| Show I I TELEGRAM FICTiON A All ii That Glitters By ANNE ANNEI Begin here today Jerry Richards is the acknowledged leader of the younger set of Hunting Huntin Huntington ton CleVer Cleter witty attractive she is courted by Go Gordon don Brock the towns town's richest and most elig eligible ble bachelor Yet before she answers him she wants to talk to Ross Taylor Tay lor br whom she had known before Gordon Gordon Gor don appeared on the scene She and andRoss andRoss andRoss Ross quarrel and Jerry goes to Gordons Gordon's Gordons Gordons Gordon's Gor dons don's arms But before she will promise prom ise to marry him she flees lees to her sister sister sis ter on a western ranch to Bette who married for love and has five chil chit dren Now go on with the story CHAPTER THREE Sit down here Jerry Bette caught up a cloth and ana ran it hastily over the indicated chair Tell me all the news while I get upper supper cupper Jerry accepted the assignment glad ly Iy She fancied herself as asa a raconteur there had been o of con con- duct duct duct- in Huntington since prosperity had lifted them all on its shining wave to heights which formerly had been attained only in m the gilded circles of the Ithe larger Jarger cities And Jerry knew it all However she found it hard go go- in ing Bette excused herself hersel continually to torun torun torun run down cellar to the homemade refrigerator refrigerator re sunk in the floor ice floor ice in inthis inthis this remote spot was out o of the question ques ques- tion to tion-to to admonish the children and t to tJ rescue year old Pudge and the premises prem from the consequences of his insatiable insatiable in in- satiable thirst for lor experiment Here let me rae help Jerry said at last Together with year old Sally who kept shyly close to her pretty aunt Jerry undertook to set the table ta table ble but paused many times in the operation op to give proper emphasis to toone toone toone one of her vivid t tales les Bette listened with one car trying trying trying try try- ing to control the children who seemed possessed this afternoon and watch the food cooking on the coal oil stove Jerry unused to the multiple multi multi- pIe needs o of a l large household thought secretly that her sister might keep things more tidily therein doing an injustice to Bette who was ws really an excellent manager and took pride in the careful ordering of her house house- hold A wail came from the perambulator tor covered with mosquito netting which stood outdoors under the trees Oh theres there's baby 1 Bette exclaimed I did hope she might sleep until time lime for her bottle Go get her and walk w with th her a bit will you Sally dear Let me Jerry begged Do you know Ive I've nev never r held a baby This is no time for you to begin Bette said firmly a sweet baby and I Jove love her but she's the champion dress rumor minor of the state That lovely blouse blouse- would never ne-er be bethe bethe bethe the same again Sally ran out to the carriage the wails ceased Bette said saida the old crowd a bit snappishly do anything but drink and flirt and get divorces Jerry was was' dashed at first by this unforeseen reaction to some of her herbest herbest herbest best stories She reflected quickly however that her sisters sister's attitude was probably a combination of envy and regret Bettes Bette's advantage of being the elder was lost in Jerrys Jerry's advantage tage age o of lovely clothes perfect grooming grooming groom groom- ing mg and the air of or luxury which was part of her It was natural that Bette should feel some pangs at hearing of ot the gaiety she was missing They play golf and bridge Jerr Jerry answered good Of course the men have their business t to attend attend attend at at- tend to to Used to Wo Work k kAnd And your crow what what do the they do Play bridge and gol golf And dance And swim What else is there to todo todo todo do Oh yes and ride horseback in Theres There's a perfectly dandy stable Huntington now not far from the Countr Country club We ride a lot What did you IOU use to do We had fun o of course but unless my memory fails falls me we did do a lIttle little lit lIt- littie tle tie work now and then Oh we work The Junior league Is terribly a active in Huntington and andS S we girls take turns at all kinds of good deeds Pudge hone honey dont don't you want to run and wash your face lace Here let Aunty help you ou Its It's so EO stick sticky I I suppose the thing I notice Bettes Bette's cheeks were flushed Hushed is the I difference in the viewpoint It isn't I that you ou have no religion and no ide ideals we we ls-we we hadn't either growing up with the war as we did But there were things we believed in and felt strongly about Standards you might S say Arent Aren't there any standards any anymore anymore anymore more more S Standards Jerry waved the wash washcloth cloth thoughtfully intrigued by the S discussion and not at all offended by bythe the question Yes we have stand stand- ards My crowd docs does very definite ones We tell the truth we play square When we give you our word you can count on it We do what we like and try to get all we can can that's that's only good sense isn't it but it-but but if it we get in jn a ajam ajam ajam jam we take our punishment and dont don't whine I never really thought about it before but I believe that's about it Nonsuch No a bad code is it Oh Jerry it sounds so sort sorl of of- of Ma is the word darling and if it you must know this is a ma ma- age we are living in Dont you ever think o of duty for instance Jim Comes In Duty What's that You see Bette when you went vent away there was still some o of the Hol Holy Grail ideal floating float float- ing around one maiden only only lo to I wish you could see what your gang ang at home has done to that idea So having seen what we have seen my crowd doesn't bother much about such things Jim her tall law brother came in just then stooping his more than six feet to get in the doorway