New Britain Herald Newspaper, January 31, 1929, Page 13

THIS HAS HAPPENED Ruth Lester finds that her blond beauty interferes with' her oppor- tunities for becoming &n expert sec- rctary and consequently dons yel- low spectacles, {ll-fitting clothes and skins back her curls g0 she may go her way unannoyed by flirtatious employers. s But for this concealment of her loveliness she could not haveswork- ed unmolested four months for “Handsome Harry” Borden, pro- moter of dubious stock companies and notorious for his affairs with women. Ruth would resign but for a romance which springs up be- tween her and Jsck Hayward, young insurance broker, whose office is Yjust across the narrow airshaft from Borden's private office on the seventh floor of the Starbridge Huilding. On a Friday night In January, Juck and Ruth become engaged and Ruth comes to the office next anorning with her disguise removed. In her office, Ruth greets Benny Smith, 17-year-old office boy, wheo is astonished at her transformation and who instantly becomes infatn- ated. He advises her to don her dis- guise before Borden's arrival. She is interrupted by a phone call. It is “the woman with the beautiful con- tralto voice” whom Borden has pre- viously refused to talk to. Ruth has time to put on her spectacles before Borden's arrival. Among his private mail is an orchid-tinted envelope which he thrusts into his pocket. He instructs Ruth to go to the bank for $500 in cash and to the station to buy two railroad tickets and a drawing-room. NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY CHAPTER 11 Ruth Lester was grateful for the errands to bank and station which “Handsome Harry” Borden had giv- en her to do, for they gave her an opportunity to review, in undisturb- ed ecstasy, the miracle which had happened to her. In a faunty little brown hat, against which the new- 1y released golden curls clung like sprays of dclicate embroidery, her new nutria coat wrapped snugly about her smali body, her blue eyes unobscured by the hideous spec- tacles, she stepped into the elevator which was directly across the hall from the Borden offices. Micky Moran, the jolly, impu- dent, red-headed lord of the ecle- vator cage, did not recoznize in the pink and white apd gold little Deauty ‘the timid scerctary who had Yeen a daily passenger for the last four months. . His bold eyes took her in at a glance, then he began to whistic significantly: “Yes, sir, that's my baby!"” Just before the elevator reached the ground floor, Ruth asked, fn the hesitant, meck volce which had been part of her “disguise’: “Is your father recovering from that awful automobile accident, Micky?” Before the astonished hoy could roply, Ruth, laughing at him over %er furred shoulder, stepped into the lobby of the Starbridge Build- she characte 204 herself, as a gust: of January wind tugged at her coat. “But oh. Tm so glad I can he me at las Rut worth it, worth it, worth it #he chanted under her breath, as she joined the Saturday morning shoppers who milled about the busy corner. It was uncanny how accurately Penny Smith had diagnosed the absurd situation which had made 2 disguise nccessary. Perfect blond heauty had been a pleasant posse: sion, one which would some day bring her great happiness, she had thought, # long as her father had heen alive to shicld her. She hail been as proud of him as ho of her, for Colby Lester Teen one. of the greatest criminal of his day — a criminal ness lay in his ive rather than During cars of his life he lad talked over all his cascs with his daughter. Many a night they had sat up until dawn, Ttuth curled Knitten-wise in his arms, her child- j<h brows knit, amusingly, in the <ame fashon as his, her logical minl Yeenness as @ In jury. the last five 3 Keeping pace with his and some- times lcaping ahcad of it. “Good work, Infant! You've got makings of a Grade A detce- behind those yellow cur But case God, yow'll never have to 'n your living in any such sordid fashion as this,” he had told ber once. A clothe: dignifiel home, exquisite sorvants who adored Colby Jester and his daughter, private chool, association with keen and cultured minds — all these things Ttuth had enjoyed until Colby Les- ter's sudden, tragic death. He had been defending a woman on the charge of poisoning her Jover, a married man, and had been ghot down by the crazed wilow of tlie victim beeause she had believed that Colby Lester would win the defendant's freedom for her. And e had, although his funeral took place while the jur in its just verdict of Tven now Ruth understand why there had been 5o Jittle for her when her father's es- tate was settied. But his books showed that he had defended more yenniless vietims of tragic circum- stance than wealthy oncs, because their presented problems which intrigued his detective in- stincts. And he had denied his danghter nothng—nor himsclf. Te | %iad heen a connoisseur ©f com- fortable living, had thought he could always make enough money to gratify the exquisite tastes | he Jad cultivated in himself and his danghter. And then he had gied. . . - Bhe had used what little moncy there was to take an eight months® scerctarial course, and had _come out of business college primed with all sorts of useful knowledge, her Jittle fingers