The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1913-05-08

1 ACu haNSh ooAa aly lhAh6 dOOot uAAu.
Her voice, In answering. sounded
low and careful. She spoke slowly, as
II considering her words:
Il thought he was very nice, and
good-looking. too. He's not a bit like
Cornelia Ryan. or his mother. either.
Cornelia has such red hair"
mo. looks like the old man. Good
deal like him In character, too. Con
Ryan was the best feller In the world,
but not hard enough, not enough grit.
His wife had It though. had enough
for both. II IT hadn't been for her,
Con would never have amounted to
anything-too soft and good-natured,
and the boys like him"
Howl" She raised her head and
looked directly at him. her lips slight.
ly parted.
soft. too, Just the same way, soft.
hearted. An easy mark for any one
with hardluck story and not too
many scruples. Why did he marry
that woman? 1 don't know anything
about It. but I'd like to bet she saw
the stuff he was made Of and cried
and teased and nagged till she got
him TO do It,"
Il don't see that he could have done
anything else"
. That's woman's-a young girls
view. That's the view Dominick him.
self probably took. It's the sort Of
idea you might expect him to have,
something ornamental and impracti-
cal, that's all right to keep In the cup
board and take out and dust. but that
don't do for everyday use. That sort
OF thing Is all very well for girl,
but 1t doesn't do for a man. It's not
for this world and our times. Maybe
1t was all right when a feller went
round In armor. fighting for unknown
damsels, but It won't go in California
today. The woman was a working
woman. she wasn't any green girl.
She earned her living in an Office full
OF men, and l guess there wasn't
much she didn't know. She saw
through Dominick and gathered him
In. It's all very we'll to be chival-
rous. but you don't want to be con-
founded fool"
Are you 'confounded fool when
you're doing what you think right?"
1T depends on what you think right.
honey. II it's going to break up your
life, cut you off from your kind, make
an outcast Of you from your own
folks, and a poverty-stricken outcast
at that, you're a confounded fool to
think it's right. You oughtn't to let
yourself think so. That kind of a
moral attitude is a luxury. Women
can cultivate 1t because they don't
have to get out in the world and fight.
They keep indoors and get taken care
OF, and the queer ideas they have
don't hurt anybody. But men"
He stopped, realizing that perhaps
he was talking too frankly. He had
long known that Rose harbored these
Utopian theories on duty and honor,
which he thought very nice and pretty
for her and which went gracefully
with her character as a sheltered,
cherished, and unworldly maiden. It
was his desire to see what effect the
conversation was having on her that
made him deal so unceremoniously
with ideals Of conduct which were all
very we'll for Bill Cannon's daughter
but were ruinous for Dominick Ryan.
III you live in The world you've got
to cut your cloth by it's measure" he
continued. Look at that poor devil,
tied to a woman that's not going to
let him go If she can help it, that he
doesn't care for"
How do you know he doesn't care
for her?" The interruption came in
tone Of startled surprise and Rose
stared at him, her eyes wide with 1t.
For moment the old man was at
loss. He would have told any lie
rather than have let her guess his
knowledge of the situation and the in
formation given him by Dominick. He
realized that his zeal had made him
imprudently garrulous, and, gazing
at her with a slightly stupid express
sion, said In low tone of self-justifl-
cation:
We'll, that's my idea. guessed it.
I've heard one thing and another here
and there and I've come to the con-
clusion that there's no. love lost be-
tween them. It's the natural outcome
Of the situation. anyway"
Yes, perhaps" she murmured. She
placed her elbow on the table and
pressed the tips of her fingers against
her cheek. Her hand and arm, re-.
vealed by her loose lace sleeve, looked
as II cut out Of ivory.
And then" went on her father re-
"the results Of being a
confounded fool don't stop right there.
That's one OF the worst things of al.
lowing yourself the luxury Of foolish.
ness. They go on--roll right along
like a wheel started on a down-hill
grade. Some day that boyIl meet the
right woman-the one he really wants,
The one that belongs to him. He'll
be able to stand it all right till then.
And then he'll realize Just what he's
lone and what he's up against, and
.hings may happen"
The smoke wreaths were thick in
'ront of his face. and peering through
hem he saw the young girl move her
ingers from her cheek to her fore
lead, where she gently rubbed them
lp and down.
isn't that about the size Of it?" he
lueried, when she did not answer.
"Yes, maybe" she said in a voice
hat sounded mufled.
It'll be pretty tough proposition
Ind it's bound to happen. A decent
eller like that is just the man to fall