North Carolina Newspapers

Copyright br Donbleday, Pag Jk Company. "COME ON!" SHE CRIED. fivnorsls. Major Amberson had made a fortune In 1R7 ,. ., - t S3TLr fortunes, and the maratfln.n J V, 9 'n.??. when people " ' Amberson laid out a 200.acre-eVl;nm:n;",, Js . Major . rfVftontYSKl1!: tn roa? statuary. and V' riflcent manilon MMUnlnw the '"TrHd voun -wnhnr n.f"' daugn- wver-realiv ,va wfi w 17, Sen There Is only one chlld7 howoVo Supbrmgins and his youthful accomplishments SSirfE&S'-' hf4tePin Keeping with the mosfpessimistlc predictions S tti tim;!s fi away to college he does not attempt to .mi ief h Arsons are about 'the most imnortant famiiv tv,- -i "e .tfte i x I6 SS5 ; that a -'Weer looking dSci" at wnomhe hideTpo ,hsthe young lady's father. He la Eugene Morgan, a . former resident S gtfnirg. and he is returning to erecta factory and to build SseMaSaees Shis own invention Eugene had been an old admirer of. Isabel's S7fhey- had been engaged when Isabel threw him over because of a youthful Sand married Wilbur Minafer. George make, rapid progres'S X K!3X- CHAPTER VII Continued. He groaned faintly.' "Aren't your brother and Georgie escorts enough for you and Fanny?" - Wouldn't you enjoy It at allf" "Ton know I don't. Isabel let her hand remain upon shoulder a moment longer; she 6tood behind him, looking Into the fire, George, watching her broodingly, thought there was more' color in her face than the reflection of the flames accounted for. "Well, then," she said Indulgently, "stay at home and be "We Won't Urge You If You'd Really Rather Not." bappy. We won't urge you if 'you'd really rather not. . - , "I really wouldnt,H he said content- edly. . ; Half an hour later George was pass ing through the upper hall. In a bath robe stage of preparation for the eve ning's gayetles, when he encountered his Aunt Fanny. He stoppe d her. "Look here !" he said. . v "What in the world Is the matter with you?" she demanded, regarding him with little amiability. "You look as if you were rehearsing for a, villain In a play." . r- His expression crave no sign of yielding to the request; on the con trary, its somberness ? deepened. "I suppose you don't know why father doesn't want to eo tonight," he said solemnly. "He never wants' to go anywhere that I ever hearL of," said Fanny. What Is the matter with you?'' "He doesn't want to go because he doesn't like this man Morgan. Look here, what makes you and and ev erybody so excited over him?" " 'Excited !' " she jeered. ; ''Can't People be glad to see an old friend without silly children like you having to make a to-do about it? I've just been in your mother's room suggest ing that she might give a little dinner for them ' - - "For who? "For whom, Georgie ! For Mr. Morgan and his daughter. "Look here ! George said quickly. "Don't do that! Mother mustn't do that. It wouldn't look well.' '"Wouldn't look well! Fanny mocked him; and her suppressed ve hemence betrayed a surprising acerb ity. "See here, Georgie Minafer, I suggest that you just march straight on rnto your room and -finish your1 aressing ! Sometimes you say things that show you have a pretty mean little mind ! - ---- :: . George was . so astounded by this outburst that his indignation was de layed by his curiosity. ""Why. what upsets you this way? he inquired. "I know what you mean,' she said, her voice still lowered, but not de creasing In sharpnttas. 'You're trying to insinuate that Td-get your mother to Invite Eugene Morgan here on my account because he's a widower !' . "I am?" George gasped, nonplued. "Cm trying to lnslruate that you're tt-ltg yetsr esp at hUa and gettlns 1 .L "LET'S DANCER v.T Wmself een- wn the major'. " ' ."'"f8 preaicted that as mother to help you? Is that what you mean?' - :v Beyond a doubt that was what Mi ja I Fanny meant. She gave him a white- I hot look. "You attend to vmir nwn I affairs!" she whispered fiercely, and I swept away. I George, dumfounded. retnrnod fn ms room ior meditation. - I ., . He had llvd fnr i house with his Aunt Fanny, and it ' - ..v j vw& 0 au Luc nn 1 1 t-r i