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Chapter XII —ls— town Dirk lived .in a large fr—in room and alcove on the third flour of a handsome old-fashioned three-story i nd-husement house. lie used the front room us a living room, the alcove us a bedroom, lie and Selina bad fur nished it together, discarding nil of the room's original belongings except the bed. a table, and one fnt comfort able faded bid armchair whose bro cade surface liinied a past grandeur. When he had got his books ranged in open shelves along onn wall, soft-shad ed lamps on table and desk, the place looked more than livable; lived in. During the process of furnishing Se lina got into the way of coining into town for a day or two to prowl the auction rooms and the second-hand stores. # Slie had a genius for this sort of tiling; hated the splck-and span var nish and veneer of the new furniture to he got in the regular way. She enjoyed these rare trips into town; made a holiday of them.. Dirk would take her to file theater and she would sit entranced Strangely enough, considering the lack of what the world calls romance and adventure in her life, she did not like tlie motion pic tures. "All the difference In the world,"* she would say, "between the movies and the thrill I get out of a play at the theater. My, yes! I.lke fooling -with paper dolls when you could be playing with u real live baby." The day was marvelously mild for March in Chicago. Spring, usually so coy In this rigion. had flung herself at * litem head first. As the massive re volving door of Dirk's office building fanned him Into the street he sow Paula in her long low sporting road ster at the curb. She was dressed In black. All feminine fashionable and middle-class Chicago was dressed In black. All feminine fashionable and middle-class America was dressed In hluck. Two years of war had robbed Paris of its husbands, brothers, sons. All Paris walked in black. America, untouched, gayly borrowed the smart liahilliuents of i mourning and now Michigan boulevard und Fifth avenue walked demurely In the gloom of crepe and chiffon; l>lack hats, black gloves, black slippers. Only black was "good" this yenr. Paula smiled up at him. patted the leather seat beside her with one hand that was absurdly thick-fingered In Its fur-lined glove. "It's cold driving. Button up tight. WhereM! we stop for your bag?" He climbed Into the seat beside her. Her manipulation of the wheel was witchcraft. The roadster slid In und out of (raffle like a fluid thing, an enuruel stream, silent us a swift cur rent In u river. When Ids house wus reached, 'Tin coming up," she said. "I suppose you haven't any tea J"Gosh, no! Whut_jjo you think I* aim! A young man In un English novel!" "Now, don't be provincial und Chl cagolsh, Dirk." They climbed the three flights of sttilrs. She looked about. Her glance wus not disapprov ing. "Tills Isn't so bad. Who did It? She dtd! Very nice. But of course you ought to have your own smart little apartment, with a Jap to do you up. To do that for you, for example." "Yes," grimly. He wus packing bis bag—not throwing clothes Into It, but folding them deftly, neatly, as the son of a wise mother packs. "My sal ary'd Just about keep him In white linen house-coats." "I'm going to send you some thing* for your room, Dirk." "For God's snke don't!" •Why not?" "Two kinds of women In the world. 1 learned that at college. Those who send uien things for their rooms und those that don't." "You're very rude." "You asked me. There! I'm all set." He snapped the lock of Ida Img "I'm sorry 1 can't give you anything I haven't a thing. Not even a glass of wine and a—what Is It they say In hooka?—oh, yeh—a biscuit." In the roadster again Paula main tained s tierce and steady speed for the remainder of the drive. "We call the place Stormwood." Paula told him. "And nobody outside the dear family knows how fitting that Is. Don't scowl. I'm not going to tell you my marital woes. And don't you •ay I asked for It. . . ~ llow*i the I Job?" "Hott*n." "You don't Ilk* It? The work?" "I like It well enough, only—well, you see we leave the university arch! tectunil course thinking we're all go Ing to be Stanford Whites or Cass Gil berts. tossing off a Woolworth build ing and making ourselves famous over night. I've spent all yesterday und to day planning a drvgoods box thut's going up on the corner of Milwaukee avenue and Ashlund, west." "And ten yeara from now?" "Ten years from now maybe they'll let me do the plans for the dr.