children on his back and under his arms clinging clinging cling cling- ing to him like monkeys and laughing laughing laugh laugh- ing incessantly He picked or off one at ata ata a time with gentle strength gave each a spank and held out a hard brown hand to Jerry So that tha was your chariot charlot ornamenting ornamenting orna orna orna- our front Youve You've grown up His blue eyes the bluest Jerry had ever seen inspected her gravely Good looking too If you keep on improving you'll be almost as good looking as your sister Hello HelJo there honey Supper about ready the handsomest As for tor you you- youre you're thing outside th the movies Every time Jerry saw him she was struck anew by the startling appeal of the man her sister had married His tall body was supple and pow pow- erful The deep rich color o of his outdoor outdoor out out- door life lICe was vas laid over the delicate fine Cine features o of Virginia aristocracy yet with the cheekbones high enough to give an impression o of ruggedness edness and like Indian-like imp impassivity Looking out of the r d bronze of his face his blue blue eyes ees were like sapphires A girl cui might be justified in making every sacrifice ice for such a man man man-al- al almost most justified anyhow The seemed t to calm miraculously as they sat down to the table the children behaving for tor the first time that afternoon as Jerry thought children ought to behave have Its alwa always s like this Bette com corn I I can scream at them allday all allday allday day long without making a dent and the minute their father rather steps inside the house they're angels Its It's mad maddening dening And its it's not as thou though h he ever banged them around They recognize a dangerous man when they see one Jerry observed That quiet kind kind kind- kind oh oh h please Jim dont don't put any more on my plate Ive I've Ivet got t to to lose five lve pounds as it is Looks to me mc Jim said with the drawl that seemed to belong to his height as though you ou couldn't lose five pounds without losing some bone If Li I had the feeding reeding of the stock where you ou come from corners would go out of style A After ter supper Jerry helped Bette with the dishes yawning so often that at length the cider elder said I think Ill I'll put you to bed when P 1 do the children and Jerry was glad to go She did riot not ot however sleep immedi immedI- Less exhausted now she was acutely ly conscious of the thin mattress mattress mat mat- tress and the uneven springs and she lay for or some time thinking About Bette this time Bette who had flouted all aU practical considerations considerations considerations and married for love alone And look Jook at her now Jim was all aU allright right right to to be honest he was wa swell You couldn't blame a girl for lor falling falling fall fall- ing ins in love with him fall I But there was Sterling Vachel whom Bette would surely have married mar mar- ried ned i if she hadn't taken that fatal mar mar-I holiday in the west and met her herro ro roo mantic mantle rancher Stirling Vachel's new house howe was the most imposing in Huntington with several bathrooms a bar and greenhouses His IlLS wife had two automobiles for tor her exclusive use use a big one and a little one and servants all over the place And here was Bette doing her own work mother o of five children for whom she performed all services Bette didn't seem so ro happy now either Just love Jove not enough enough Jerry Jerry no longer was thinking about any any- thing By the time Jim came in with a foaming bucket of milk it was dusk and the children were stowed away Bette stood at the sink performing some last Jast task Jim came up behind her and stooping down kissed the back o of her neck She jerked away Jim your whiskers are terrible Re Regular ular spikes You cant can't have a n man without whiskers He looked down at her whimsically Makes Make Discontent Im sorry dear She leaned her head against his arm in apology Im upset Its It's the heat And Jerry too loo I suppose Im I'm happy until the they come We have such a 3 good time tim you ou and I and the children and the house seems pretty and comfortable and homey I just love it And then somebody shows from up Huntington Hunting Hunting- ton tori and all I can see ee or think o of is that the curtains are arc the cheapest money can buy and there are no conveniences and the furniture came out o of mail order catalogs And the children behave like littie littie lit lit- tie demons and get dirty and look neglected and and and- And your our old mans man's whiskers scratch Jims Jim's long arms went about her I knew something was wrong as soon as you brought that up Not he felt his chin hin that they dont Youre You're tired bab baby Im I'm going to get that Bales girl over here tomorrow if I have to kidnap her Come here He picked her up and carried her without effort into the living room sat down in m a big chair and held heron heron her heron on his l lap p as though she had been beena a child You let the kid get Jet your our goat oat honey She's a good kid Just green Wait till she gets ets her ears cars knocked down a few times and shell she'll be regular Gets her ears cars knocked down m my eye eyel She has under consideration a proposal from the best catch in Huntington Hunt Hunt- ington A combination o of Croesus and Apollo Belvedere She told me about it while we were doing the d dishes hes I Sh Shell ll marry him all aU right dont don't don't dont think she wont won't after this clinical observation of me mel Life is going to be just one long three ring circus for that child Jim it Isn't just that she all of them back there have so much more mone money than we do They seem to have bave ave become a dif different erent race O Our r values dont don't count with them Do you want to go back there Jim asked quietly tI Bette lay suit still her heart beating fast To be con continued tomorrow Copyright R Register and Tribune Syndicate |
