The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1909-02-05


20 they were making the most of tn,
waning week on lawn and marsh, il
covert and blind, or motoring madly
over the state or riding In parties Z
Vermillion Light Tennis and lawr
bowls came into fashion. Even water
polo and squash alternated on days toe
raw for more rugged sport
And during all these days Beverly
Plank appeared with unhagging per
sistence and assiduity, until his fG
miliar, big round head and patient
delft blue, Dutch eyes became mat
ter Of course at Shotover, indoors and
out.
The accomplished establishment of
Beverly Plank was probably due as
much to his own obstinate and good
tempered persistence as to Mrs. Morti-
mer. He was a Harvard graduate
there are all kinds of them-enormous
ly wealthy, and, though he had no par
ticular personal tastes to crafty, he
was willing and able to crafty the
tastes of others. He did whatever
anybody else did and did it well
enough to be amusing, and as lack of
intellectual development never barred
anybody from any section of the fash
ionabe world, it seemed fair to infer
that he would land where he wanted
to sooner or later.
Meanwhile Mrs. Mortimer led hin
about with the confidence that wa.
her perquisite, and the chances were
! that in due time he would have house
| parties of his own at Black Fells-not
/ the kind he had wisely denied himself
the pleasure of giving with such
neighbors as sthe Ferralls to observe
but the sort he desired Howeve"
there were many things to be accom-
plished for him and by him before he
could expect to use his great yacht
and his estates and his shooting boxes
and the vast granite mansion recent.
completed and facing Central pari:
just north of the new palaces built or
the edges of the outer desert where
Fifth avenue fringes the hundreds.
Meanwhile he had become In a meas
ure domesticated at Shotover, am
Shotover people gradually came to
ride. drive and motor over the FEELS
which was a good beginning, thoug'i
not necessarily a promise for anvthino
dennfte In the future.
Mortimer, riding huge chestnut
he could still wedge himself into
saddle-had now made 1t regular
practice to affect the jocular early
bird squire and drag Plank out of bed
Plank's acquaintance among people
who knew Mortimer being limited. he
had no means of determining the lat
ter's social value except through hear
say and toadying newspaper or two.
Therefore he was not yet aware of
Mortimer's perennial need of money,
and when Mortimer laughingly allud-
ed to his poverty Plank accepted the
proposition in purely comparat
sense and laughed, too, his thrifty
Dutch soul untroubled by misgivings.
Meanwhile Mortimer had come,
among other things, on information;
how much, and precisely of what ma
ture, he was almost too much ashamed
to admit definitely, even to himself.
There was much about Plank that
was unaffected, genuine, even simple,
In one sense He cared for people for
their own sakes, and only stubborn ad,
herence to a logged ambition had en-
abled him to dispense with the society
Of many people he might easily have
cultivated and liked-people nearer his
,wn sort, and that perhaps, was the
reason he so readily liked Mortimer
whose coarse fiber soon wore through
he polish when rubbed against by a
closer, finer fiber And Plank liked
him aside from gratitude, and they got
IN famouslv on the basis of such mu
ual recognition. Then, one day, very
Mortimer stumbled on some
hing valuable-a thread, mere clew {
o astonishing that for an instant 1t alb |
olutely upset all his unalmi Ell t..t :
ries and calculations.
1t was nothlng-a vague word or two
"a forced laugh-and the scared 81
ence Of this man Plank, who had blum
cred on the verge of confidence e. c
man he liked. I
A moment of amazement, or half II T
suspicion, of certain" M / 4
Iortlmer pounced playfully upon him y
Ike a tiger--a big, fat, friendly, jocosc .
ger:
"Plnnk, is that what you're up to-"
up to! Why. | never thought Of
lch a.
"Haw. haw!" roared Mortimer. III
Oh could o. ~ see your facet"
And Beverly Plank. red as beet >
suffused with reinsurance ?
1der the reaction from his scare. at d
mpted to refute the others conclu D
ons: at doesn't mean anything Nor