\good* box all alone." "Why don't you drop It?" He was startled. "Drop It! Ho* do you mean?" "Chuck It. Do something that will bring you quick results. This Isn't an age of waiting. Suppose, twenty years from now. you do plan a grand Qothlc office building to grace this new and glorified Michigan boulevard they're always shouting about! You'll be a middle-aged man living In a middle class house In a middle-class suburb with a middle-class wife." "Maybe"—alight*? nettled. They tamed la at tba gates at L ' SO BIG By EDNA FERBER (©. Doubleday, Put ft Co.) WNU Service. Stormwood. A final turn of the drive. An avenue of frees. A house, massive, pillared, portlcoed. The" door opened ns they drew up at the entrance, A maid in cap and apron stood in the doorway. A man appeared at the side of the car, coming seemingly from no where. greeted I'aula civilly and drove the car off. The glow of tin open fire in the hall welcomed them. ' "He'll bring up your bag," said Paula. •'llow're the babies, Anna? Has. Mr. Storm got here?" "He telephoned, .Mrs. Storm. He says lie woh't be out till late —maybe ten or after. Anyway, you're not -to wait dirin»r'" i'aula, from being the limp, expert, fearless driver of the high-powered roadster was now suddenly very much llie mistress of the house, quietly ob servant. giving an order with a lift of the eyebrow or a nod of the head. Would Dirk like to go to Ids room at once? Dinner at seven-thirty. He needn't dress. Just as he liked. Ev erything was very informal here. They roughed It. (Dirk had counted thirteen servants by noon next day and hadn't been near the kitchen.) He decided to bathe and change Into dinner clothes and was glad of this when he found I'aula in black chiffon before the fire In the great beamed room she had called the library. Dirk thought she looked very beautiful In that diaphanous stuff, with the pearls. Her heart-shaped face, with Its large eyes that slanted a little at the cor ners; her long slim throat; her dark hair piled high and away from her lit tle ears. He decided not to men tion It. n Dirk told himself that Paula had known her busbund would not be home until ten and hud deliberately planned a tete-a-tete meal. He would not, therefore, confess himself a little net tled when Puula said, "I've asked the Emerys in for dinner; and we'll have a game of bridge afterward. Phil Emery, you know, the Third. He used to have It on his vlaltlng card, like royalty." The Emerys were drygoods; had been drygoods for sixty, years; were accounted Chicago aristocracy; pre ferred England; rode to hounds In pink couts ulong Chicago's prim and startled suburban prairies. They had a vast estate on the lake near Stormwood. They arrived a trifle late. Dirk had seen pictures of old Phillip Emery ("Phillip the First," he thought, with un Inward grin) und decided, looking at the rather anemic third edition, that the stock wus running a little thin. The dinner was delicious but surpris ingly simple; little more thun Selina would have given hltn. Dirk thought, had he come home to the farm this week-end. The talk was desultory und rather dull. And this chap had mil lions. Dirk suld to himself. Millions. No scratching In un architect's office for this lud. At bridge after dinner Phillip the Third proved to be sufficiently the son of his father to win from Dirk more money than he could conveniently af ford to lose. Theodore Storm came In at ten and stood watching them. When the gueats hud left the three sat before the Are. "Something to drink Y' Storm asked Dirk. Dirk refused but Storm mixed a stiff highball for himself, and then another. The whisky brought no flush to his large white Impassive face. He talked almost not at all. Dirk, nat urally silent, wus loquacious by com parison. But while there was nothing heavy, unvltal about Dirk's silence, this uiun's was oppressive. Irritating. His paunch, his large white hands, his great white face gave the effect of