Show F r tv I 1 ITT TV efty IF 0 BEGINNERS BEGINNER S A now by henry kitchell webster COPY copyright TIght by lil the th bobbi morrill co nanu serried service i p A A A A A PRECEDING EVENTS actina in good faith in an effort to ill aid a neighbor ingraham Ine raham in a business way edward ratter patter ton ilon kaihler of 0 the chicago agency ol 01 it life insurance con co li wrongly led by 11 contani h hit Tank wife ifs julia of 0 her iler practical accusation cusa tion unfits him tor or bu busl sintas and nd he takes short vacation on his h i return hie his daughter I 1 adith tell tells him hie his personal pera onal be loVings are in the pare spare room having been re moa oita from the room which had b been tell his and ills wife bedroom att f accept accepts the situation fill n roo f of his wife belief in his eulit wit adith seventeen nv enteen years old li 11 worried 0 ried over the estrangement of her er r arents her mother only partly fcc succeeds ucc eds in hr her efforts to comfort her ter the eon son I 1 dwan junior is I 1 at college colic A business matter brings bring in n inventor jamee james mariner into Patter tone sons life mariner need needs 16 kool with aich to puh push hie his invention an automobile choke and patterson ireon after a britt brief investigation decades to po go in with him R without informing hit his amily family he re tiffin from hie his position with the in lurance company devoting his whole time to the pushing of the an old friend albert W willard aard Is frankly of or the blu or of the choke patterson Pat tereon tell tells his wire wife of the change he ha has made she the situation adith la to maje aware of the change in the family fortune fortunes ly by lier ter nother tell ing her the she ha has decided to part with be the cook she ind and edith to do the housework CHAPTER IV continued 6 Idi the single word pulled her ip up short it gasn wasn t often afat at mother took that tone youre acting very saily about this I 1 im in disappointed in 3 iou oil you t criticize your father because you dont understand I 1 dont c rill dze cize hlin him myself I 1 dont want to because I 1 do understand he lie hain baan t been happy for a long time in the lasura insurance ce company hes lies felt that there u any future in it for him film im glia bes made the change because bes lies happier III be glad even if it come out exactly ns he hopes it will A memory of something hed said while they were riding home in the taxi after the play flashed into the girl girls 8 mind and hell tier thought fully silent for a minute oblivious agven to her mother 0 rebuke he lie d made her rather blue by saying that be knew non nou at forty six that he d never be rich cor nor conspicuous ly IY successful just as he knew that bed never neier find a ba bag of pearls or a treasure box of pieces of eight behind the wainscoting in the library you mean she said thought fully to her mother that its sort of an adventure adren alren ture for him himl I 1 mother gave her a funny look at that yes she said exact ly what I 1 mean and what we must do Is to make our part of it fan adventure too do you see dear edith nodded that was wis the line laie to tale all right but it dlan didn t seem to her that dad had any right to throw capy a perfect ly good salary alary th thit it was beeping keeping them all safe and comfortable in favor of a hont hunt for hidden treasure suppose he didn t find it it where world they be then mothe lothe i she asked do you think it will come out right and make male us rich honestly mother mother instantly ready with an an answer siver it isn t sure to come out that way of course she said it tt last ilten your lour bather father t say its sure but he thinks it Is probable and hl hf judgment ts Is usually very tery good As long as he thinks its more likely than no not to lale us rich why I 1 do too it came over edith with almost sickening force that her mother had no real hope at fill all slie she ex pecked the adren adventure ture to fall she was trying ta t encourage herself edith found a lump coming in her throat all right bhe she paid fald as its gayly as possible then I 1 11 it believe it too when men her father camo camp howe a little tittle later she rushed upon him and gave him a tremendous hug dr ard she cried 1 I 1 think it a per feet great 1 mothers been telling me I 1 im m simply too excited to breathe and ill bet you are tire too khoh you are trying to look sol aniu and middle aped ared about it IL 1 I am for a fact he admitted then he nent over to mother and kissed her cheek weve had a good day he said sald three nice dice orders in one mall I 1 d like to celebrate it too late for a movie Is it whenever did a as in that mood edith found him irresistible doubts and tears fears were forgotten Of course the great ad adventure ealure was coming out au all right sometimes dad came come home silent and depressed and it he talked at all it would be unbearably about bills and expenses and they ifford lifford that mood of his big always reduced edith to despair she had besides black moments of her own one of the worst of these wac wai occasioned by her first visit to the factory it was in a rather jubilant spirit of adventure that she set out which mido the shock of coming down to literal reality all the arom nothing