The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1904-03-18


dimmed. The eyes were Toasted, to be
sure but the mind and heart were
starved. One wearied of her roselike,
| fiuttering color and the amiable but
| unmeaning smile and even of the very
| perfect rows of teeth that the smile
exposed.
Il am going to have a friend with me
| for a month";" Barbara had told Baird
Durham in preparations; "a girl that
particularly want you to meet She's
| raving beauty and as sweet as she can
| be-
| If she had spoken all of her thoughts
| perhaps she might have added, $50
| sweet that at the end of a month you
| will want to kill her or do something
desperate and outrageous" But, with
a commendable self restraint, she h.n-
ished this unruly idea to the daek
| chamber of unspoken thoughts.
| In the weeks that followed she eff
faced herself, pushing Amy into Dun
| hams society in every possible way,
| but doing it SO gradually and skillfully
| that he scarcely realized how little he
was seeing OF his friend and comrade-
IL she saw less ofrghiin, however, she
| saw more OF Jack lester, whose com
partnership was a grateful balm, be-
| cause he was not forever talking about
beauty. however much he may have
admired it E%aSE
II AT first Baird haunted the house like
a spirit, while his plans for Miss Aver
| ilTs entertainment fairly stumbled over
1 IL. I,
! plans. 1of course, always included Bar
bara, but with mastery skill she
Withdrew from them more and more
/ until almost before Baird realized what
had happened he noticed that he and
Miss Averill were usually alone. With
Miss Averill's exquisite profile beside
him, however, he was not in a mood to
complain.
Then, aboutythe middle of the fourth
week, his soaring spirit suddenly touch
ed earth. He was guilty of brutal,
| heretical thought. Right in the middle
of a long afternoon that they were to
| spend together he was seized by a great
| WEAKNESS. For the life of him he
could think of nothing to say. He was
bored!
| He stared at the beautiful Miss Av-
erill with sort of stupefied wonder.
/ 1t seemed incredible that the society of
so exquisite a creature could be SO I'M
commonly like muggy weather. IL
seemed an age since he had had good,
| bracing talk with Barbara. Now that
| he thought of 1t. Barbara must be see
| ing a good deal Of that Lester chap.
| Vaguely, as If he had happened upon
| them in a dream, he recalled having
met them together several times lately.
Il don't believe you are thinking OF
me at all!' pouted Miss Averill. I've
| spoken to you twice, and you haven't
even heard me. 1t isn't nice Of you
"Eh-whatg exclaimed Durham, try
| ing to callhis rowing thoughts together
and insisting upon hearing the remark
| he had inadvertently missed.
| IT asked if you don't think the Wal
dorf is lovely? think it's just sweet"
Yes" assented he recklessly. THAT
expresses it sweetly. IFS just sweet. :"
| And he cast about in his mind for
some excuse by which the hours that
stretched before them might be short
ened. He felt precisely as he had once
in his childhood, when he had surrep-.
| titiously bought and eaten six char
| lotte russes. 4f.5fHs ~
Miss Averill confided to Barbara that
night that she didn't like Mr.. Durham
so well as she thought she did.
Hes so dull! Don't you think so?''
she demanded
There have been times when he
seemed so,' Barbara confessed airily.
| Then she wondered if Baird's ears
were afiame Three days later the
radiant Miss Averills visit came to an
| end Soon afterward Durham dropped
in to see Barbara, quite in his old man
! ner.
| .""Ah,- this, is goodv,, he said gloating-
| ly as he sank into the depths Of his
| favorite chair. There's SO much talk
| to make up,' he went on in genial en-
| joyment, "that 1 scarcely know where
to Begin
Barbara turned her head to one side
and surveyed him with half closed
eyes. @ t~@
eve might begin with feminine beau
ty,'' she suggested helpfullys @fThere's
| so much to, be said about it."
A pause followed in which several
new ideas entered Dunham's mind.
Then he demanded, not without con-
scious sense of guilt:
Just what do you mean~
He leaned forward and studied her
face, and though she flushed under his
keen scrutiny her eyes looked back at
him-proud. unwavering and bit de-
FAINT.
II certainly admire beauty" he be-
gan softly. "But / take back what
have said about falling in love with
one. You see, little girl, I'm SO used
to you that the beauties bore me"
Really" she SCORED, "for a wor-
shiper Of the fairr'
Art Criticism.
Through his half closed hand the
man with the eyeglasses and the high
forehead was studying a picture at
the art store. 3 H
II wonder what the title of this
painting is" he said 1T is a mag
nificent work of-oh, yes; here Is the
name, written rather indistinctly at
the bottom Following the Hero 1t