now appeared that durintr all thosp years he had been thus intimatelv al sociaUng with a total stranger. Never before had he met the passionate lady with whom he had just held a conversation in the hall So she want- ed to get married! And wanted Qeoree's mother tn hin hor c-u tH I horseless-carriage widower I . ".V. VUU "Well, I will be shot!" he muttered aloud. "I well I certainly will be shot." And he : began to laugh. "Lord 'lmlghty I; - But nresentlv. nt th thnncht tt thA horseless-carriage widower's daugh- ter, his grimness returned, and he re solved upon a line of conduct for the evening. He would nod to her care lessly when he first saw her ; and after that he would notice her no more : he would not dance with her ; he would not favor her in the cotll lion he would not go near her! . . ; He descended to dinner upon the third urgent summons of the col ored butler, having spent two hours dressing and rehearsing.. . The Hon. George Amberson was a congressman who led cotillions the sorter congreSsnn a AmMrsoc would be. He did It negligently to night, yet with infallible dexterity, now and then glancing humorously at the spectators," people of his own age. Georgie had carried out his r,e hearsed Droiects with ureclslon He nearseu projects wiiji pretisiou. e had given Miss Morgan a nod studied into perfection during his lengthy toi let before dinner. "Oh, yes, I do seem to remember that curious little outsider !' this nod seemed to say. Thereafter all cognizance of her evap orated: the curious little outsider was permitted no further existence worth the struggle. Nevertheless she flashed in the corner of his eyes too often. She seemed to be having a "wonder ful time!" An unbearable soreness accumulat ed in his chest : his dislike of the girl and her conduct increased until he thought of leaviug this sickening As sembly and going home to bed. That would show her! But just then he heard her laughing and decided that It wouldn't show her. So he remained. When the "young couples seated themselves in chairs against the walls round three sides of the room for the cotillion George joined a brazen-faced group clustering about the doorway- youths with no partners, yet eligible tn hA "railed out' and favored. He marked that his uncle placed the in f ernal Kinney and Miss iMorgan, as the leading couple, In the first chairs at the head of the line upon the lead er's right: and this disloyalty on the part of Uncle George was Inexcusable, for in ' the family circle the nephew had often expressed his opinion ' of Fred Kinney. In his bitterness George uttered a significant monosyllable. The ,'muslc flourished, whereupon Mr. Kinney, Miss Morgan and six of their' neighbors .rose and waltzed knowingly. Mr. Amberson's whistle blew: then the - eight young people went to the favor table and were given toys and' trinkets wherewith to delight the new partners It was now their privilege to select, George strolled with a bored air to the tropical grove, where sat his eld ers, and seated himself beside his Uncle Sydney. . His mother leaned across Miss Fanny, raising her voice i- ' . ---L " over the music to speaK to mm. er -UUO-- r: ' "Georgie, nobody will be able to see vow here.' Toull not oe iavorea. ion you nere. ' ought to be where you .can dance. "Don't care to," he returned. BoreI" "But you ought" She stopped and laughed, waving her fan to direct vi. attention v behind 1 film. "A-OOK uia wvlv , nvpr vour shoulder I" it a turn on1 and discovered Miss V Morgan in the art of offering id nurSe toy balloon. fonnd voul sne laugneu. 1 IOUUU Jf . .... iittth tt fm nYirri as startieo. , , ci m m m - m ,.,- rr v w m r ..irMt onirklT MM he CUa notl move. "I don't care v to dance If you n , "No," he said, rising. "It would be better to dance." His tone was sol- emn, and solemnly he departed with I her from the grove. Solemnly he danced with her. ; ; Four times, with not the slightest encouragement, she brought him a favor: four times In succession. When the fourth came, "Look here ! I said George huskily. "You going to I keep this, up air night? What do you I mean by itr , ;.;.,,; , For an instant she seeemed con-J fused. "That's what : cotillions are I for, aren't they?"; she murmured. f I "What do - you mean : what they're I for?.