Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise

he door. At the table close to the window was Susan in a nightgown, her hair in disorder as if she had begun to ar

hought I'd come in and leave a note," expl

e they are." And she indicated the undisturbed

Mary. "You must move up to my place. Ther

was looking dully at her han

u didn't come." With a change of voice, "Mr. Gideon telephoned down the

an. "Take them

oming down th

ed Susan. "

lly shifted from astonishment to pleased underst

'll find s

s Sackville," said she. "If you don't like that sort of thing-you know what I mean-why, you can live six months-maybe a year-on the reputation of what you've done and their hope that you'll weaken down and do it again. That'll give you time to look round and find something else.

fool," s

nd don't waste any t

aid Susan stolidly.

ople down there are crazy about you now. You got the house a hundred-thousand-dollar

I feel-not the

ht-leastways, unless she's a fool. She knows that if the best she can do is marry a fellow of her own class, why she'd only get left if she played any tricks with them cheap skates that have to get married or go without because they're too po

y disturbed the stolid calm of her fea

n "just stupid ignorant fools." She herself possessed no such refinement of nerves or of whatever it was. She had been brought up in a loose family and in a loose neighborhood. She was in the habit of making all sorts of pretenses, because that was the custom, while being candid about such matters was regarded as bad form. She was not fooled by these pretenses in other girls, though they often did fool each other. In Susan, she instinctively felt, it was not pretense. It was something or other else-it was a dangerous reality. She liked Susan; in her intelligence and physical

said Mary. "You want

es

nything like as much as ten per. I've got

expect to

are you g

made hard enough-or strong enough-or

ed Miss Hinkle. "I'll tell 'em you may be d

else." And, as Miss Hinkle reached the threshold,

back?" urged Mary.

s you ea

, looked down at th

aid she. "They'd p

p 'em, anyhow. And I'll not tell Jeffries you've quit

san, to end the discus

e had something to eat,

wobbly little table, resumed her listless attitude. She did not move until Elle

it she found a twenty-dollar bill and a five.

commission. We'll raise your

resist. In a dreary way this amused her. As if she cared whether or not life was kept in this worthless body of hers, in her tired heart, in her disgusted mind! Then she

with an expression but one removed from the blank look

and so bringing himself about halfway to the table. "Had

lways

nightdress. "You'll be mighty glad to get out of this hole. Gosh! It's hot. Don't see how you st

ruggle of the petty criminal of the slums against the police and the law; they arrive and found the aristocracies of the future. The third is the criminal class. It is also made up of the spirited-but the spirited who, having little shrewdness and no calculation-that is, no ability to foresee and measure consequences-wage clumsy war upon society and pay the penalty of their fatuity in

sit down, dearie," he

so mad that I

ttic. He caught a whiff of the odor from across the hall-from the fresh-air shaft-and hastily gave several puffs at his cigar to sat

dn't till tomorrow. So I came round here and your landlady sent me up. I want to take

said Susan.

Gideon. "What's the

not s

y won't

can

ce to talk over what I

your word,"

des, I'd have given your

ly lighted up. "You

But I never let pleasure interfere with bu

I said-part of the order, my dear. They owe to you about half of what th

es

es, but don't swell-head 'em-that's the good rule. I've seen many a promising young chap ruined by a raise of pay. . . . Now, abo

nd away as if the bill had been afire. She took all five of them, f

id he, nodding appr

case it do

ept for amusement; it does not interfere with the inert, but rather helps them to bear their lot by giving them a cheering notion that their insignificance is due to their goodness. This idealistic system receives the homage of lip service from the third and struggling section of mankind, but no more, for in practice it would hamper them at every turn in their efforts to fight their way up. Susan was, at that stage of her career, a candidate for membership in the struggling class. Her heart was set firmly a

said she. "I did it for the ho

ating tenderness. He took and pressed the

ow. They say one always has a reason for what one does. But I often can't find any reason for things I do-that, for instance. I simply did it because it seemed to me not to matter much what I did with myself, and they wanted the order so badly." Then she happened to beco

the beginnings of anger in his tone. "That'

hat he was repulsive in a man less self-confident, less indifferent t

, there's the matter of future orders. I

uit dow

ven you something good-eh

N

hy've y

l me. I don't underst

good a soul as ever lived-just what a man wants at home with the children and to make things respectable. I wouldn't grieve her for worlds. But I can't live without a little fun-and Mrs. G. is a bit slow for me. . . . Still, it's no use talking about having you out there. She ought to be

ly," sai

on in that lovely little head of yours, my dear. You

y," repea

Mrs. G. out of this," said he. "As I was saying, I've arranged for you to take a p

ndifference. The poisons in her blood were burned up by the fresh, swiftly flowing currents set in motion by his words, by the helpfulness of his expression, of his presence. She became again the i

hat way for?" demanded he in

nd never in all her life had her eyes b

those things? You know the wo

her kind who also throw in their souls with their bodies for good measure. Do you think you had me?" She laughed with maddening gentle mockery, went on: "I don't hate you. I don't despise you even. You mean well. But the sight of you makes me

above its usual quiet tones, enraged him. "You-you!"

ty. "For I know what kind of a beast you are-a clean, good-na

t. He looked as if he w

ed to raise it to express the uttermost of any passion. His jagged teeth gleamed through his mustache; his shrewd little eyes snapped like an

be no turning back now. Until she went with Gideon it had be

ainful illness, finds relief in death. Her love for Rod had been stricken of a mortal illness the night of their arrival in New York. After lingering for a year between life and death, after a long death agony, it had

she was free. She was re