platform where the switch-board was paced. Any chauffeur ought to t his in- structions more quickly an that.

He was almost upon him before a eertain familiarity in the arro- gant tilt of the long narrow head made him walk more slowly. He changed his direction slightly. so that as he approached he could see the strongly etched profile of the man who was hanging on Molly's every word.

III

In the space of two steps Paul's manner was transformed from the domineering one he used with the help to the dignified. courteous mariner he employed toward well- paylng guests. This was none other than William Anthony Devei-cst- derling of socfe-ty and hoped-for pray of every romantic debutante. His patronage of the Devon Arms had been responsible for more than one coming out party in its grand ballroom or the larger roof garden. If anything was wrong, it mustbe set right at once.

Paul's quiet. catlike tread did

ot herald his coming. and the ,oung man swung around abruptly at Paul's smooth question: "Is there anything I can do, sir?"

"He was looking for Jan Payson Mr. Harris, and I was telling him —-" put in Molly.

"That Miss Payson is no longer with its." Paul flnshed quietly. "Miss Elkim is taking her place and will be glad. I am sure, to car- ry out any commL-sion—"

"But she said she worked here!"

"Yea-ah-iyee. She did. At the

magazine counter." . "Was she fired?" Devereat de- manderkandhfawne wassobrua-

que that Paul tactfully BVldOd.l direct answer.

"She was late." Paul's lips thin- ned to a disapproving line.

Bill Deverest grinned boylshly and ran a hand through his al- ready far front smooth hair. "Yes. I know," he said. "I guese I was responsible for that, in a way."

The manager's eyes widened slightly, but he gave no other tn- clfcation that. these words had start- ed a new train of thou ht in hia

uick brain. It was one for a rk to be late. but it was another for a valued customer admit that he had been the cause of her tardiness. Molly's expression be- came so open-mouthed at the young man's declaration that Paul thought it better to edge Deverest gently away from the switchboard.

"Miss Payton has been promoted -ah—that is," he said carefully, she will work during the evenings, starting tomorrow."

"Oh!" There was disappointment in Tony Deverests monosyllable. "Say. do you promote people iy making them work harder hours?"

"No," Paul said hastily, "of course not. Mr Deverest. Miss Pay- son will-will only work for a few hours at night. She-she's to be in the new floor show." he added with a sudden burst of lasolration “We have a very popular roof garden you know. Mr. Deverest. and we are panning some specialties for the holiday season. You will be in- terested in seeing our new show, I know."