Middletown transcript., 1914-11-14

NEtE1"l.
quite 50 imposing % Important as her
own. perhaps. but So attentive end
thoughtful. Bob usually made himself
very agreeable to Mrs. Brand. Some
times be seemed extremely 80. But
of course. chat was only as It should
be. It was his way with women and
if be seemed especially gracious to
the wife Of the man who had done %
much for him. e was only natural
Nrs. Brand. surveying James new
opera gown. spoke IN tnnea Of appaE-
ent sincerity.
Glow beautiful you look tonight my
dear"
'sD0 you Ike lt jane inquired. Tn
30 glad. because had It made over
four times, and I'm almost satisfied
myself now"
Jane put her arm around her neigh
boris waist She looked saucily at
Brand.
Your wife never lets me forget thak
she Is ave years my junior" she said.
'But It's sweet Of her 5ust the same.
And with this strictly feminine para
dox the exchange Of suavities ceased.
Trey heard Bob's step on the stairs-
He shook hands with both
lawfully sorry to have kept you
waiting" he said, "but with two such
charming ladies guess We won't mind
entering little late. eh, Brandt"
"They look good to me" the million-
= 49, -, -
Mrs. Brand was, as Jane had said,
i've years her junior. Just how this
fact ever came to be openly estab-
lished is one OF those mysteries that
must go unsolved. OF course the one
never referred to 1t and the other
never forgot 1t. But 1t existed and It
served as sort Of balance wheel to
their respective attractions. For Jane
was of a type to which few years
one way or the other neither add nor
detract from beauty. Il the discrep-
ancy had been the other way It might
have been noticeable. Mrs Brand was
blonde and a beautiful one She was
nearly as tall as Jane and slightly
more robust Blue eyed and fair
skinned, with cheeks that drew their
color from a perfect constitution, not
from the embellishing touch OF rouge.
No lady's maid in all New York had
an easier task than Mrs. Brands and
no modistes art was better rewarded
than hers. In the clubs where 1t was
common talk that Brands patronizing
hand had raised Reynolds out OF OBJ
scurity. this striking beauty Of the mil
lionaire's wife served as sort Of anti
dote to gossip. At least men urged,
IL was a toss-up, and II Reynolds lost
he was a,fooL From point OF eye they
were a wonderful pair and in that re-
spect their husbands were not far be-
hind them. At the opera OF among
the first nighters there wasn't q quar-
tette in the city that attracted more
attention. Brand was fairly popular
in the clubs, although he spent but
little time in them. Reynolds, the new
conner, was more so. He was a nat
ural mixer and, whether he felt Il or
1 not. he maintained cordial attitude
toward new friends that made him
welcome. Time did not press on Bob.
either. He had declined Brands offer
to 90 into the millionaire's firm and he
/ drew his living from the street. Brand
had made good as prognosticator.
Money did make money. From the
/ time Bob buried his conscience and
hurried over to New York after his
wife and went from her to Brand. he
had had no cause to complain. Forty
thousand dollars was q good grub
stake and with Brands assistance he
had doubled it.
Only one thing worried ReynoldH-
His wife's mania for money was insa'
table.
Jane" he had told her a few weeks
ago, we've got a fortune. Do you
realize TT Eighty thousand dollars.
Eighty thousand dollars and fifteen
thousand dollar home. Let's quit and
go away. With the rent from this
place we'd have an income Of seven or
eight thousand and we could run all
over the world on that. You know
low we used to hope and plan for tbs
day when we could see something Of
other places. Not London and Paris
and Berlin. but something really diff
ferent I'd like to go down into At
rtca and India after some Of that big
game. Why. 1 never shot anything in
my life larger than a rabbit and I'd
rather kill a lion than get all the
money in the subtreasury. Come on,
what do you say? You love the out
door life and wen have the time Of
our lives"
But Jane demurred.
Lets wait little while. Bob. We've
only just begun. Look what Brands
got and he isn't hunting lions"
'No,' he said resignedly. "he isn't
hunting them and he couldn't hit one
If he did. You got me into Brands
class to some extent, but you'll never
make him my model Of a man. ! can
cross his bridges but I've got some
OF my own that make him stop and
look. He found that out at school
He wasn't boasting. There was more
Of sadness than arrogance in his tone.
but Jane noticed 1t; she held her
peace. It was from that day that
the bottle with the silver casing need
ed much refIling in the Reynolds
home
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