bleached bloodless bulk. "I don't see how she stands hltn," Dirk thought. Husband and wife seemed to be on terms of polite friendliness. Storm ex cused himself and took himself off with a word about being tired, and seeing them In the morning. Aftpr he bad gone; "He llkea you," suld Paula. "Important." said Dirk, "If true." "But It Is Important. He can help >ou a lot." "Help me how? I don't want—" "But I do. I want you to lie suc cessful. I want you to be. You can be. You've got It written all over yo>t. In the wAy votl stand, and talk, and don't talk. In the way you look at people. In something In the way you .urry yourolf. It's what thej •all force, I suppose. Anyway, you've ot It." ""Has your husband got It?" "Theodore! No! That Is —" ' "There you are. I've got the force, but he's got the money." "You can have both." She waa leaning forward. Her eyes were bright, enormous. Her hands— those tliln dark hot bauds—were twisted In her lap. lie looked at, her quietly. Suddenly • here were tesra In her eyea. "Don't .ook at me that way. Dirk." She huddled buck In her chair, limp. She looked u little haggard and older, somehow. "My marriage la a meaa, of course. You cun see that." "You knew It would be. didn't your "No. Yea. Oh. I dont know. Any way. what's the difference, now? I'm not trying to be what they call an Influence In your life. I'm Just fond of you—you know that —and I waat you to ha great and successful. It'a maternal, I suppose." "I should think two babies would satisfy that urge." "Oh, I can't get excited about two pink healthy lumps of babies. I love them and all that, but all they need is to have a bottle stuffed Into their mouths at proper Intervals and to be bathed, und dressed and aired and slept. It's a mechanical routine and about as exciting as a treadmill." "Just what do you want me to do, I'aula?" She was eager again, vitally con cerned in him. "It's all so ridiculous. All these men whose Incomes are thir ty—forty—sixty—a hundred thousand a year usually haven't any qualities, really, that the flve-thousand-a-year man hasn't. Somebody has to get the fifty-thousand-dollar salaries —some ad vertising man, or bond salesman or— why, look at Phil Emery! He prob ably couldn't sell a yard of pink rib bon to a schoolgirl If he had to. Cook at Theodore! He Just sits and blinks and says nothing. But when the time comes he doubles up his fat white 'fist and mumbles, 'Ten million,' or 'Fif teen million,' and that settles It." Dirk laughed to hide his own little mounting sensation of excitement. "It Isn't quite as simple as that, I Imag ine. There's more to It thai! meets the eye." "There Isn't! I tell you I know the •whole crowd of- them. I've been brought up with this moneyed pack all my life, haven't I? Pork packers and wheat grabbers and peddlers of gas and electric light and dry goods. Grandfather's the only one of the crowd that I respect. He has stayed the same. They can't fool him. He knows he Just happened to go Into wholesale beef and pork when whole sale beef and pork was a new game in Chicago. Now look at him!" "Still, you will admit there's some thing in knowing when," he argued. Paula stood up. "If you don't know I'll tell you. Now Is when. I've got Grandfather and Dad and Theodore to work with. Tou can go on being an "I Used to Rid* the Old Nags, Bare back, on tho Farm." architect If you want to. It's a fine enough profession. But unless you're a genius wbere'll It get you! Go In with them, and Dirk, In Ave years—" "What!" They were both standing, facing each other, she tense, eager; he relaxed but stimulated. "Try It and see what, will you? Will you, Dirk?' "I don't know, Paula. I should say, my mother wouldn't think much of It." "What does she know I Oh, I don't mean that she Isn't a fine, wonderful person. She Is. I love her. But auc cess! She thinks success la another acre of asparagus or cabbage; or a new stove In the kitchen now that they've brought ga* out aa far aa High Prairie." , He had a feeling that she possessed him; that her hot eager hands held hltn though they stood apart and eyed each other almost hostllely. As ho undressed that night he thought, "Now what's her game? What's she up to? Be carefal, Dirk, old boy." As he