Cleo was young, pretty and poor, a dangerous combination. She was employed in a fashionable millinery establishment, a disastrous environment. Saturday Afternoon: Cleo was instructed to deliver a hat to a purchaser. She took it to the ...See moreCleo was young, pretty and poor, a dangerous combination. She was employed in a fashionable millinery establishment, a disastrous environment. Saturday Afternoon: Cleo was instructed to deliver a hat to a purchaser. She took it to the peacock's home, and finding her out, decided to take it home with her. Sunday: Her sweetheart called. She looked at the old, soiled black straw hat, and thought of the tempting thing in the box. The call was strong to her eager ears, too willing to hear. She hesitated but a moment, and the lure conquered. She wore the hat. As she was entering the house on her return, a careless smoker dropped his cigar through the window, and the Nemesis that pursues all Fate's toys caused it to fall on the hat. With a shriek, she threw the burning hat from her head. The delicate feather was ashes. She knew not what to do. She could not face her employers and explain, she could not pay for the loss of the ruined hat, she could not escape from the relentless clutch of the desperate circumstance. There was only one escape, only one refuge. But it was discovered that she had attempted to destroy her life in time or preserve it. The story was told, the old story of the serpent's voice and the yielding yearning. But even pretty pheasants have hearts, so she was forgiven. And she realized that her sweetheart's love was of greater weight than all the feathers in the world, and a great many other things. Written by
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