SHORT STORIES. THE NON-EXISTING ELEMENT

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 18 August 1909, Page 90

SHORT STORIES. THE NON-EXISTING ELEMENT

Br Bprke Jenkins.

When a college graduate is reduced to * solitary dime — especially when the gradnoaibe is fh.© young woman -wiho secured "highest men/tdon" only three monitihe be- , Jore-^ may be considered time to in- [ qoaj» into causes. For, of coarse, there ' is -no such ' thing as chance. Professor ' Collingtoa had laid particular stress upon ' (the fact in his farewell address to the outgoing class. ".Remember," he had said impressively, ' 5 "thai the world is waiting for you — wait- :- ing to mete out to each and every one ( fof you wihat you demand of it. It is the wall to do that will swing you toward your highest ambitions. There is no such thing as chance. It is a non-existing dement !*' Along with ths rest of her classmiates • Bella Barnes had been deeply impressed ' "t>y these 'stirring words. Buit tihree " months of brushing one's feet <ni office JaJoarmate, three months of wearing out Jane's tbGimng soles on Jiaird flagstones, C three months of cooking the lonely egg |- * over the ball-room gas burner — these j *' Jtbxee months since her arrival in the • : city had sadly reduced Miss Barnes's con- J ' fidence in the strength of her will. I ' One day she chanced to stand before \ the glistening plate-glass window of .a ~ dainty little restaurant, wherein vra6 die- j played the plate-glass window of an ice- j "box, whcirein, in turn, was displayed a lusciously browned chicken. Heroines j never get hungry, which proves tibat Bella J irae no true heroine. And if there was < - one thing at the moment nh&t she die- i ' manded of the world it was permission to sink her even teeth into the brown side v ot tfiat roasted pullet and hear it crackle. Aiad co, in the full force of siufu' idoubt, there rushed over hen: a wild de- : «ir to trust for once the "non-existing element" — chance. Hunger has no con- J acience, and *>he would give chance plenty i rof opportunity. After assuring herself that the single dime she possessed was j " trf. located in the ripped finger of her . (glove, she boldly entered the restaurant, j -' !Dhe dear was opened for her by a good- j c Hooking young man, w3io forthwith- \ «BOorted her to a table, bowed in his most . - graceful fashion, aud then withdrew to a j : monition behind the desk labelled ■ f "Cashier." j { "Wthsu a waiter presented himself Bella ' *err.arke<i with all the indifferenoe she ~ a couk! assume -. •>• \ "1 want a portion of that chick* n/' - and 6he indexed the direction, not witn !L <be ripped finger. \ "Yes, miss," said the waiter, and then T. left hi6T, giving her some moments to scan p the speckless cleanliness of the place. \ Slit 'became conscious tihat the young i mam behind the desk was looking at ' her, and the feelings she experienced were not unmixed with fear Had he a eus- ' pioion of her solitary dime? Did she ', carry her guilt in her features? She was -glad there were no other patrons in the ' place ; the humiliation would not be witl nessed by many. Humiliation — was that r the worst? Then came the terrorising it would be arrest! f But atill she sat there. She was hungry. | Bhe drew defiant enough to view with the arrival of several others f at the tables about her, for the hour was ~ nearly noon. fe Then arrived the chicken. Words fail, j \ tut the even teeth didn't, and as the I \ iportion of pullet lessened Bella's courage j f increased. Nothing could be much worse j i fod her, she argued ; and. as she sipped . away -at the reviving and stimulating ; coffee she determined to give chance jte ' n fullest sway. It was to be the utmost 1 test, though it was the first. So she f ordered a cut of pie. 1 A psychologist might be alble to analyse J •' -the emotions that fluttered in the heavt ) (t of Bella when bhe obsequious waiter ga^e ? his blue pencil an extra flourish .n mak- '- ing the sum total on the alieck. and '[ placed it, face down, beside her. Pi c t- turned it right side up. One dollar and X five cents ! \ She swept the room with & glance. It I was nearly full by now, b«it she was f soniiethdng of an actress. "' She slipped the dime, hex total wealth, £ fro>n her glove and dropped it toward :th« waiter, who bowed. Picking up the ' chefk ehe rose, sfcradghitened herself, and ; stepped toward the cashier, who wa6 emiling. Through the daze that now seemed | " ito envelop her she began to wonder just j i how lids face would change the next | " minute. But there was still another ■ minute — half a minute, anyhow ; so she \ laid the check on the counter, and began to grope in the little pockets of her : ; feaved but well-mended "tailor-made."

On that second the smile on the good-

* looking young main's face grew even more j t engaging than before. He raised a ref «trainang hand. I "Pardon, miss," said he; "there is no r charge." 'No charge?" It was but a wMsper, for >ithe reaction was strong. [" "No charge to you, miss." "Why, not to me?" Miss Barnes's tone carried some dig- ; inity now, so the man hastened to ex1 plain. ; "Why, you see, I have "only just jopened this place. Yog were my finst and you have xunorugjhit me 6plenhdid luck !" With a sweeping gesture he the full room. "And 1 , besid^,"^ added, "it is the custom. You will Sallow me, will you not?" Miss Barnes gurgled something away "Bown in her throat, and started, tremblingly, for the door. But honesty turned Somehow this unexpected development gave the thing a different look. She must tell that yooroz proprietor tba*, he

[ had been mistaken in her ; that she hadn't one /cent ; that she had really stoles, her meal. And she told him — • told him right from the shoulder, though I a tear glistened in each blue_eye. But jhe kept on smiling, even through his ' absolute astonishment, and finally he answered her with a question: "That being the case* perhaps I could get you to accept the position as my cashier? You see, I haven't been able, so far, to secure anyone I could trust. Will you dlo it?" - I She would, amd she did. She ddd more, for not six roontths thereafter she married the polite young proprietor, whose busi1 ness was prospering greatly. ' But, of course, she loses no opportunity to instil into the tender minds of her children' that tihere is no such thing as chance — that it is a non-existing element in life. — Mumsey's.