lay In the soft bed with the satin coverlet over him he thought, "Now what's her little garnet" He awoke at eight, enormously hun gry. He wondered, uneasily, Just how he was going to get his breakfast. She had aaid his breakfast would be brought him In his room. He stretched luxuriously, sprang up. turned on his bath water, bathed. When he emerged In dresalng gown and allppers his breakfast tray had been brought him mysteriously and Its contents lay sp petislngly on a' little portable table. There were flocks of small covered dishes and a charming Individual coffee service. A Uttle note from Pauls: "Would yon Uka to take walk at about half-paat nine? Btroll down to the stables. I want to ahow you my new horse." The distance from the bouse to the xtablee waa actually quite a brisk lit tle walk la Itaelf. Paula. In riding rlothee. waa waiting for him. She greeted him. Tve been eat two hoars. Had ay ride. You ride, deaf roar THE ALAMANCE GLEANER, GRAHAM, N. C. "I used to ride the old nags, bar&>' back, on the farm." "You'll have to learn. Then I'll have some one to ride with me. Theo dore never rides. He never takes any sort of exercise. Sits in that great fat car of his." They went into the coach house, a great airy white-washed place with glittering harness and spurs and bridles like jewels In glass cases. It gave Dirk a little hopeless feeling. He had never before seen anything like it. Paula laughed up at him, her dark face upturned to his. Something had annoyed him, she saw. Would he wait while she changed to walking things? Or per haps he'd rather drive In the roadster. They walked up, to the house together. He wished that she would not consult his wishes so anxiously. It made him sulky, Jmpatient. She put a hand on his arm. "Dirk, are you annoyed at me for what I said last night?" V-V "No." V-v, "What did you think when you went to your room last night? Tell me. What did you thlsk?" "I thought: 'She's bored with her husband and she's trying to vamp me. I'll have to be careful.'" Paula laughed delightedly. "That's nice and frank . . . What else?" "I thought my coat didn't fit very well and I wished I could afford to have Peel make my next one." "You can," said Paula. Chapter XIII As It turned out, Dirk was spared the necessity of worrying about the fit of his next dinner coat for the fol lowing year and a half. His coat, dur ing that period, was a neat olive drab as was that of some millions of young men of his age, or thereabouts. Most of that time he spent at Fort Sheridan, tlrst as an officer in training, then aa an officer training others to be officera. He was excellent at this Job. Influ ence put him there and kept him there even after he began to chafe at the re straint. In the last six montha of It (though he did not, of courae, know that It was to be the last alx montha) Dirk tried despeptely to get to France. He was suddenly sick of the neat Job at home; of the dlnnera; of the smug routine; of the olive-drab motor car that whlaked him wherever he wanted' to go (he had a captaincy); of mak ing them -snap Into It"; of Paula; of hla mother, even. Two months before Ihe war's close he succeeded In getting over; but Paris was his headquar ters. Between Dirk and his mother the first rift had appeared. "If I were a man," Sellna aald, "I'd make up my mind straight about thla war and then I'd do one of two thinga. I'd go Into It the way Jan Snip goes at forking the manure pile—a dirty Job that'a got to be cleaned up; or I'd refuse to do It altogether if I didn't ! believe In It as a Job for me. I'd fight, or I'd be a conscientious objector. There's nothing In between for any one who lan't old or crippled, or alck." Paula was aghast when she heard this. So was Julie whose walllnga had been loud when Eugene had gone Into the air service. He was In France now, thoroughly happy. "Do you mean," demanded Paula, "that you ac tually want Dirk to go over there and be wounded or killed!" "No. If Dirk were killed my life would atop. I'd go on living, I suppose, but my life would have stopped." They all were doing aome share In the work to be done. Sellna had thought about her own place In this war welter. She had wanted to do canteen work In France but had decided