capable of astonish- ing speed in shorthand and typing. But men had not let Ter do it They were like women who cry out o beantiful babies: “Oh. yon precious, darling dumpling! T could | BLAGK ©1929 By NEA Service, Inc. eat you up.” And they tried to eat “You've got the makings of a first rate detective behind those yellow her up, and she had to flec, from this job teo that, from one humili- ating experience to another. As Benny Smith, the office boy, had guessed, the wives of the married men she had tried to work for had been the worst. But those scenes would not bear thinking of now, when she was so happy. . It was a motion picture, finally, which pointed a way out of her difficulty. Out of work, she.had gone forlornly into a movie theater in an cffort to forget her rather ab- surd troubles. And she had seen, on the screen, a timid, mousey, homely little secretary with skinned-back hair, {ll-fitting clothes and horn- rimmed spectacles, suddenly trans- foerm hersclf into a beautys so that she win the love of her em- Ruth Lester laughed so vsterically that lovers of the silent ma turned in their scats and d at her. The next day a mouse-like, timid little creature, with golden hair pulled tightly into a hard, unbe- coming knot on her neck, eyehrows jerked hack into a scared-rabbit ex- pression, hiue cyes obscured and drained of their color by enormous yellow-lensed, horn-rimmed specta- cles, a longish, ill-fitting dark dress libeling her lovely small figure, had presented herself at the offices of Henry P. lorden, who had adver- tised for a secrelary. might And for four months, although “Handsome Iarry” Borden was notoriously fond of beautiful women, Ruth had been permitted to work in peace. Sometimes it had heen cruelly hard to kcep her pose and her do- liherately achicved homeliness, for Ruth found, to her surprise and dis- gust, that she missed the admiring glances of en and women who passed her in the street. And those months had becn - the loneliest she had ever spent, for in all that time no man had asked her for a “date” —except Jack Hayward. Ruth drew a deep breath of The pain of recalling the been wiped oud by the arriving, inevitably, at J y- ward’s name. Her little high- hecled pumps clicked a staccato ac- | R D e A S e S A R T BT THESE THICK SUDS! ARE GREAT FOR DISH-WASHING- s Dishwashing easy noW! Just use the soap that gets clothes whiter! HAT a difference Rinso suds make in the dishpan! Thick, creamy suds that soak away grease and food particles in a flash. A hot rinse, and dishes dry clear and bright without wiping. Cupful for cupful this compact, ranulated soap goes twice as far as ightweight, puffed-up soaps. § economical. Millions use it on wash- YES,MOTHER~ AND RINSO FOR ALL CLEANING, TOO ! The granuicted sonn * ANNE AUSTI curls.” companiment to her joy, as she turned in at the bank. Reaching into the big inside pocket of her fur coat she retrieved her specta- cles, straddled her small nose with them, so that the teller could recog- rize her and make no difficulty about cashing Borden's check. In the street again, on her way to the station to buy two tickets and a drawing-room for Harry Borden and the woman he was to take to Winter Haven with hi Ruth had five more precious minutes in which to review her strange romance. Pigeons! Involuntarily her blue cves, free of the spectacles again, scanned the sky for a glimpse of the birds which had brought her happiness. She saw none. Probably they were huddling against chim- neys for warmth, The poor dar- lings! She hoped it would not be too severe a winter, for their sakes. Sho laughed softly as she remem- bered how she must have looked, in her “disguise,” leaning out of the window opening upon the airshaft, coaxing the black pigeon to her with crumbs held invitingly in the hollow of her palm. | But Jack Hayward, who had | heen watching, had not laughed. He had smiled, that tendbr, whimsical smile which was so dear a part of ; him. And she had smiled, forget- | ting for the moment that the dim- ple must be steenly repressed. i Two days later, when she was | feeding the whole greedy flock with crumbs sprinkled upon the window ledge, Jack Hayward had tried to lure them away from her, with crumbs of his own’ It had hecome a game hefween them—between the handsomest man in the Starbridgs Building and the dowdiest, frum- picst, most timid-looking little sec- retary. Then one day he had appeared at the clevator—not the clevator in his wing of the building, but at the one across the hall from Harry Bor- den’s offices. She could hear him now, scc the dancing light in his bronze-brown cyes, the whimsical quirk to his mouth, as he had said: | “I wonder if yowll let me lunch with you, Miss Lester, so I can find JUST AS WONDERFUL dayfor whiterelothes without scrubbing or boiling. Get the BIG package of Rinso and follow easy directions on the i box. Try it for walls, floors, wood- work, porcelain and all cleaning. Saves work! for wook's wash, dishes and ofl cloaning where you get such potent bread crumbs. My greatest ambition in life is to have that black rascal of a pigeon eating out of my hand. too.