- , f,.; ': " . i ; . I "So that a girl can dance with a I person she wants to?" I George's huskiness Increased. "Well, I do you mean you you want to dance I wlth me a11 the . time all evening?" I "Well, this much of it evidently !" I sne lauShed. I "Is it because you want to even I imngs up ior maKinc me anery i i mean ror hurting my feelings on the way iiumer I j , i With her eyes averted for rfrls of I nineteen can be as shyas boys. sometimes sne saia, w "weu you oniT got angry oecause l couldn't I dafce cotillion with you. I-I didn't; feel terribly hurt with you for get - tag angry about that!" ; "Was there any other reason? - Did my telling you I liked you have any: thing to do with it?" I . . I ne looKea ur Efentiv ana as coree i toucmng ' yet queeny aeiightiui gave I him a catch In the throat. She looked I Instantly away, and, turning, ran out from the palm wove, where they stood to the. dancing floor, "Come on!' she cried. -Let's dance I I I He followed her. - I "See here I I he stammered. "You mean Do you "No, no" she laughed. "Let's I dance! He put his arm about her almost tremulously and they began to waltz. It was a happy dance for both of them. . Christmas day is the children's, but the holidays are youth's dancln time. ine nonaays . Deiong to tne 1 !ly n iuui b-uuu auu Ai6 x - .c liveliest time in life, the happiest of tne irresponsiDie times in Ilie. MOtn- I ers ecno is vnappiness noinmg is . . . . . . . . 1 lite a motner - wno nas a son nome from colleSe exce& another mother t, AAnAa.A with a son home from college. Yet they give up their sons to the daugh ters vof other mothers, and find it proud rapture enough to be allowed to sit and watch. Thus Isabel watched George and Lucy dancing as together'they danced away the holidays of that year Into the past. ' "They seem to get along better than they did at first, those two children," Fanny Minafer said, sitting beside her at the Sharons' dance a week! after the Assembly. "They seemed to be always having little quarrels of some sort at first. At least George "I Found Youl" She Lauflhed. I , " . , . A.iaiiiw did: he seebaed to be continually pewmg ai mai iuwjr, uamtjr I Z ktnA Htv ). a uw, vwo- - . nothing.' " Tecklngr " Isabel laughed. "What a word to use about Georgie I I think I never knew a. more angelically. amiable disposition in my life 1" Miss Fanny echoed her Sister-in- law's laugh, but it was a rueful echo, and not sweet. "He's amiable to your she said.1 :, "That's aU the side of him . am., I nrAtiMnt'li- h mlM tn nnvhnHT nviuuu . .....w . . ..r .. I y i hi rri I'lyj . w&. v mm wr t?--v m ui wn w rA w iiiiiiiild - a.d a oi ns wouiar . .. Just look at hlml" 'v ' f "Oh, Tm not going to ? argue with you about George 1" said Miss Fanny. "I'm fond enough of him, " for that matter. He can be charming, and he's certainly stunning looking, if only" Let the If only go, dear, Isabel suggested good-naturedly. "Let's talk about that dinner you thought I should" ' "I?" Miss Fany interrupted quick ly. "Didnt you want to give it your self?" . : ; - ... ; ' v. . v . "Indeed I did, my dear!' sald.Isa- bel heartily. "I only meant that aun- less you had proposed It perhaps I wouldn't' v But here Eugene came for her. to dance and she left the sentence un completed. Holiday dances can be happy for youth renewed as well as for youth in bud and yet It was not with the air of a rival that Miss Fanny watched her brother's wife dancing with the widower. Miss Fanny's eyes 'narrowed a little, but oniy as li ner mma ensraerea in a nope- i ful calculation. She looked pleased. ; ... . i i -r CHAPTER VIII. , . a lew days alter George's return to the university it became evident that not quite everybody had gazed with complete benevolence upon the various young collegians at their holiday sports. The Sunday edition of the principal morning paper even expressed some