Show ABBI rm S embur 7 mariin ak ak A ROMANCE OF THE commonplace y V JEV anzy dfrances ka service copyright by fra parkinson keyes SYNOPSIS motoring through gh vermont philip starr young bouton boston architect meets Il blanche lanche manning seventeen with whom h he 0 Is immediately enamored it being a long distance to burlington starra starr is destination manche blanche suggests suggest S the village of Il 11 amstead not boasting a h otel hotel that he beco become me for or the night a guest or of her cousin mary alary manning alary receives philip with true vermont hospitality and he makes the acquaintance of her cousin paul rec as her fiance starr informs tier ot of his desire to win blanche tor for lils bis wife she tells him of an old stanlly superstition concerning the 13 blanches lanches of the manning family paul manning Is inclined to be dissipated marys reproaches tor for his conviviality vivia lity are badly received by paul gale hamlin nan alln long a suitor tor for marys hand visits Hama hamstead tead but makes no progress in his philip from records of the manning family learns the sorrowful story of the countess blanche french wife of a revolutionary hero moses manning and of the peculiar curse she has transmitted to her descendants and the wo women m en of Il amstead arnstead the evening of ahll philips fps aps marriage to blanche paul under the influence ot of liquor bitterly affronts affront mary and tells her their engagement ga Is ended mary at first acutely conscious of her position as a jilted woman la Is greatly comforted by her lifelong friend sylvia gray CHAPTER VII continued silently mary brou the little white china cup painted with bluebirds to the child ue he drained it at a juip gulp more afore he be announced cheerfully handing it back to her mary filled the muga mug a second time and as she did so she could see the rest of the family faintly in the new automo bile starting for the performance of the merchant of venice at the an nual chautauqua entertainment at Wallace wallacetown town she knew the play almost by heart loved every word of it had never seen it given land and even the little mediocre traveling company that was as to play it could with her own knowledge of it have given her a glimpse into fairyland if site she could have heard it and none of the others cared for shakespeare or were in the least familiar with him they were simply going because it was part ot of this years program because every one else was going because paul wet wel come corned any excuse to drive the car and violet any excuse to be seen in it and jane and seth any excuse to go 90 to a play which could not of course be wicked since it was classic no one had even suggested staying home with the children so that she could go cant I 1 have a piece of candy was augys next question as she reached the crib which stood by her bed 1 I ben a good boy all day 1 mary yes dear pretty good where Is your bag of lemon drops in my top bureau drawer bring it here sos I 1 can choose i the bag was brought and a frag merit ment carefully selected 11 1 wish aoud stay with roe me for a while mary I 1 got a sorter pain in my leg A sharp pain or an achec ache noo no o just a regular pain I 1 think maybe it would feel better if you rubbed it for a while mary uncovered the plump brown legs and rubbed them briskly ive got to go now and hear moses prayers she said at last thinking that signs of drowsiness were finally annall beginning to be evident but moses was not feeling devo lional lie ile was constitutionally irre and now that lie fie attended kin der hergarten garten the morning exercises at school seemed to him more than sufficient for his spiritual needs 1 I 1 aint a coln to say the lords prayer mim tonight he announced with decision 1 I 1 said it this mornin at school very well say now I 1 lay me now I 1 lay me began moses without much fervor down to sleep 11 when a loud crash and a wall of distress from the next nest room oh mary alary ive dropped my bluebird cup I 1 its brooken bro o ken mary alary rushed to alays side and gathered him dripping wet into her arms on the floor in a pool of of water lay the beloved mug broken into frag merits ments while the crib as well as algy aigy himself was deluged by its contents dont cry darling I 1 its a shame but mary will buy you another just like it only prettier maybe mayb the next time she goes to wallacetown Wallace town hush honey boncy let mary put you in bed with moses while she gets you dry pajamas pajama sand and changes your sheets and wipes up all the pieces so you wont cut your dror benr little feet Cow comfort fort fresh linen and more wa ain i 7 i f ter all having been provided muses moses was urged to continue his devotions 1 I 1 dont see why I 1 should say if I 1 should die before I 1 wake ive said it and said it and I 1 aint never died at all well say just god bless tonight then