I CRIED, AND I CRIED, AND I CRIED.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 152, 21 March 1908, Page 11

I CRIED, AND I CRIED, AND I CRIED.

Bob looked sulky. So did I. Bob said things. So did I. It was so sudden, too. Robert (lie is always Robert on our , touch-me-not days) had been standing, • hands in pockets, staring at Daisy, Lincoln's photograph. • "Pretty girl, that," he said presently. "Really?" said I. Making due allowance for the circumstances, I was cool. , , "Rippin' complexion!" was his.'next.comment! "A complexion like that hits a chap where he lives, you know. So clear 1 So pure! Sort of cream-and-roses, gardens of Hafiz, silvery moonlight and pagan dusk sort of effect—what ?" _■ , "You become'interesting," I said. There was an absurd littlo catch in my throat. I hatod myself for it, and I hated tho idea that he should ruess it was there. .It was horrid. But men'don't see things. ■, "Lord!" ho went on calmly, "but a complexion is everything to a woman!.' Now, yours " . He hesitated. "Well?" "My dear Alma, it's muddy. Of courso you can't help it, poor kid. But there you are." ■ . ' Is it any wonder that I cried, and I cried, and I cried? 11. • At the V'alaze Massage Institute in Brandon' Street I saw a little lady with a- soft, creamy, rose-tinted skin. She, I supposed, was the Viennese oxpert I had heard so much of.- I wasn't sure. I'm not sure even now. She was dark and gentle, and her soft syllables were liko petals that had fallen from the roses of her cheeks. :, ■ Sho sold mo a largo jar of Valaze for Gs. 9d. "Rub a little on at night before you retiro," sho said. "Then the rollers —you have tho rollers. No? Ah, but you should—then you shall see!" -111. . At half-past eight, a fortnight later, I met Bob again. I stood under the strong electric light in the. drawingroom, and smiled up at him. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked searchingly into my face. "Lord!" ho said then, "I'm a queer fish. Apologies, kiddie. _ You beat Daisy Lincoln's complexion in a canter. Has some miracle happened, or liavo I been under a long illusion—what?" "Dear old boy,!' I said, "'you have had no illusions. It is a miracle—the biggest miracle —Valaze!" Is it any wonder that I laughed, and I laughed, and I laughed? 8060