bitterness under the I nenriinc. "fit m-fi -Ynntris nr th wr. r I knowing phrase of the time, espe-1 cially for Sunday supplements and there Is no doubt that from certain references In this bit of writine SOme I people drew the conclusion that Mr. I George Amberson Minafer ; had not yet got his -come-upance, m postpone-1 ment' still irritating. Undeniably Fanny Minafer was one of the people who drew this conclusion, for she cut the article out and inclosed It in a I letter to her nephew, having written on the border of the Clipping, 1 won- aer wnom it can mean i" " George read part of it:' We debate sometimes what Is to be the future of this nation when we think that 1v a -? trFO TiiiKHA 0 ffo 4 i mor Ka 4. m r v a . ui ti a u-hj wo ax the hands of the fln-de-siecle gilded youths we see about us durlner the Christ- mas holidays. Such foppery, such luxury, Isn't ' he worth worshiping? few min.tes after clana of the PalaUne, even in Rome's most decadent epocV- With -his airs of young mnora, ns iasi norses, ms go-o . n . ... . , .1 fr()m a New T-ork tallo- hls recklessness M.11M . HiivHr ri7a.rArin nisi I'ini iihh i Qf money showered upon him by indulgent mothers or doting grandfathers he fe- spects nothine and nobody. He Is blase. if you please. Watch him at a social function, how condescendingly he deigns to select a partner fpr the popular waits or iwo-siep now careiessiy ne snouiuers older people out of his way, with what a blank stare ha returns the salutations of some old acquaintance whom he may choose in his royal whim to forget ! . . ew penetration. Of such a I public was not made. When we -compare the young manhood of Abraham Lincoln rtn:rr.?,enTe,fr Xr twentieth century- .r uculc jttn ucu uu iuoov.u cue ping into his waste" basket, wondering why his aunt thought such dull non- sense worth the sending. As for her Insinuation, npnriled nnon th ft border, he supposed she meant to joke a sup position which neither surprised him nor altered his lifelong opinion of her wit, He read her letter with more in terest: The dinner your mother gave for the Morgans was a lovely affair. It was last Monday evening, just ten days after L0tf i7a55 semble a representative selection of Mr.' Morgan's old friends around him at such a time. He was in, great spirits and most He will soW begin to build his factonr .-fjLu,a,g. here for the manufacture of automobUes, which he says is a term he prefers to "horseless carriages." Your Uncle George told me he would like to invest in this factory, as George thinks there Is a fu ture for automobiles; perhaps not for gen-i eral . use, but as an Interesting novelty, which people with sufficient means would like to own for their amusement, and the sake of variety. However, he said Mr; Morgan laughingly declined his offer, as Mr. M. was fully able to finance this venT ture, though not starting in a very large way. Your uncle said other people are manufacturing automobiles In different father is not very well, though he istenot but, on the contrary, personal and of actually ill, and the doctor tells him he fenslve. - , ; rtueht not tn he sn much at his office, as Honnra msa ahmntlv Vilo -fa a 'rta U ,, nn m. vnrv which Is all that has ever interested him AiitaMA vf Vila famflv T nnver rnnM nn. ttws.u vii i. w ..n w - oerscana it. Mr. morgan xook your mother and me with Lucy to see Mod- I jsska in Twelftn jNignt yesteroay eve- I njn Lucy said she thought the duke Jeska in "Twelfth Night" yesterday eve- loonea ramer xu-e you, omy mu.n mo I democratiA In hi manner. TTonincr that - -v,-- atm Attractive you are finding couege stui as attractive I got au about ' your grandfather own " 6VW' AffecamtateiT. M Ing this old buUdlng. Don't you try . v atjot fanny. George read one sentence In this letter several times. Then he dropped the missive in his waste basket to join the clipping, and strolled down the corridor of his dormitory to bor- row a copy of "Twelfth Night" lHav- Via rHimo a Wa uwiu.u vw . v.m..v. v. I vhnA'v yofrvahoA hf tnAmorv of w .w.. .. :. w i .iiv r ifu w v w -.w A - wasa a m.mr a. .iii.iiir:ij - - - - a.r .! a .aj I ra-se reum. -awwever, u. found himself ImDelled in the direc-1 tion of correspondence, and presently I wrote a ietter-not a reply, to his I Aunt Fanny. ' Dear Lucy: No doubt you will be sur- prised at hearing from me so soon again, to the one received Somou since gem back to the old place. I hear you have 1 been making comments about me at the met-ier, ma.