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I l .tt l t'(i n l f :IIW a n. e
whatever maciine it was. The hour for clos-
ing had come; lbut slle akdlI me in to :it for
a few minute' in theI dictation chair. liss
Iates explained her absence froml anld return
to the Acropoilis hotel in words- identical with I
r similar to these f allowing.
" Wel, flan, how are the stories coming?"
SPretty regularly." said I. "_\lout equal
to their g oing."
" I'm sorry," said she. "(Lod typewriting
the main thing in a stirX. i oiu've missed
mnw, haven't you ?"
"',o one," said I, whomm I have ever
known knovs as % well as you do hovw to place
properly beclt buckles, semicolons, hotel guests,
and hairpins. But ove ben away, too. I
XX a I package of pippermint-pepiin in your
plie the other day.
I I was going to tell VOu about it," said Miss
Batle, "if Nou hadn't interrupted me.
'( )f couXrse youi knowl ahout Iiaggic BFro , i
wih() stops here. \el, she's worth 4oo0,.oo00.0
She lives in Jersey in a ten-dollar flat. She's
alwaysX got more cash ont hand thail half a
,dozn uinls candidates for vice-plresiident.
I don't know whether she carries it in her stock-
ing or not. but I know she's mighty popular
i(down in the part (f thel tiw iw lhere they w r-
ship the g himld calh.
SWell, about two 'c'Oiks ag iM'irs. Briiwn
minutes. I'm sitting with my side to !wr.
trikiif Ti so l ,on manif ll cX pics oi a tcopp r-
mine proposition for a ni ol, I Imal fri m ii io t' -
lpah. Butt I always sce ccrthing all a round
me. 'When I'm hard at iwork I can scc things
thrlouh my side-cmsl: and I can lettve ione
button unbhuttoned in the ),ack of my shirt-
waist and se who's behind me. I didn't look
around,t bausc el make frameighteen to twenty
dollars a w leek, and I didn't have to.
! Tha t enig at knocking-ofil time she
sends for me to roe up to her apartment. I
expected to have to typewrite about two thou-
sand words of nte> -of-hand, lien- and con-
tracts, with a ten-cent tip in sight; )ut I went.
Well, Manl, 1 was certainly surprised. ()hd
\lagi Brown had turned human.
""' Child.' says she.' vttou're the most beauti-
ful creature I ever saw in my life. I want you
to (Iuit 5our work and come and live with me.
I'\e no kith or kin,' says she . "except Ia hus-
hand and a son or two, and I hld nu commu-
nirntion with atn of 'em. They're extravagant
hurlens on a hard-working womal. I want
you to be a daughter to rne. They gay I'm
stingy and mean, and the papers print lies
about rny doing my own cooking and washing.
except th handkerchiefs and stocking; and
petticoafs and collars, and light stuff like that.
I've got forty million dollars in cash and stock,
and lionds that are as negotiaibl as Standard
()il, Itreferred, at a church fair. I'm a lonely
o1( wN'oman and I need compani onshil . You're
the moist beautiful human being I tve r saw,'
sa s she. 'Will you u,,ime and li%, -, with me?
I'Il show 'eim whether I can spend moncv i!
nut,' she says.
" Well, Alan. what 'would yo have do(ne? )Of
mumrse I fell to it. And, to tell you the truth, I
i'gan to like old M\aggie. It wasn't all in ac
count of the forty millions and what she could
dlo for me. I wa kind of lonesome in theworl,
too). verybody's got to have somcbldy thce
can explain to about the pain in their tuft shoul-
der and how fast ptatent-leatlhe'r shoes wear out
XXlhen they be'in to crack. And ytt can't tall
about such things to men you meet in hotels-
they're looking for just such openings.
S " I tave upl my j b in the hoItel and wcnt
with Mrs. Brown. I certainly seemed to halve
a mash on her. She'd look, at me for haltf an
hour at a time when 1 was sitting. reading, r
looking at the magazines.
" ()nec time I sa, tol her: ' 1)) I remind youtof
isome deceased relative or friend (o your child
hoodt, Mrs. Brown ? I'\c noticedl you give me
pretty good opi)ticat inspection from tin i
time.
" tou have a face.' she says, ' exactly lii,
.lcar friend of mine-the chest friend I ev crh:i
But I like N tou for oursclf, child, too.' she ,-
iAnd say, tlan, what do i ou 'i uct -
did ? loosencted upt like a iMarcel wave in th,
surf at (' nc v. She te tik me to a swell dr--
makerlll and gavhc liher /la tar / to lit me oi
mlIeV no 0it. They were rush orders, :n(l,
mntliame locked the front door and put the
whole force to work.
S"Then we noed to-wh ere do you h ink? -
no: guess gain that's right-the I-lutel Bon-
ton. We hadl a pix-riilm alIartment: and it
cost Sloo a da. I sa-w the bill. I legan to
lovc that old lady.
\Andl then. Alan. when my dreses began to
r'n(w in-h, I won't tell you about ' tm. oU
mouhln't understand. And I began to call her
A\unt \lMaggie. ou'vc remil alout ('indlcrcllt,
nf course. \Well, what (Cinderellat said wIthI
the prince fitted that ,\ iA n liher foot was a
hard-luck story compared o thie thini - I told
myself.
" Then Aunt Maggie says she is going to gcr
n' a coming-ut banquet in the Bunton thatl
make moving ans of all the old lDutch i i
ilies on Fifth .\venute.
"" ' ' lw ,c'1 .)Ili ll'f ,v . \ 'A i " X :t!_. < ' ,