god bless daddy and alary and algy 11 mumbled moses glibly and all my dear friends and make me a good boy and bless cousin jane and cousin violet and blanche you bother about paul he snatched snitched snit hed ched my wood chuck trap amen now sing me ine the sugar plum tree he corn com banded climbing into bed and settling himself on his pillow mary alary began it bravely enough but the reference to paul was too much for her before she reached the C chocolate cat she found she could not go on im afraid I 1 cant finish the sugar plum tree tonight darling she said abruptly bending over 6 to kiss him and in spite of her some hot tears fell down on his face then she led fled from the room moses la lay for a long time wide eyed and pondering lie ile loved mary as he loved no one else in the world and mary alary plainly was very unhappy lie he tried to think of recent misdeeds that he be himself had committed but his slate was fairly clean then tie he remembered that once before early in the summer he nad caught her crying and when he had pressed her she had said she was worried over paul mary alary never mentioned paul now still that might be the trouble just the same it was too bad that mary alary should cry over him film particularly when he deserved it so little but if no one pise else would comfort her moses would lie ile sought about in IE his mind for the quickest and best means to this end moses always slept with a small canton hannel flannel dog named spotty to which he had been devoted from infancy it t had gone through numerous vicissitudes more than once it had fallen in the brook but mary had always fished it out and dried it in tile the oven and one night tie he had ripped it open atad abd devoured most of its lining an experiment which had proved very disastrous to both but spotty still survived moses made a sudden resolve lie ile hugged spotty and kissed hissed what remained of his nose he gulped as he did it never since he could remember had he gone to sleep without first laying his head on the cherished toy then he picked it up tip and pat tere dinto marys room it was as he had expected mary alary was lying on her bed weeping moses held out his hand dont cry any more please mary he said softly ive brought spotty to sleep with you it was then that mary alary realized that she had found a second source of corn com fort in moses loses A most of her unhappy ness had been caused by sellis selfishness liness moses was willing to make tor for her what was to him i a tremendous sacrifice she drew the child with his hi little canton flannel flanne dog still in his hand into bed with her prid and cried without restraint ie holding him in her arms moses lay solemn and silent asking no questions making no overtures but she could feel his sympathy in every curve ot his warm little body gradually she relaxed a sense of peace of compensation of content ment stole over her she fell asleep tier her cheek against her little brothers things never seemed half so hard again CHAPTER VIII meanwhile paul instead of rejoicing in hla his longed for liberty was waa find ing it utterly dull flat stale and unprofitable in the first place living at close quarters with his mothers nerves unrelieved by blanches sunny pres ence or tile the ready escape to marys house which had always been open to him was not IL a pleasant experience as has already been hinted but this was by no means all for it a day or two after his sisters wedding he was really ill As soon as he was sufficiently recovered however he made his way feeling very blithe and on an shackled to call on rosalle rosalie im right in the midst of packing she announced 11 1 much time to spare im going back bach to new york on the midnight paul strove to express his regret dont you go getting fresh with met mel said miss ung king crisply im not that kind and you forget forged it little one why you tell me you was engaged to that good looking cousin of yours my but ashes a looker loo kerl 1 im not tin engaged to her said paul shortly oh ashes thrown you over has she leered rosalie well I 1 should think she would she can do a lot better than you little boy blue even if f you behaved yourself instead of hitting it up all summer like youve been doing that mr hamlan from boston Is sweet on her all right and hes some swell believe me met it was me that broke the engagement said paul stiffly and ungrammatically mati cally caily Ito salle stared at him speechlessly for a moment but only for a moment 60 so the kind of a bird you are is 13 it she inquired with Imme immen asur sur able scorn yell well ive heard a lot about ancestors since I 1 struck this burg baij bij rg and I 1 dont deny that youve got cot I 1 pw but hes white clean through for all that believe met mel something to be proud ot of along that aba t line the men that came up here to say nothing of the women that came with em and lust just