- some acLor was more uemu cratic In his manners than I am, which I do not understand. You know my theory of life because I explained it to you on our first drive together, when I told you x wouia not tauc to everyooay aooui things I feel like the way I spoke to you I of my theory of life. I believe those who are able should have a true theory of life, and I developed my theory of life long, long ago. - - . - Well, here I sit smoking my faithful briar pipe, indulging in the fragrance of my tabac as I look out on the campus from my many-pan ed window, and things I are different with me from the way they were way back in freshman year. I can see now how boyish in many ways I was then. I believe what has changed me as much as anything was my visit home at the time I met you. So I sit here with my faithful briar and dream the old dreams over as it were, dreaming of the waltzes we waltzed together and of that we piu lcu, uu yu u i rr r.Tw - - .." ,. for me when I get home next summer I will be glad my friend will be waiting excepor?envenrV fi5SrSS . m . ,... - ver my life, I remember there were times wnen i aouotea ir i could reel a great gSVo'diacf ioToefe in being hail-fellow-well-met with every Tom Dick and Harry Just because he happens to be a classmate any more than careful who i was seen with, largely on account of the family, but also because my m-j)u-mun ever wuce my DQnuuu i .31 111 1 j . -.1. J 1 From several letters from my mother. aid one from Aunt Fanny I hear you are LTh: mmhr -roVin la ahsmt T cnt a silver frame for your photograph In New York, I1!" USllt have framed, . tnoueh as I told you frankly, I have had any number of other pris- photograpns yet an were oniy pass- tioned in years past If I was capable of much friendship toward the feminine sex, which I usually jound shallow Wl our your photograph I aay to myself, "At last, at last here is one that will not prove shallow.'-' v Friend, this is from your friend, I G. A M. George's anticipations were , not dis- 1 t . - - . appointed. When he came home in I June his friend was awaiting: him : at I J east sne wag so pleased to see him their first encounter she was a little breathless and a 'great deal glowing, 1 auu uuxb niwai. Lucy and her father were living at the Amberson hotel, while Morgan got hls machine shops built In ........ I western outskirt of the town ; and 1 George grumbled about the shabbl ness and the old-fashioned look of the . . . , j.h w-. hotel, though It was "still the best In tne Dlace. OI course. Me remon- Utrated with his erandfather. declar- l ne whole Amberson Estate "run down and out at heel If things weren't taken in hand pretty soon." He I urged the general need of rebuilding, renovat- ing, varnishing and lawsuits. But the Mnlor. deplinln? to hear him ont. in- 1 terrupted querulously, saying that he had enough to bother him without any advice from George ; and retired to his library, going so far as to lock the door audibly. "Second childhood !' George mut tered, shaking his head ; and he thought sadly that the Major had not long to live. However, tnis surmise depressed him for only a moment or so. Of course people couldn't be ex- pected to live forever, and It would I be a good thing to have someone in charge of the Estate who wouldn't let it get to looking so rusty that rlnT- I raff dared to make fun of it. For Qeorge had lately undergone the an- noyance of calling upon the Morgans, in the1 rather stuffy red velours and gilt parlor of their apartment at the hotel, one evening when Mr. Fred erick . Kinney also was a caller, and Mr." Kinney had not been tactful. In fact, though' he adopted a humorous tone of voice In expressing sympathy for people who, through the city's poverty In hotels, were pbliged to . ., a ' xrinA'a stay at the Amberson, Mr. Kinney S Intention- was Interpreted by the other visitor as not at all Eumorousj ..v ..nAx mi., vn v j31ia.ll MAC pica.