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Show - , t- Dullest Act Is Longest It is a universal fact that the cheaper the work, themore of it is exacted. UBy TTEMUPILIE IB.MILIEV O PENN PUBLISHING CHAPTER IX Continued I 11 The babies, arriving presently in a rollicking state of excitement over the advent of Auntie Jane, showed themselves delightful and adoring. Junior," said Jane, are you glad Im here? Did you bring me anything? Something wonderful What? She opened her bag, and produced Townes box of sweets. May I give him a chocolate, Judy? One little one, and just a taste for baby. Jane, where did you get that gorgeous box? Frederick Towne. Really? My dear, your letters have been tremendously interesting. Havent they, Bob? Her husband nodded. He was sitting by the bedside holding her hand. Townes a pretty big man. The nurse came in then, and Jane went with Bob and the babies to the dining-roo- After dinner, Junior went to sleep in Janes arms, having been regaled on a rapturous diet of The Three Bears and The Little Red Hen. Theyre such beauties, Judy," said Jane, as she went back to her sister. But they dont look like any of the Barnes. No, theyre like Bob, with their white skins and fair hair. I wanted one of them to have our coloring. Do you know how particularly lovely you are getting to be, Janey? Judy, Im not. Yes, you are. And none of us thought it. And so Mr. Towne wants to marry you? How do you know? It is in your eyes, dear, and in the cock of your head. You and Baldy always look that way when something thrilling happens to you. You cant fool me. Well, Im not in love with him. So thats that, Judy. But its COMPANY WNU SERVICE Edith was sympathetic and interested. ' She invited the two boys to her home, where there was a music room with a magical floor. Sometimes the three of them were alone, and sometimes Towne came in and danced too, and Adelaide Laramore and Eloise Harper. Towne danced extremely well. In spite of his avoirdupois he was light on his feet. He exercised constantly. He felt that if he lost his waist line all would be over. He could hot, however, always control his appetite. Hence the sugar in his tea, and other indulgences. Baldy wrote to Jane of their after- noon frivols. You should see us! Eloise Harper dancing with Evans, and old Towne and his Adelaide! And Edith and I! Were a pretty pair, if I do say it. We miss you, and always wish you were with us. Sometimes it seems almost heartless to do things that you cant share. But its doing a lot for Evans. Queer thing, the poor old chap goes at it as if his life depended upon it. We are invited to dine with the Townes on Christmas Eve. Some a great opportunity, isnt it, Jane? I suppose it is, cant quite see it. slowly, but I Why not? Well, hes too old for one thing. ' Only forty? Rich men dont grow old. And he could give you everything everything, Janey. Ju- dys voice rose a little. Jane, you dont know what it means to want things for those you love and not be able to have them. Bob did very well until the slump in business. But since the babies came I have worked until well, until it seemed as if 1 couldnt stand it. Bobs such a darling. I wouldnt change anything. Id marry him over again tomorrow. But I do know this, that Frederick Towne could make life lovely for you, and perhaps you wont get another chance to marry a man like that. Life for Evans Follette after Jane went away became a sort of game in which he played, as he told himself grimly, a Jekyll and Hyde part. Two men warred constantly within him. There was that scarecrow self which nursed mysterious fears, d a gaunt self, The Man Who Had Come Back From the War. And there was that other, shadowy, elusive, The Boy Who Once Had Been. And it was the Boy who took on gradually shape and substance fighting for place with the dark giant who held desperately to his own. Yet the Boy had weapons, faith and hope. The little diary became in a sense a sacred book. Within its pages was imprisoned something that beat with frantic wings to be free. Evans, shrinking from the program which he compelled himself to follow, was faced with things like this. Gee, I wish the days were longer. Id like to dance through forty - eight hours at a stretch. Jane is getting to be some little dancer. I taught her the new steps tonight. Shes as graceful as ' a willow wand. Well, a man with a limp couldnt dance. Or could he? A Thomas Jefferson autograph went therefore to pay for twenty dancing lessons. Would the great Democrat turn in his grave? Yet what were ink scratches made by a dead hand as against all the meangray-haire- , She was all in silvery green. class, what? By we, I mean myself and the Follettes. Edith and Mrs. Follette see a lot of each other, and Mrs. Follette is tickled pink! You know how she loves that sort of thing Society with a big S. There will be just our crowd and Mrs. Laramore for dinner, and after that a big costume ball. I shall go as a page in red. And