Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 189, No. 4 — page 148: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

618 She would wander from counter to coun- ter, inspecting the wares that were offered for nickels and dimes. Courteous, but haughty, and dreamily aloof, she ignored the other customers; viewing the various articles through a tarnished gilt lorgnette. Bits of lace that appealed to her were purchased with the meticulous care that might have been spent in choosing a piece of fine rose-point. Lengths of silk and trimmings, handkerchiefs and children’s toys, received equal consideration. It was always a question what use she could have for them. She never wore the glittering braids or imitation jewelry that she picked out as deliberately as though the store was one of the most exclusive shops in town. Mary wondered about her selections every time she watched her—all except the little toys. Some child, no doubt, received them, and the pale gray eyes of the shopper would glow as she fondled dolls and little boats and fuzzy animals. Her wrinkled face would wreathe ‘with smiles when she bought these playthings. She was approaching the counter where Gladys and Mary stood. Overhearing what the girls had said, the crowd that was fin- gering the trays, turned with a curious in- terest as the old woman came up. There was an array of earrings, pendants and chains—gew-gaws that were deceiving in everything but price. Well-to-do women often came in to pick up these ornaments. Old Lady Five-and-Ten looked at them as though they were really precious and not clever shams. “Do you suppose she thinks they’re real?” Gladys laughed, and turned to Mary. The truth never dawned on Gladys. The old lady, of course, knew perfectly well, what sort of jewelry it was. She was liv- ing in the past, purposely pretending that she was back in the luxurious atmosphere of an atelier devoted to rare and precious stones. “ Of course, she doesn’t!” Mary hoped the old lady had not heard. Tt was obvious that she had. The out- of-fashion lorgnon was haughtily leveled at Gladys. 3 “Young woman,” she said in an icy tone, ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. ‘““’m quite accustomed to telling the genu- ine from pretense. Jewelry, like breeding, has qualities which cannot be counter- feited.”’ Gladys gasped and gaped at her; rouged cheeks growing redder. There was a titter from the group gathered in front of the counter. Speechless, Gladys stared. Her lips were moving soundlessly and her eyes were blaz- ing. She saw the department manager sauntering down the aisle. Whatever smart impertinence might have occurred to the girl was banished from her mind. “Will you please have this wrapped for me?” Selecting two cards that held jet drops, the old lady passed them to Mary. Then she gestured with her lorgnon, and the manager paused beside her. “T wonder,” she asked, “if you would mind taking these packages out to the car and leaving them with my chauffeur?” Used to her visits, the manager bowed and accepted her tiny bundles. Without a word he went to the street and found her waiting taxi. There was no self-consciousness in the calm expression of Old Lady Five-and-Ten. From a beaded bag that was badly frayed, she took a purse of discolored mesh and found two ten cent pieces. “Thank you, my dear,” she beamed, as she handed them to Mary. Then she walked to the door with leisurely dig- nity. I. AFTER that morning, whenever she came, as usual every Tuesday, Old Lady Five- and-Ten would stop and nod pleasantly to Mary. She had on the jet drops she had bought—the only article of her choice she had ever been seen to wear. “Do you think them becoming?” she asked. ‘Or am I too old to fancy that I look well in them?” “They’re lovely against the white of your hair,” said Mary truthfully. She was thinking how soft and pleasant the woman’s low voice sounded. Mary wondered.what she would look like if she dressed herself in the mode of the average modern woman of no greater years. Some- GEomichbooks Eon