The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1914-05-02

had the fact that Broadway, a short
minute before, had suspected, with
good reason, that she seriously doubt
| ed him, any influence whatever on his
| deep pleasure when he discovered that
she did not-did not because she could
not, not because she would not.
Men do not think clear to the bottom
OF these things. They take what wom-
en- give them, when they give them
anything, and are humbly grateful and
surprised because they get a smile
when they deserve one, rather than a
! brick when they do not deserve one.
| Nothing which the world has ever Of
fered to the gaze Of the philosopher
has been one-half so pitiful as the as
tonished gratitude of the right-minded
male when he finds that the one fe-
male for whom he has begun, con-
sciously or without his knowledge, to
live his life and do his deeds, does not
utterly condemn him when he has
done his level best and that best has
been worthy. Men are the worlds nat
ural "come-ons," women the worlds
natural vendors of psychological, SEN
! timentaI and often very raw gold
bricks.
| So when Josie sou1fully declared
that she had known he would, Broad
way did not let it pass with an unap-
preciative, "Of course you did, but
| looked at her with gratitude alight in
his pleased face and humbly queried,
Did you?"
For moment the fact that she de-
clared that she had known he would be
|
completely overwhelmed him (and
please do not forget that she, within
minute, had admitted that she thought
him capable of basest seInshness) that
he could not an6 words with which to
proceed conversatioraIIy. All men are
| that way.
| But presently he recovered self-pos-
session and continued:
Nov, 1 don't know anything about
business, and l don't know anything
about money. never did days work
] in my life for the simple reason that
never had to-
He looked at her with a shamed
smile, the first evidence that he had
ever shown of anything but pride in
his ability to live idly with enormous
and successful effort.
"The only trial Of skill into which
have entered since went from Jones'
Vile to New York has been a general,
endless contest with the world at large
to see which could stay up the latest.
I have generally won-won in a walk. %
She was listening intently. All wom-
en- are intent to breathlessness when
they are hearing any man tell his I'M
worthiness: if there is hint of con-
fession OF real wickedness In his decla-
ration they will listen with an ABSORB
ton which approaches a hypnotic
trance.
I've never done anything good. be-
cause I've never had anything good to
| do" Broadway went on, before he
reached the next full stop.
She sat absolutely spellbound. Did
she feel vivid hope that he would go
into detail of the things which he had
done which were not good? Such re-
citals always pain good women ex-
quisitely, yet they never shun them.
never interrupt them-never, by the
way, forget them or fail to have them
at their tongues ends afterwards,
when, by recalling them, they can
abash the man who In moment OF IN
guarded foolishness has made them.
But Broadway told no details of his
villainies. This was not brilliance on
his part; 1t was sheer luck.
If she was definitely disappointed
her distress was more or less allevi-
ated the next moment, for he, burst
forth somewhat wildly:
What I've needed all along was an
Notwithstanding to spur me on
something to inspire me. What I've
needed was
He could not complete the sentence.
It was as If his tongue had found an
insurmountable obstruction In the
groove Of language which it had begun
to follow and had to leap out to a side
groove. An expression Of disgust
grew on his face. He hesitated, flushed,
then reached his hand into his pocket
and drew forth the paper on which he
had labored with such assiduity and
such tensely working, cheek manipu-
lating tongue in the small hours that
morning.
What I've needed was'-he once
more said, in desperate endeavor to
remember what came next, and, find
ing it impossible to continue with his
recitation, looked at her wild eyed. dis
appointed. self-disgust writ plain upon
his face, and dropped his hands in
helpless and disorganized fashion to
his sides
Can you beat that?. he demanded
of the fascinated girl 81 knew that
thing by heart when / left the hotel
Almost angrily he thrust the paper In
to her receptive hands
TT took me hours to write thatI" he
earnestly declared. Hours full of mos
Quito-bitesN I got up early. too, and
: learned the thing by heart But
| might have known that I'd forget itl
: never could remember anything"
: She took the paper, glanced at Il
with highly kindled interest and vas