The Washington herald., 1910-06-27
CHAPTER XVII.
A Clash and a Kiss.

The clash that came that evening had
been threatening for some time. Take
an immOyabie body represented By Mr..
HARRISON and his square jaw. and an
irresistible force. Jimmy and his weight.
and there is bound 10 be trouble
The real fault was Jim's. He had gone
/ entirely mad again over Bella and
| thrown prudence TO the winds. He
mooned at her across the dinner table.
and Waylaid her on the stairs or in the
/ back halls, just 10 hear her voice when
| she ordered him out of the way. He
telephoned for flowers and candy for her
quite shamelessly. and he got out book
OF photographs that they had taken on
their wedding journey. and kept ii on
the library table. The sole concession
he made 10 our presunptive relationship
was to bring me the responsibility for
| everything that went wrong. and his
shirts for buttons
The first I heard of the trouble was
from Dial He wsylaid me in the hall
after dinner that night, and his face was
serious.
I'm afraid we can't keep 1t up very
long. Kit" he said. with jim trailing
Bella all over the house. and the old
lady kesner every day, it's bound 10
come out somehow. and that isn't all
Jim ami HARRISON had a set-to to-day
about you"
About met I repeated. "Oh, I dare
say I have been falling short again.
What was Jim doing? Abusing me?''
Dial looked cautiously over his shoulder,
but no one was near.
1T seems that the gentle Bella has
| been unusually beastly to-day TO Jim,
and-I believe she's jealous of you, Kit.
Jim followed her up to the roof before
dinner with a box of flowers, and she
tossed them over the parapet. She said,
I believe, that she didn't want his flow
ers: he could buy them for you. and be
id 10 him, OF some ladylike equiva-
lent"
Jim is a jellyfsh." said contempt
uously. What did he say?"
He said he only cared for one woman.
and that was Bella; that he never had
really cared for you4and never would.
and that divorce courts were not unmiti-
gated evils If they showed people the
way to real happiness. Which wouidn
amount to anything If HARRISON had not
been in the tent. trying TO sleepr'
Dial did not know all the particulars
but il seems that relations between Jim
and Mr. HARRISON were rather strained.
Bella had left the roof and jim and the
HARRISON man came face to face in the
door Of the tent. According 10 Dial. lit
tie had been said, but Jim, bound by his
promise 10 me, could not explain, and
could only stammer something about be-
ing an old friend of Miss Knowles. And
Tom had replied shortly that it was none
of his business. but that there were some
things friendship hardly justified. and
tried to pass Jim. Jim was instantly en-
ragged he blocked the door TO the roof
and demanded 10 know what the other
man meant. There were two or three
versions of the answer he got. The gen
eral purport was that Mr.. HARRISON had
no desire to explain further. and that the
situation was forced on him. But If he
insisted-when a man systematically ig-
nOred and neglected his wife for some
one else. there were communities where
he would be taTTed and feathered.
Meaning me-" Jim demanded, apo
plectic
The remark was a general one" Mr..
HARRISON retorted. 'but If you wish to
make a concrete application
Dial had gone up just then, and found
them glazing at each other Jim with
his hands Clenched at his sides, and Mr..
HARRISON with his arms folded and very
erect. Dial took Jim by the elbow and
led him down stairs. muttering. and the
situation was saved for the time. But
Dial was not optimistic.
You can do a bit yourself, Kit he
finished Look more cheerful, fiirt a
little. You can do that without trying
Take Max on for q day or so; it would be
charity anyhow. But don't let Tom Har-
bison take it into his head that you are
grieving over Jim's neglect, or he's like
ly to> toss him off the roof
II have no reason to think that Mr.
HARRISON cares one way or the other
about me-" I said primly. you don't
think he's-he's in love with me. do you,
Dal2'' I watched him out of the corner
of my eye, but he only looked amused.
In love with your he repeated. why,
bless your wicked little heart, no. He
thinks you're a married woman It's
the principle OF the thing he's fighting
for. If I had as much principle as he
has. ibid put 1t out at interest"
Max interrupted US Just then. and asked
If we knew where Mr.. HARRISON was.
Cant find him." he said. I've got
the telephone together and have enough
left over to make another. Where do you
suppose HARRISON hides the tools? I'm
working with a corkscrew and two
palette knives"
1 heard nothing more of the trouble
that night. Max went to Jim about il,
and Jim said angrily that only a fool
would interfere between a man and his
wife-wivss. Whereupon Max retorted
that fool and his wives were soon part
ed, and left him. The two principals
We're coldly civil to each other, and
smaller issues were lost as the famine
grew more and more insistent For FAM
inc It was.
They worked the rest OF the evening,
but the telephone refused to revive and
every one was starving. individually
our pride was at low ebb but collective
" IL was still formidable So we sat
around and Jim played Grieg with the
soft stops on, and Aunt Selma went to
bed. The weather had changed, and Il
was sleeting, but anything was better
than the drawing-room. 1 was in a
mood TO battle with the elements or to
ery-or both-so ! slipped out, while
Dal vas reciting Give me three grains
of corn, mother. threw somebody's
overcoat ever my shoulders. put on