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of wood, leaving a thin line 'of blood trickling down their

fe,et,,His heavy 'black work' boots made' a hollow thwonk-ing

sound, reverberating off the unadorned walls,

As a young woman, the floor she had viewed as,the most

,'signil'icanthad" been one of gleaming, polished mahogany,

upon which a dance ,;,asheld on New Year's Eve to usher

in the new century, to the brash chorus of,clanging

instruments, clapping hands, and girls' voices pitched ;
high from flirtation. The floor trembled and shook under

the pirbueties and leaps of girls in frilly skirts and

men in buttoned j ac ket s . Iier'dark b rown hair was gathered

in a,soft crown on top of her head, and her neat, pretty

anklespqshed tantalizingly beneath the navy blue ruffle

of her'dress. It was her ankles, that drew the men to her;

spiteful girlfriends whispered th~t she could never catch

a man up close. 'He had to be across the room, where he

could see those alluring peeps of forbidden white flesh, the

sensuous arches of her feet and delicate ankles the shape

of teardrops moving faster than matrons thought decently

possible. A blond stranger ,hovering near the door watched iI

Greta like all the others. Emboldened by his anonymity, he ji

strode up to her' and introduced himself as Jacob Adams,

a cousin of her schoo'l friel}d ,Joan and a college student

from upstate New York. He was tall, with square hands and

a wide face, though a surprisingly graceful dancer for his'

solid' appearance. They danced five songs in a row, until

people be qan t.o "t.a Lkv " h.i s strong, wool-encased arm 'pressed
v

insinuatingly. ag~inst the smail of her' back, his breath

smelling of: mint and tobacco· and sophistication.

Jacob wrote letters to Greta after he returned to

,college'.He painted be au t i-fu l pictures ,of life r there with

words that flowed with euphony 'and hissed'with sibilance,

words like lovely, sunse~, and darling, c~axing her to

visit, hinting how easily he could arrange rooms for her

,to rent nearby,'so he could'visit her. Desperate to inhale

that sweet and intoxicating smell again and feel its smooth

burn in her nostriis, she bundied ~p her few belongings and

'met' Jacob on a crowded street outside the 'train station,

a huge edifice whose sparkling windows even. thegriine from

dirty urban life could not mute; from there he whi sked her

away to the long garret, sparsely furnished, he had paid

the, first'mb~tti's rent for. Greta blushed at 'the proprietary

implications of this; her~father,had instilled in her a

Labo rer '5 deep-rooted value of money. She managed, with her

sof t manners and clean looks, to acquire a job at a local

library; and promised Jacob that she would reimburse him. He

had laughed at that, faking'her arm in his and smot.heri.nq

her words with a kiss, '

Greta enjoyed a,fall of smoke-scented jacket arms and: