The Winslow mail., 1911-01-07
CHAPT Err |.
At Least | Meant Well.


When the dreadful thing occurred
that night, every one turned on me.
The injustice of 1t hurt me most.
They said l got up the dinner, that l
asked them to give up other engage
ments and come, that 1 promised all
kinds of jollification, II they would
come; and then when they did come
and got in the papers, and every one
but ourselves-laughed himself
black In the face, they turned on me!
!, who suffered ten times to their one!
! shall never forget what Dallas
Brown said to me, standing with a
coal shovel in one hand and a-well,
perhaps it would be better to tell it
all in the order 1t happened.
1t began with Jimmy Wilson and
a conspiracy, was helped on by foot
square piece of yellow paper and
Japanese butler, and it enmeshed and
mixed up generally ten respectable
members of society and policeman.
Incidentally, it developed pearl col
lar and a box of soap, which sounds
incongruous, doesn't 1t?
1t is great misfortune to be stout,
especially for man. Jim was ro-
tund and looked shorter than he really
was, and as all the lines of his face,
or what should have been lines, were
really dimples, his face was about as
flexible and full of expression as
pillow in tight cover. The angrier
he got the funnier he looked, and
when he was raging, and his neck
swelled up over his collar and got
red, he was enhancing. And every
body liked him, and borrowed money
from him, and laughed at his pictures
Che has one in the Hargrave gallery
in London now, so people buy them
instead, and smoked his cigarettes,
and tried to steal his Jap. The whole
story hinges on the Jap.
The trouble was, l think, that no
one took Jim seriously. His ambi-
ton in life was to be taken seriously,
but people steadily refused to- His
art was a huge joke-except to him
self If he asked people to dinner
every one expected frolic. When
he married Bella Knowles, people
chuckled at the wedding, and consid-
cred it the widest prank Of Jimmy's
career. although Jim himself seemed
to take it awfully hard.
We had all known them both for
| years. / went to Pennington with
Bella, and Anne Brown was her ma
tron of honor when she married jim
My first winter out, Jimmy had paid
me lot of attention. He painted my
to exhibit it. 1t was very nice pic
ture, but it did not look like me, so
stayed from the exhibition. Jim asked
me to. He said he was not a pho
tographer, and that anyhow the rest
of my features called for the nose he
had given me, and that all the Greuze
women have long necks. l have not
After l had refused Jim twice he
met Bella at a camp in the Adiron
dacks and when he came back he
came at once to see me. He seemed
to think 1 would be sorry to lose him
and he blundered over the telling fol
20 minutes Of course, no woman
|
she may say about it, but Jim had
been getting on my nerves for some
time, and l was much calmer than he
expected me to be.
eff you mean" said finally in des
peration, that you and Bella are-are
in love, why don't you say so, jim
l think you will find that l stand il
wonderfully"
He frightened perceptibly.
81 didn't know how you would take
It, Kit" he said, "and l hope we will
always be bully friends. You are alb
solutely sure you don't care whool
for me?"
Absolutely" 1 replied, and W.
shook hands on 1t. Then he begaI
about Bella; it was very tiresome.
Bella is a nice girl, but had room
ed with her at school, and I was unde
no illusions. When Jim raved abou
Bella and her banjo, and Bella anC
her guitar, had painful moments
when l recalled Bella learning he
two songs on each instrument, and tn,
old English ballad she had learned t.
play on the harp. When he said sh'
was too good for him, never battet
an eye. And / shook hands solemnl.
across the tea table again. TT
wished him happiness-which wa
sincere enough, but hopeless-ant
said we had only been playing a game
but that it was time to stop playing
Jim kissed my hand. and it was reall.
1.-TWO