Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-10-19
MISMATED
WILLARD JONES
a''A
1908, by Daily Story Pub cO.l

the sequel, that's all
 But stay, perhaps it was four ro- mances and four tragedies. Judge ot that for yourself from the story.
 It was all natural enough-the most natural thing in the world, and very strange and unconventional, too. Two splendid young fellows, two attractive girls-all comrades from childhood. One young fellow an artist by nature and environment, by heredity and cul~ tivation; the other matter-of-fact boy gifted with an allotment of common sense which amounted, if he only had known 1t, to positive genius; and two girls, one beauty of so rare perfec- tion that she would i'll every aspira- ton of the most artistic mind-form, features, coloring. expression. all so perfect that she would have been an ideal model for any painter, sculptor or poet; the other a peculiar sort of girl with none of the conventional att tributes of beauty, irregular-even homely-- of feature and complexion, and so far devoid of attractions and graces as to repel rather than attract admirers and friends, except that she was 1.-the of body and springy of step hut gifted with fire of eye and a vivacity of movement and of manner that compelled attention and admira- tion even while the keen analysis and biting sarcasm Of her original mind repelled 1t. With the one there was the attraction of physical perfection, with the other the more insidious in- ATaDaa rP oucaufioI vitality
 Of course. Clarence Cole. artist that he was was enamored of Gracia, with her s0ft, correct lines and rich glowing color And equally, of course, John Bedwell, became the slave of Alice Beattie
 And here lies the story.
 For years all four had been chums and companions Clarence and Gracia had been accepted juvenile sweet hearts, as also had John and Alice. So, in the natural order of things there were two weddings, and the four young people were paired off in matri- mony as they had been as sweethearts, took wedding trip together and set tied down to live happy ever afterward after the manner of heroes and hero ines in all well-regulated stories.
 And now comes the strange part of 1t all.
 Odd as it may seem, after these two well-paired young couples had been married for twalvemonth and had lived most happily. it all began to pail upon all four of thern-in 8 way.
 For the first few months Clarence lived in a perfect dream of bliss. All of the perfection of Gracia's physical |. perfection sank into his artistic con- sciouSnesa And Gracia-well, what more had she to desire than this hand- some and talented consort--perfect in form, manner and devotion and ad- vancing all the time in the estimation of the world?
 And yet there was not the most per- feet harmony of life and impulse with these two-sad as it may seem. Clar- ence sought, t,-alas, in vain-beneath the surface perfection of Gracia's won- derful beauty the real attributes of character promised so abundantly. And hA found them not-alas and a1ack, he found them notl He saw all the prom .ises turn to ashes and finally suspected that his beautiful wife was but whit ened sepulcher-from his point of view. Of course, he asked too much, being an artist.
 And Gracia? The long months brought to her also the bitterness of | dead leaves. Her handsome and tal- ented husband did not yield to her the adOration and happiness she had so | l why, but there was something lacking something real and essential to her nature. As the months went by he ap- peared more and more to her as a promise than reality. She was not at all an idestst; she wanted to see and feea-not dream.
 And so they driftsd apart and came almost to despise one another, because, alas, they understood one another not l at all.
 And the other couple-John and Alice-life went almost as badly with them. Alice, with her superintendent intelligence and vitality, grew to feel as the months went by that her sturdy and commonplace husband did not un- derstand her. She appreciated his | liability, but she could always touch bottom-there was no depth to explore Her unconQuerable vitality rebelled at the hard-and-fast bounds she found in ms character. She adored his manly physiognomy and his sturdy character and she told herself again and again that he was the sort of man to tie to one of the salt of the earth; but hel unQuenchable spirit rebelled at bounds and rules. and it got so she fairly hated figures, facts and reason. She longed for flights into the mystic realm oi ideality, into those realms where vital forces could override rules and meth. ods.
 We'll, you can see for yourself thai John could not understand anything of that sort. Honest, conscientious sterling John could move only alons the lines of his own understanding HaG H.1-