agalnat thla aa be ing selfish. "The thing for me to do," she said, "Is to go on ralalng vege tables and hogs as faat aa I can." She supplied countless households with free food while their men were gone. She heraelf worked like a man, tak ing the place of the able-bodied helper who had been employed on her farm. Paula was lovely In her Red Cross uniform. She persuaded Dirk to go Into the Liberty bond selling drive and he was unexpectedly effective In hla quiet, aerioua way; moat convinc ing and undeniably thrilling to look at in uniform. Paula's little air of pos session had grown until now it en veloped him. She wasn't playing now; waa deeply and terribly In love with him. (TO B1 CONTINUED.) "Coat of "Lifting" Oil The bureau of mines Bays that from 20 to 90 per cent of the total coat of producing petroleum may be charged to lifting the oil. Although the lifting cost ranges from leaa than three cents a barrel at flowing wells, producing several hundred barrela a day, to $8 a barrel, at wella producing leaa a fifth of a barrel a day, tha lifting coat per well may range from mora than SI,OOO at large flowing walls of tha type recently discovered in Okla homa. Texaa, Arkansas snd California, to leas thsn $lO at many of tha old wells pumped only a few houra a weak, aa In most of the oil fields of New York and Pennsylvania, when tha average dally production per wall par day la leaa than one-fourth of a barrel. Uncertain Max —Well, old thing, are yon can ing to the show tonlghtf Msxlne—Ob. I think so, nnlsaa [ wm husband objects. FILMY FROCKS FOR SCHOOL; PRINTED FABRICS POPULAR MANY pretty processions of frocks for girls from six to fifteen or sixteen are dally passing In review be fore Inquiring- mothers. While they are looking for graduation dresses or frocks for the little festivities of clos ing school days they will get full In formation as to present styles for the dress-up frocks of juveniles and are sure to note that colors. In beautiful shades, have usurped the place of white to a great extent. The shops are showing pastel tints along wltb white for graduation frocks of crepe de chine, georgette, chiffon or fine voile. Pink, blue, lavender and white have proved themselves the most popular For Last Day* of School. colors and are chosen for both the younger girls and those In their teens. For the younger girls the majority of these filmy frocks are sleeveless or have very short sleeves, as shown In the model pictured. This Is a voile frock with scant frills of val lace in two rows above the hem, terminating at the sides under loops of satin rib bon. It is one of many models In which the armse.ves are finished with lace ruffles. The small turnover collar Is finished with hemstitching and a bow of ribbon with long ends is posed on the left shoulder where the frock fastens. It would be pretty in ' A Popular SU^b any light color or In white over a col ored allp. Nothing Is prettier than georgette for graduation frocks snd It proves t«» be a durable fabric as well and floe voile merita any fine needlework thai may be lavished upon It, aa It la prac tically Indestructible. With pretty flaring skirts, tucks, lace and ribbons all feat urea of the summer mode and flowerUke ahadea of lovely colors dis tinctly fashionable, a clasa of girl grad uatea ought to be aa enchanting to look at aa a blooming garden of flowers. Among the showings there are draaaea of cream-colored net covered with (baa racks and combined with lace. i "Money talks," and when Its snb -1 Ject Is dress styles for the midsummer season It talks "straight from the shoulder." Now that merchants have staged many special sales of dresses for matron and maid they are well con vinced as to Just what Mrs. American Lady and Miss Summer Girl have set their minds upon—they know what they have spent their money for. First and above all they have demanded printed fabrics In colorful patterns. In silk, silk and cotton mixtures and In cotton materials. * These printed materials, made up In the simplest manner, dominate the styles for midsummer In dresses that hang almost straight from the shoul der. Very little trimming is required on them and they are shown in both short and long-sleeved models, nearly all of