290 



rilE AM K RIG AN BEK-KKKPFAi 



October 



With the tip of a little stookinged toe 

 just touching the ground to steady her, 



A cab drivRr who hai:ipened to pas;? 

 found the situulion amusing and said so 

 candidly, but I'm proud to sftv that ■'. 

 managed to keep a grave face. The sMoo 

 was such a small one that I marveled 

 bow a human being could ever get it 

 on, much loss get it oif again. 



Now a saint from heaven can't put a 

 lady'R shoe on for her without seeing 

 her ankle. I didn't try to. I thorough ij;- 

 enjoyed that little ankle and lingered 

 over the task with becoming solemuitj'' 

 in spite of the weather. 



At last we were ready to start again. 



"It was very kind of you not to laugh 

 at me, " she said, with a little blush. "I 

 must have looked very silly, standing 

 there on one foot. " 



"You looked very charming," I said, 

 with a young man's bluntuess. 



I landed iier safely on the path, and 

 she tliauked me. 



I asked her if I could be of any fur- 

 ther service. She thought not. She only 

 wanted to get into a Paddingtou bus. 

 and then she would be quite safe. 



Now I wanted a Paddington bus, but 

 I didn't say so. As soon as one came up 

 1 stopped it, put her inside and went 

 on top myself. 



Perhaps you will think me quixotic 

 for going outside in such miserable 

 weather. Vi ell, I believe you would 

 have done ti.e same thing after all. You 

 see, I was afraid she might think I was 

 pestering hei if I followed her inside. 

 It looked rather like taking advantage! 

 of a trifling service, and I was at that 

 age when a man would rather have 

 rheumatic fe-^er thai, .-y'-"^ 



opinion of a protty g)u. 'iiuugs are 

 different now — I'm a married num. 



But, bless your heart, you can't es- 

 cape destiny by getting outside an om- 

 nibus. I hadn't been iip there three 

 minutes, the rain had only just com- 

 menced to soak thi'ough the knees of my 

 trousers and trickle down my legs, 

 when the conductor came up with a sig- 

 nificant grin on his face. 



"If you please, sir," he said, "there's 

 a young lady inside wants to speak to 

 you." 



I climbed down the ladder with which 

 buses in those days were furnished. 



There she sat iii the corner, half 

 amilincr. half blushincr. Ther^ was no- 



body else iiisiiie. 



"Won't you get wet if you go oat- 

 side?" she s;;id. 



"I was afraid you might think I was 

 a nuisance, ' ' I saibwcred. 



"I gucs.-icd as muon," she said frank- 

 ly. "But it %\c;uld be a very poor return 

 for yoi.r kindness if I drove you into 

 consunipticu. " 



I think that upon the ■whole that waa 

 the most delightful bus drive in my ex- 

 perience. The conversation flowed in a 

 torrent, and I believe wo exchanged as 

 many coulidcnces and opinions in half 

 an hour as "•—iie people do in a life- 

 time. It was wonderful. It was like 

 touching by accident the hidden spring 

 of some secret door which opened intiD 

 a new atmosphere, anew fairyland. We 

 were more like old friends than chance 

 acquaintances, and it seemed as if 

 neither could tell the other too much. 

 Points of agreement and disagreement 

 were noted eagerly. We had read the 

 same books, visited the same places, and 

 wherever we turned there was nevr 

 ground of sympathy. 



She had only been in London a week 

 and had not visited any place of amuse- 

 ment. I wondeieel if I could find a 

 chance here of pushing my advantage 

 and approached the subject with deli- 

 cacy and caution. 



But at this point it seemed that the 

 mutual confidence stopped, for she de- 

 clined to understand my tactics and re- 

 marked that her time was too fully oc- 

 cupied to go about much. 



Only too soon we reached the place 

 where I had decided to alight. Wo 

 shook hands warmly and thanked each 

 other rather vaguely and nervously, 

 and then I found myself once more on 

 a nasty, wet London pavement. 



I had had a glimpse of fairyland, but 

 it waa only a glimpse. I was back 

 again in the practical, uncomfortable 

 world, with a living to be earned and a 

 will to make. 



The gates of fairyland were closed, 

 for, like a donkey, I had omitted to 

 find out the fairy's name and where she 

 lived. 



It seemed impossible to bring one'a 

 mind back to the legal subtleties of 

 willmaking, but it had to be done, and 

 I trudged heavily on my way to our 

 client's hou.se, finding, to my infinite 

 diseust. that I iiad.aot out of thei' omni- 