less icis explicit than i tj p the sign newly nealy painted on the shabby balk face of the could hove have convinced her bat thed shed come to the tile right place so the cloud cabale of her dreams camo came doi n to this I 1 this was where they liere going to make their fortune she tried to laugh at herself but could nL her panicky impulse was to drive away again and pretend shed never come but the as trembling so she was afraid the she drive finally she went in through the grimy little door that ald said office on it dad tics there biting nit hog at a I 1 disk ask and seemed pleased as A veil ell I 1 as gur to see her sit down he laid mid ill be through in a minute after apparently parent ly hesitating a moment he lie introduced her to the man who mat at OP opposite him at the desk ills his nime was weed and the she thought him detestable the otter occupant of tho the room he didat introduce he was wag younger perhaps he ile had a thick dirty locking skin sidn and a pimply face and lie sat morosely at a typewriter pounding out a letter rather slowly with two thick fingers she turned her chair a little to make it easier not to look at him shed made occasional visits to her father fathers s old office and the con really was appalling that had bad been in its sober way pala malathi pa lathi till furnished with great dull magog any desks and leather chairs but this place I 1 it was mas hardly clean clenn it gasn wasn t really I 1 it als shabby the door floor wis wils bare and to think ct c poor old dad ba having to come to a place like t this lis I 1 it was pitiful another man came into the office from rora the shop A workman Nor kman anover in over alls tills bis his face and hands bands streaked with dirty machine oil like a man in a garage ue he asked Is mr af ll iriner coming back this after noon mr patterson 1 I believe not dad said and then to her amazement he lie stopped the man before he could j go back into the shop oh charlie 1 he said wait a minute I 1 want you to meet my daughter edth edith this Is charlie franklin charles seemed to have an idea of shaking hands and he rubbed his hand on his overalls but then he looked at it and hugged I 1 I 1 guess it 11 hardly do he said and then I 1 I 1 lou on haven ha vent t see ke our shop yet have bare you luckily did answered for her no its her first visit ill III bring ber her out in a minute its pretty dirty out there charlie said and it isn t straight ened out yet but were nere really making something there miss patter son she liked charlie franklin you couldn t help liking an one who spoke as pleasantly and as umfort ably as he and his assurance that t they hey were really making something restored somewhat her courage but sae found the shop aheu heu fa ther made good his promise and conducted her through almost as dispiriting a place as the office ih iha meagerness of its equipment was a shock to her the machinery dint anywhere near fill up the space even esen in that little building it was just pitiful did dad really think he could make a fortune out of that when she and dad got into the car and started driving lome home she began talking feverishly about anything she could think of that was not the shop bhe settled finally upon the senior play at school and agnie e him a detailed account ol 01 the misadventures of the last rehearsal ue lie wasn gasn t more than halt half listening she knew and at last the thing she dreaded happened 1 I in afraid he said cutting her short that yon you were disappointed in our place down here there you know you cant judge a thing you cant can t judge what it will grow into by what it looks like nt at the beginning A turnips bigger than an ap aare ie aped cd bat but it u wont on t grow into a tree and the seed will it if it gets the chance weve got a seed down there and were going to try to give it a chance to grow fou you wait a while and see I 1 didn dian t mean boj to visit it quite so soon I 1 thought fd rd let you wait unit until wed put out a leaf or two oh its all right she said 1 I 1 understand what you mean it it was a relief not to have to intend any longer I 1 suppose if I 1 gone to see you so many times in your other office lie ile langrud at that but bul she felt a 9 little uncertainly uncertainty and she perceived he felt that contrast too but thai that other office mine be said sald 1 I I belonged to 14 it almost as if I 1 had been one of the items of furniture chiq 1 thing Is mine halt half mine almost and as ag it grows my share in it will grow you liked charlie franklin you oh yes she said hes beg great but dad 40 who are those other peo pie that man with the cigar and that bor horrible boy pt t the A writer riter weed weeds a sa lerman be he said ho ile isn t satisfactory dis ills job Is to go around to dealers and garages and try to set get them to carry our choke the appalling boy at sit the typewriter Is a concession ell lies bes a concession dot but I 1 dont think we be saddled mith ath lim much longer they drove along for i a while in silence oh oil there arc are plenty of 0 age agge ments ho he said at last I 1 but the thin thing itself Is right and its going to succeed edith laid he her hand on his knee 1 I 1 know it rill v III dad the said Il cilly and truly I 1 do to mother when the three of them sat down to dinner that