-! C Ul lIUU( LL DUU1C other " time when a more courteous ., . ... - "Look here I" the hot-headed Fred vnrat ont "Hon't von tnr to mat m' i Knrst ont "nont von trv to make nu J fT j Jlinafa " -o-aoTt 7. 1 , i I hlntlner anvthine: at VOU! I simnlv for- S Z ' " '; I to put me In the light of a boor 1 I I wont ' But George walked out in the very I course of his vehement protest, and I it was necessarily left unnmsneo. Mr. Kinney remained only a few moments after George's departure ; I And ' as tfw' door dosed nnon him thf . -- - I distressed LUCV turned to her father. : - - - - - m - w . I hfvn In n condition ef Immodarntp mmmw w - - w ui.-- "It brings things back so P he managed to explain. Thls very Fred Klnneys father and young George's father, Wilbur . Minafer, used to do just such things when they were at tnat age--and, for that matter, so did Amberson and I, and all the restjof us! And in spite of his ex- haustion, h4 began to Imitate: " 'Don't ypu try to, put me in the light of a boor!' . I shall take pleasurg in. call ing at sometime when a more cour teous sort of people He was no able to go on. V "Papa,. I think they were shocking. Weren't they awful !" .;, "Just just boys!" he moaned, wip ing his eyes. But Lucy could not smile at all; she was beginning to look Indignant. "I can forgive that poor Fred Kinney, she said. "He's just blundering but George oh, George behaved out rageously!" She came and sat upon the arm of his chair. "Papa, why should George hehave like that?" tt t.t "Rather! But why Is he? He does anything helikes to, without any re gard for what people think. Then "Good Night, MIm Morgan.' a why should he mind so furiously whe .!.. 1 i.ui. iki - the least little thing reflects upoa him, or on anything or anybody con nected with him?" Eugene patted her hand. "That'i one of the greatest puzzles of humaa vanltv. dear: and I don't pretend to know the answer. In all my life th most arrogant people that I've known have been the most sensitive. The people who have done the most la contempt of other people's opinion. and who consider themselves th hisrhest above it have been thA most 1 t - - - furious If it went against them. Ar rogant and domineering people. can't stand the least, lightest, faintest breath of criticism. It just kills them.' , "Papa, do you think George is ter ribly, arrogant and domineering?" Oh, he's still only a- boy," said Eu gene consolingly. "There's plenty of fine stuff in him can't help but be. because he's Isabel Amberson's son.' Lucy stroked his hair, which was still almost as dark as her own. "You liked her pretty well once I guess, papa." , . y - ' , "I do still, he said quietly. sne paused, then continued"! won- I der sometimes " "What?" . . ' :r- ' .. "I wonder just , how she happened to marry Mr. Minafer." v ' . VOh, Mlnafer's all right," said Eu gene. "He's a quiet sort of man, but he's-a good man and a kind man. He aiwftvg Wfl- flnd thoaihinM rnnnt dont think I Should have. Called George bad thoughtfully. tempered," , Lucy said "No. I don't, think he is." .'. ;y, ' .,;v,..?;v,;,:. , ; "Only when he's cross about some-' thing?"; Morgan . suggested, , with a semblance of sympathetic gravity. I civing tnat nis intention was humor- ous. "All the rest 4 of the time he's really very amiable. t Of course he' . fa more - n-rfect child th vho1 more a penecx cnua tne wnole I " -. v w w.uuiujr I behaved awfully - tonight . She ume tmui reuzii xx9 certainir I Jumped up, her Indlmatlon returning I T. Zr. . uu&lux.xvu . -ciufmaj. "He did, indeed, and it won't do to en- courage him In it. Z I ' think hell find me pretty cool tor a week or sol" Whereupon her father suffered a re newal of his attack of uproarious laughter. , r t , , ; George continues to grow up. Signs of clouds on the Amberson horizon. aO BS CONTINUED.) i -