got settled when tile the revolutionary war broke out and were willing and glad to strike out oui again and tight light for their country ware were sure all wool and it a yard wide and then some but I 1 guess if they could took look up or down now as the case may be and see their descendants wearing out the seats of their trousers sitting on the post office steps and saying what do if they was president or standing on the curbstone in wal lace town thinking having the h b 1 of a time because got a couple too many drinks inside efthem of them and are talking to some skirt wes they introduce to their mother I 1 guess them old captains and judge fudges s and governors would think the good old stock had run down to a pretty poor line of goods I 1 I 1 got a fellah in new york floor walker on the eighth who know who his fattier was let alone any great grands I 1 but bill hes white clean through for all that believe met mel if he could have your chance what hed have done with it I 1 A good home and money for an edu education and a lady tor for a sweetheart I 1 and youve turned up your ugly nose at all of thern them while hes had to climb out ot of the gutter on his way to decency without a sou soul to help him but hes got there all right ive written steve that it he still wants a girl chos been fool enough to play round rolind all summer with a stupid rube that was another girls beau he can have her and hes telegraphed back prepaid that hed be waiting in the grand central right by the gate on thursday rosalie having departed without further delay to smooth things out with steve that episode seemed to be closed and paul felt that be had reason to hope that it would be a long time before anyone made him so thoroughly uncomfortable again but he was mistaken the next nest person to treat him harshly was doctor noble meeting the boy one day on the road down which paul was wandering somewhat aimlessly david brought his motor to a sapp and hailed balled him just the person ive been hoping to see he remarked pleasantly 1 I wanted to speak lo 10 you about your fiancee im worried about her I 1 dont think ashes looking at all wet well if you mean my cousin mary manning said paul with forced dignity she my fiancee oh said david still pleasantly well of course that must be a great disappointment to you but perhaps its all for the best ot of course your tastes be particularly congenial mary has such a fine mind well I 1 must pass along the good news to thomas gray the next time I 1 see him if he heard it already I 1 believe he thought with considerable regret that you had the right of way in that quarter paul glared people seemed bent on reminding him that mary was not after all in the least dependent upon him for masculine attentions it hurt his pride the war news very good Is it went on david with an abrupt change cann e of subject ever thought of enlis enlisting ring in the foreign legion lord no I 1 paul exclaimed why should I 1 IT why youre exactly the sort of chap for it I 1 no ties of any kind independent income tine constitution banners Fan Farr ners hers cant be spared quoted paul hui hurriedly recalling statistics he had hripp happened ened to reid read in some newspaper it takes five men in the field to keep one at the front and ive got heart trouble he went on growing ing very red and writhing more and more at davids pleasant voice hard luck I 1 but are you sure been examined lately well come up to the house some evening and let me look you over some evening soon im going across myself very shortly as a member of one of the harvard medical units well be connected with the british army elines going to take up tip some branch of red cross work nursing probably it as if we had any children hll dren ended david a little wistfully w I 1 st fully im sure austin gray would woul d have done something something long ago it if it been for sylvia naturally any man fortunate enough to get a family like that makes it his first consideration as long as ho he can well goodby good by paul began to feel fee very sorry for himself public opinion which he had at first thought to be wholly on his side seemed to be grai gradually dually but none the less surely swinging the other way if the older women still chattered against mary the younger ones spoke differently and none of them would have anything to do with him ile he led an unappreciated existence after twenty one petted years As for the men he thought they were actually be beginning inning to go out of their way to be disagreeable to him and pleasant to mary ue lle found himself virtually ostracized it in hamstead Haro stead and nel neither tIfer white water nor wallacetown Wallace town though he tried them both seemed to furnish either lasting stimulation or lasting solace ile he discovered as many another man has discovered with resentment the deadly dullness with which dissipation Is permeated TO BE |