night she ish showed olied herself full of enami aam and confidence she thought eiery everything thing wag was perfectly great grent 11 lint did you think of hr mariner bierl mother asked 1 I met him film yet et you iliew lie wasat there today either dad said I 1 he ile has been out a good deal of course by the anty 11 he went on 1 I think it would be nice i 11 he stopped on that word with a positive jerk and looked at his wife it was exactly ai as if shed ched brown something at him it if you aare ft ere to ask him to dinner ills alfes been a sister of hers somewhere but she came balk a beek eek or two tao ago of course well have them out to dinner rut but wed better do it right aay norma goes will it be all right if you ask him we better make male it monday night I 1 guess ay iy Is normas amas last day 11 the mariners agreed to come monday night and mother decided to give them the regular company dinner a crown roa roat 4 of lamb with peas in the middle tomato soup before and ice cream with fudge sauce afterward edith MS as kept late at rehearsal reh tarsal that afternoon and didn dian t get home till after dad did she found them in the hall upstairs debating the question of clothes did you tell him not to dress mother was asking why I 1 think I 1 did dad said 1 I 1 know I 1 told him it gasn wasn t going to be anything but just a reg ular family dinner heavens leavens he be wouldn t think of dressing anyhow I 1 doubt very much it hes beg got a dress suit suil mother Alother t seem entirely satis fled if you dont aon t want people to dress it s better to tell them so in so many words she said hut but its probably all right both of them seemed to feel that the e evening te was bound to go wrong somehow adith was just coming down doan feairs in ill her brown taffeta frock A when hen the doorbell rang it was a little earl early for the mariners marinero Ma b but ut it be anyone else she knew that korma norma must be ap preaching a crisis in the kitchen so she opened the door herself and through the awful moment of greeting them thera and asking them to come in she was 0 o paralyzed with era em barras by the sight of the mans bilte expanse of shirt front that she hardly knew what she was saying he had dressed after all RIL and there was dad at the head of the stairs on the point of coming dou down n in his business suit it seemed like a disaster to her and she felt personally responsible for it so she was immensely grateful to dad and proud of him too for taking it so comfor comfortably tally As soon as the introductions were over he said to mr mariner 1 I swore to my wife that I 1 id d told you not to dress I 1 thought I 1 h had ad but it dorsit matter it only makes males it more of a party I 1 id d go up and change now but I 1 in afraid it would spoil the dinner that ought to have made everything all right but somehow it mr Sl mariner ariner dibut t seem to mind but fit s wife did and the she couldn coulden t stop talking about it sho she m as unbelievably e ile ably a awful 1 rf 11 I 1 sh she e was as fattish and smooth and cry she ans dressed up within an inch of her life in a bright green satin gown with an imitation jade girdle she diore green stocking 8 too and slippers that were too tight for her fat feet she had her hair bobbed hi its color wae maii too golden to be true truc and nil all of her skin that shoved outside her dress there ft ere acres of it etwas aas simply pi plastered a alth ath dead white powder her voice was sweet cloying and sticky like honey and it almost made you sick adobody got of a chance to eay say anything much for she talked cally all the tile tiac time aliben lian she spoke to her tier husband she called him pet right across the table lou know where to look ioa over some of the things she said to him you could feel your face burn ills name for her was uns worse lie he called her baby was it possible for people really to be as sloppy about each other as that was that how they my talked and acted when ahen there was via nobody else around before the dreadful dinner was over she decided it was not hinlle corma ans ns br bringing ingin in the ice lee cream and under tinder cover of some long story that baby I 1 was telling dad by way any of showing how bow crazy men b hid bid id always been about her pet began talking to mother he ile told her how much he was en the dinner not only the food but the home atmosphere I 1 you don dont t know what it means he bald said to people who live in a boarding house he ile stopped on that word with a positive jerk and looked looted at his wife alfe it was aas exactly as it if shed shem throan something at him then in a voice that was just as as ever only now it had something cle in it oil oll of vitriol or car carbolic bolle add acid or something in chemistry baby be bejan an to explain the d looked for apartments un til tit they were simply discouraged and she was sick of housekeeping anyway with the ser servant problem what that it was and heard beard of this wonderful establishment of madame gerard gerards s it really was too funny of pet to speak of it as a boarding house because it was ilas frightfully fright full exclusive and of course perfectly refined and had bad gone there tempo ridly of course she ed it t mitter barly to me one way or the other because I 1 |