Evans will be a monk and sing Christmas carols. Edith Towne is crazy about his voice. He sat down at the piano one day in the music room, and she heard him. Jane, his voice is wonderful it always was, you know, but we havent heard it lately. Poor old chap he seems to be picking up. Edith says it makes her want to cry to see him, but shes helping all she can. Oh, shes a dear and a darling, Janey. And I dont know what I am going to do about it. I have nothing to offer her. But at least I can I shant look beyond worship that .Hope doesnt go any great distance unless you get behind it and push hard. Charm is that indefinite attractiveness which is not necessarily beauty. ... . . . Love to Judy and Bob, and the kiddies. And a kiss or two for my own Janey. Jane, having read the letter, laid it down with a sense of utter forlornness. .Evans and Eloise Harper! Towne and his Adelaide! A Christmas costume ball! Evans singing for Edith Towne! Evans own letters told her little. They were dear letters, giving her news of Sherwood, full of kindness and sympathy, full indeed of a certain spiritual strength that helped her in the heavy days. But he had sketched very lightly his own activities. He had perhaps hesitated .to let her know that he could be hap- He hunted up new clothes and hung them on the shaking figure an overcoat and a soft hat. It seemed a charitable thing to clothe him with warmth. In due time someone stole the overcoat, and Evans found the poor thing stripped. It gave him a sense of shock to find two crossed sticks where once had been the semblance of a man. But he tried again. This time with an old bathrobe and a disreputable cap. It will keep you warm until spring, old chap The scarecrow and his sartorial changes' became a matter of much discussion among the Negroes. Since Evans - visits were nocturnal, the whole thing 'had an effect of mys- tery until the bathrobe proclaimed its owner. Mist Evans done woh dat evy day, old Mary told Mrs. Whuffor he dress up dat Follette. ol scacrow in de fiel? What scarecrow?, Old Mary explained, and that night Mrs. Follette said to her son, The darkies are getting superstitions. Did you really do it? His somber eyes were lighted for a moment. Its just a whim of mine, Mumsie. I had a sort of fellow feeling How queer! Not as queer as you might think. He went back to his book. No one but Jane should know the truth. And so he played the game. Working in his office, dancing with Edith and Baldy, chumming with the boys, dressing up the scarecrow. It seemed sometimes a desperate game there were hours in which he wrestled with doubts. Could he ever get back? Could he? There were times when it seemed he could not. There were nights when he did not sleep. Hours that he spent on his knees. . . . So the December days sped, and it was just a week before Christmas that Evans read the following in his little book. Dined with the Prestons. Told fathers ham story. Great hit. Potomac frozen over. Skated in the moonlight with Florence Preston. Great stunt home to hot chocolate. Once more the Potomac was frozen over. Florence Preston was married. But he mustnt let the thing pass. The young boy Evans would have tingled with the thought of that frozen river. It was after dinner, and Evans was in his room. He hunted up Baldy. Look here, old chap, theres skating on the river. Cant we take Sandy and Arthur with us and have an hour or two of it? Your car will do the trick. Baldy laid down his book. I have no philanthropies on a night like this. Moonlight. Ill take you and the boys and then Ill go and get Edith Towne. He was on his feet. Ill call her up now The small boys were rapturous and riotous over the plan. When they reached the ice, and Evans lame leg threatened to be a hindrance, the youngsters took him between them, and away they sailed in the miraculous world three musketeers of good fellowship and fun. Baldy having brought Edith, put on her skates, and they flew away like birds. She was all in warm white wool with white furs, and Baldy wore a white sweater and cap. The silver of the night seemed to clothe them in shining armor. Baldy said things to her that made her pulses beat. She found herself a little frightened. Youre such a darling poet. But life isnt in the least what you think it.! What do I think it? Oh, all mountains and peaks and moonlight nights. Well, it can be Edith had told Mrs.' Follette frankly As Its Always Been They say our educational meththat she wished Adelaide had not are faulty. Any boy or girl ods hppn flcIrAf) But she fished for it. She always with brains can go ahead, after does. She flatters Uncle Fred and learning how to read. he falls for it. Baldy brought Evans and Mrs. Follette over in his flivver. They found Mrs. Laramore and Frederick By burning 25 slower than already in the drawing room. Edith the average of the 15 other had not come down. She is always late, Frederick brands of the largest-sellin- g complained, and she never