* 8he had wanted to turn back, then, into her own office, for five swift minutes at the mirror—just Icng enough to remove her specta- cles, scrub off that sickly yellowish powder. release the golden glory of Ler curls, but the elevator came, and her opportunily to show him how Ruth Lester rcally looked had been lost. It was during that first luncheon of theirs that Ruth’s resolve was made. Yor Jack Hayward had talked to her as no man since her father's death had talked—as if she liad a mind worthy of his; as if the were something more than a beauti- ful little scrap of femininity made to be gobbled up by a man. “I won't show him the outside me until he has a chance to learn and love the inside me,” Ruth re- solved, and trerabled lest the great experiment should fail. For she al- ready loved him — the outside and the inside of him. What 1{f he should only like and. feel congenial with her mind, and fail, because of her disguise, to love her as a man must love the woman he marries? But that would have to be her risk, she resolved— h!" Ruth came to herself with a start, and smiled at the ticker agent. She had not even realized that she had arrived at the station. “Two round-trip tickets and a drawing-room for Winter Haven, please. The 2:15 train for this after- noon.” “What is the name?" the ticket agent asked briskly, though his eyes drank in her loveliness grate- fully. “We have to keep a record of drawing-room reservations.” “It is for Mr. Borden =— I mean Mr. H. P. Benton,” Ruth corrected herself hastily. “Mr. and Mrs. Henry P. Benton.” The ticket agent raised his eye- brows at her slip, then gave her a long, significant glance, in which TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTE! DOLLARS F Specials age there was a little astonishment. “Hope you have a nice week-end. Mrs.—Benton.” Ruth flushed vividly. “Thank you, but I am not—N\irs. Benton.” As she turnel back toward the Starbridge Building, her accomplished, she wopdered who “Mrs. Benton” would bé—this tinie. And she shivered a little, and was glad that it was not she, Soon such sordid things would no‘ touch her; for she would be Jack Hayward's wife, Mrs.-John Carrington Hay- ward! But oddly enough, she shiv- ered again, and wondered if she were taking cold. (TO BE CONTINUED) In the nest chapter—a torn $300 Bill. EVERY MAN MUST Well Dressed Male Philadelphia, Jan. 31 (@ — The iwell-dressed man should have at least 20 suits in his wardrobe, a dozen hats, cight overcoats and 24 pair of shoes, the fashion board of the National Association of Mer- chant Tailors declared today in its report to the association's annual convention. For the ultra fastidious Beau Brummel, the board said the latest novelty for spring would be a gray ensemble, consisting of a mouse gray sack cout and double breasted waistcoat with a contrasting gray striped trousering and gray derby hat, wing collar and Ascot or bow tie. “Women are making men style- conscious,” declared Raymond G. | Twyeffort of New York, chairman |of the fashion board, in presenting FOR GE even Diam set in Lovely Rock Crystal . . . a mounting of solid platinum ... soft mellow tones master did. orler and IFTY-FOUR MAI STREET Watch the Windows Friday— { Store Opens at 12 o'Clock For the ? After-Inventory Sale Are Shown in the Windows --- : None Are Advertised We take inventory Friday until noon. Every article in the store that is one of a broken size range, or is slightly soiled or shopwom, will be sharply reduced for clearance. Sale Starts Promptly at 12 Friday Allen & o, Hartford---Direct Wire, Call 3005 errands | HAVE 20 SUITS Such is Decree of Tailors on| A symphony in canescent white into superb brilliance, triumph- ing in a splash of fiery beauty. Only a master could fashion a gem such as this ... Do his report of the siyle men's clothes for 1929. “Toduy style is the compelling sales factor in every line of merchandise from | automobiles to pajamas; even dish washing machines are being offered in pastel shades to harmonize with the wall toues of ‘the kitchen. | The report said the wardrobe af a man of social position should in- clude six' sack suits & mseason, two full-dress evening suita, a single and a double-breasted tuxedo suit and | cvening clothes in tropical weight | for summer wear, 1 Eight Overcoats, Please! “He should have at least cight overcoats 1o correspond to his other costumes,” the report added. “These | would include a dressy black coat | for evening use with silk faced la- | pel and cloth collar; two formal overcoats for day wear, one winter weight and a lighter one, either sin- |gle or double breasted, in dark gray, blue or black, with velvet col- lar, also a heavy winter ulster and several medium weight town coats (of semi-rough 1naterial in colors. Then a_spring weight coat and a| tan covert coat, a type which will be extremely popular this season for town wear. For country use and | motoring a camel’s bair double- breasted poloscoat. A raglan tweed coat for sports use is essential. ** dressy overcoats for evening use quire a high silk hat, or opera hat, a soft colored hat is not correct with the formal evening or formal day garments.” Gen. Horton to Quit After 30 Years’ Service ‘Washington, Jan. 31 UP—After 30 years of serviece, Brigadier General Willlam E. Horton, assistant te the quartermaster general of the army, retires tamorrow. 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