them provided with a narrow girdle that ties loosely at one side be low the waistline. They are Informal In style—even In the silk fabrics—and they are very becoming to their wear ers. A pretty example of the printed silk frock Is pictured here with front and back panels edged with narrow lace and an application of fiat folds of crepe de chine In a plain color at each side. The narrow girdle made of the silk and lined with the crepe de chine slips under the panels snd ties at tha aide Tha lace makea a pretty finish for the sleeves. This Is one of the popular slip-on modela which are only rivaled by the jumper dreaa and two piece dresses In sport styles. In tha two-piece frocks the lines are straight also. The skirt portion la set onto an underbodlce and la occasionally plaited and the blouse, which Is uanaUy on tha middy order, gives the effect of a one-piece dress. All the styles, tha slip-on, jumper and two-place frocks, are cool, smart and attractive. JULIA BOTTOMLfcT. (A MM. WaMi Nmnftr HUM.) Help That Achy Back! Ia backache making you miserable? Are. you tired, nervous, "blue"—utterly played out? Have you suspected your kidneys? Your kidneys are the blood filters. Once they fall behind in their work, there's slow poisoning of blood d nerves. Then is apt to come back ache, headaches, dizziness, and .nther an noying kidney irregelarities. Don't wait! If your kidneys are sluggish, help them with a stimulant diuretic. Use boon's PilU. Doan'B are recommended the world over. Ask your neighbor! ANor^^^rolinajCase back and would help them. About one ana a halt boxes drove away every symptom of the attack and I was cured." DOAN'S^ STIMULANT DIURETIC TO THE KIDNEYS Fotter-Milburn Co., Mfg. Chem., N. Y. Odd Fishing Several hundred Indians, Including women and children, assembled at Fisher Bay, at the mouth of the Naas river, In early spring, awaiting the ar rival of the oolichai\s, according to word from Prince Rupert, British Co lumbia. The annual run of the flsh usually lasts a month. The Indians come from great distances to flsh for them through the Ice, and out of the catch they make oollchan grease, which they use In place of butter. In previous years as many as 1,000 of the Indians have assembled at the mouth of the river, but this year there were not more than 300. \ Royal Gorge in Films Motion pictures of the Royal' gorge In Colorado, one of the scenic spots of the United States, are being taken for exhibition throughout the world. A special train has been necessary to make the picture properly. The wheels of the cars had to be perfeqt so as not to mar any of the 'camera reproductions. On* application o Roman Bye Balsam will prove how food it Is for sore eyes. Costa cnlr Si cents. STI Peart St., N. T. Adv. Torch Fights Forest Fires A new apparatus for fighting forest fires consists of a kerosene blowtorch, useful for beating back fires, says Pop ular Science Monthly. By Its use all the firing, it Is claimed, can be done by one experienced man, thus reducing the attendant danger to a minimum. Sure Relief FOR INDIGESTION Bell-ans jE3S2£SJ Hot water ja*"' Sure Relief DELL-ANS 254 AND 75j PACKAGES EVERYWHERE SICK BABIES Respond instantly to a snort treatment of Dr. Thornton's EASY TEETHER Auk Your Druggist \bur jrj] system. Hancock Sulphur Compound If ym suffer bos itisiiniaHsiii. goat, ecasma or Uvea, er if troubled with pk»- plea, lisi >lh blotches er other skin eru p tiooe. your blood and akin need the purifying and healing effects of this triad aid remedy. Physicians as' Si that sulphur ta one of the beat and moat effective hienri purifiers known to adsnoo. Hancock Bulphur Compound Is the moat efficacious way So aaa and benefit from Sulphur. Asa lo tion. it SSltfcll and heals; takan Inter nally. itfrtist the not of the trouble. Mc and S\JB at your dnnkAi If ha aanast supply you. aand hie nana and the prico in stasspe and tswQlaaadiss a bottle direct. Hamoocx Ljton> Bcuwum Govt AMY Baltimore, Maryland RMINI JMiter OmmsmU and ess -M «ss with tie UfoU Chorees*. Baby C^urLllpfi
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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June 11, 1925, edition 1
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