The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1911-04-07
SFIOOGY-|
SF1OO
BY It DITKI GRAY
= SASs
copyrighted, 1910, by Associated Literary Press.)


Copyrighted 1910, by Associated Literary Press.)
John O'Neill, erstwhile newspaper
man and dramatist to be, was one Of
the younger celebrities of those
Thursday evening gatherings for
which Mrs. Strathfield de Witt was SO
widely and justly famed Mrs. Strath-
field de Witt was lauded from one end
OF town to the other extolled for I'M
stinted hospitality, admired for gra-
clous tact, and sought out for radiant
beauty. Yet far more than the mag
nif1cent social affairs in which she
always figured so conspicuously, the
balls and opera-night triumphs, which
invariably received q lions share Of
next mornings social column, did she
revel in her artistic triumphs and her
reputation for unusual ability in gath
ering about her local talent and even
visiting prodigies from far waters.
Even her detractors dared not deny
that Mrs. de Witt was a woman of
power and no mean personality, and,
under the rose, it was safe to whisper
this: None knew it better than her.
self.
Tonight she stood as usual at the
far end of the great reception hall,
velvet-gowned and regal in the IA
nous Strathfield jewels, giving forth
to her guests, from Won Kreuzer, the
world-famed 'cellist, to young artistic
Dick Stair, out at elbows and i'll at
ease, the same benefcent smile, the
customary word of encouragement,
the unfailing bit of praise.
John O'Neill, one of her most vaunt-
ed favorites, having just paid his COM
pliments, was passing on into the
crowded music room, free to carry
out his own devices, to follow whittier
inclination might chance to lead. Cor
dial greetings encompassed him as he
wandered, unsettled and restless,
from group to group, but, in spite Of
the allurements of flashing eyes and
the encouraging mods from men Of
established repute, O'Neill, with an
distracted manner and Indifference
to mien, passed through the magnifi-
Gently furnished rooms out into the
conservatory beyond.
1t was solitude, after all, that he
wanted. He could settle down hero
for a space, and puzzle out a few Of
the many things which had of late
so bothered him. For many days he
had put away the facing of this prob
lem, the impartial Judging twixt
heart and mind. But O'Neill was
man of fine sensibilities, of high and
honorable ideals, and he knew that
he could not again accept the flatter-I
ing kindness Of his hostess, the over
whelming cordially Of her friends,
without coming to a true knowledge
of his Utmost self, and, in some sub
tie way, giving her to realize the final
outcome of the problem which, at last,
amid the twining roses and orchids,
he must bravely face and settle for
all time.
John O'Neill, fresh from the old
country, with great dreams within his
eyes, was different person from the
well-groomed, self-assured gentleman
who, save for the frown pickering
his straight drawn brows, seemed,
amid the surfeit of elegance Of this
uptown mansion so thoroughly at
ease, so completely master of his own.
For though O'Neill was a gentleman
at heart, lover of the right and
good, he was, in the common accept
Iance of the term, self-made man.
] He had fought his way, from the
lbeginnin, through the humiliating
trials of advertising agent and COM
mon reporter, step by step along the
staff positions of large newspaper,
till now he had reached the position
of managing editor of an important
magazine. And still his best powers
must go to the earning Of bread, and
the dreams of drama and novel yet
unfulfilled. And with the rigor Of
those dreams another, too, held sway
AN old longing, a softer vision
which the lionizing of sweet and fool
1sh ladies', the surroundings Of luxury
and ease, instead Of snufing out and
relocating to the past OF dusky mem
cries. served only to enfIame and
raise on him /