apolotested-slo- wer gizes. the- m- CAMELS give a smok- ing plus equal to close-clingin- you. Men must resist temptation. His tone was light, but her heart missed a beat. There was something about this boy so utterly engaging. He had set her on a pedestal, and he worshiped her. When she said that she was not worth worshiping, he told her, You dont know She was unusually silent during dinner. With Evans on one side of her and Baldy on the other she had little need to exert herself. Baldy was always adequate to any conversational tax, and Evans, in spite of his monks habit, was not austere. He was, rather, like some attractive young friar drawn back for the moment to the world. He showed himself a genial teller of tales and capped each of Fredericks with one of his own. His mother was proud of him. She felt that life was taking on new aspects this friendship with the Townes her sons increasing strength and social ease the lace gown which she wore and which had been bought with a Dickens pamphlet. What more could she ask? She was serene and satisfied. Adelaide, on the other side of Frederick Towne, was not serene and satisfied. She was looking particularly lovely with a star of diamonds in her hair and sheer draperies of rose and faintest green. I am anything you wish to call me, she had said to Frederick when she came in an Evening Star or In the Gloaming or Afterglow. Pershe haps A Rose of Yesterday had put it rather pensively. He had been gallant but uninYou are too young to talk spired. of yesterdays, he had said, but his glance had held not the slightest hint of gallantry. She felt that she had, perhaps, been unwise to remind him of her age. She was still more disturbed, w(hen, towards the end of dinner, he rose and proposed a toast. To little Jane Barnes, A Merry Christ- mas." They all stood up. There was a Evans dr'ank as if he partook of a sacrament. Then Edith said, It seems almost heartless to be happy, doesnt it, when things are so hard for her? Adelaide interposed irrelevantly, I should hate to spend Christmas seconds silence. in Chicago. There was no response, so she turned to Frederick. Couldnt Miss Barnes leave her sister for a few . days? No, he told her, she couldnt. I am sure you She persisted, didnt want her to miss the ball. I did my best to get her here. Dear child, it cant. I have no Talked to her at long distance, but , illusions. she couldnt see it. You think you havent. You are so Ricky. Frederick could be cruel at moIt was late when at last they took off their skates and Edith invited ments, and her persistence was irrithem all to go home with her. Well tating. Oh, look here, Adelaide, it have something hot. Im as hungry wasnt entirely on her account. I as a dozen bears. want her here myself. So am I, The boys giggled. (TO BE CONTINUED ) said Sandy Stoddard. But Arthur said nothing. His eyes were occuAquatic Bladderwort Catches Fish pied to the exclusion of his tongue. her. without The aquatic bladderwort catches py But Evans was not happy. He Edith looked to him like some angel young fish that venture into its trap did the things he had mapped out straight from heaven. He had never by means of a valve that shuts beings of love and life? hind them. The Venus fly trap ofEvans bought a phonograph, and for himself, but he could not do seen anyone so particularly lovely. as the Boy had fers entrance to insects and frogs new records. He practised at all them CHAPTER X and locks them in with its sensitive hours, to the great edification of old done. For how could he be lightwith He had Jane hearted and dishes who washed away? triggerlike hair. Pitcher plants are Mary, So Christmas Eve came, and the full of water in which their victims scrubbed floors in syncopated ecsta- moments of loneliness so intense One species of Borneo costume ball at the Townes.' There drown. that they almost submerged him. sies. Evans frequently played a whim were, as Baldy had told Jane, just pitcher plant is 12 inches in diamHe took Baldy and Edith to tea at the big hotels, and danced with sical game with the old scarecrow six of them at dinner Cousin Anna eter and holds seven pints of water. Edith. He apologized, but kept at He went often and leaned over the bel was still m bed, and it was Ade Its prey consists of small rodents ' laide Laramore who made the sixth and birds.. fence that shut in the frozen field it.. Im out of practice. light-hearted- than any of . Baldy, silken and slim, in his pages scarlet, stood in the hall and watched Edith descend the stairs. She seemed to emerge from the shadows of the upper balcony like a shaft of light. She was all in silg robe very green, her girdled with pearls, her hair banded with mistletoe. For a moment he stood admiring You shouldnt have her, then: worn it, he said. The mistletoe? Why not? You will tempt all men to kiss good-hearte- d, LONG-BURNIN- G COSTLIER TOBACCOS ly j MORE PLEASURE PER PUFF-MOPUFFS PER PACK RE The Ads Guide You on Your Shopping Tour |
