The Washington herald., 1914-07-19
THE EDUCATION OF MRS.
LARRABEE-WILLIAMS /

to take the blue goggles at night if the
divine Larrabee-W. doesn't turn of
few of those tungsten-diamond spot
lights of hers"
"She's a 6o-horsepower glare, that
woman" said Rawson. I'm not sure
but that the public welfare requires that
I give her jolt"
thrilled Immediately. If there was
any man in the world who could i'm
part a spirit of adventure to an unad-
venturous atmosphere that man was
old Billie Rawson, and to relieve the
tedium of life at Blue-Port l felt in
clined to egg him on.
Go as far as you like" Billie" said
l. 81 don't see where the public well
fare comes in, but l am with you to
the bitter end"
THE public welfare comes in with
the decentralization that follows in the
trail of that woman's ostentatious care
lessness of her jewels" said Rawson.
Foot her up as she sits there" he con-
tinued. There's two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars in plain sight above
the table, and l should judge that be-
tween the table edge and her knees
there's a hundred and fifty thousand
more dangling in her lap"
Easily that" said l. But what of
it? She can afford it"
That's not the point" said Rawson.
Nobody doubts she can afford it, but
from certain moral points of view So
ciety can't. Just take look around the
dining-room. Take that poor devil of a
half-starved Frenchman waiting on her
table, for instance. Do you suppose he
is thinking of anything else than how
he'd go Looping back to France to a life
of luxurious ease for the rest of his
days if he could only get away with half
of those tempting sparklers: And then
at the very next table sits poor old Jack
Van Arsdale, working himself to fraz-
zle to make both ends meet and to keep
up his end in society. If you are in the
know in respect to him you are aware
that unless some miracle happens be-
tween now and next October he's going
to the wall He just can't keep his head
above water"
Yes" said l. We've been expecting
the crash daily on the street for the past
six months"
very good" said Rawson. NOW
Van Arsdale for all his blueblooded
Dutch ancestry is no more than a plain,
everyday human being like the rest OF
US, as easily tempted as ever were Adam
and Eve and confronted by a compelling
necessity, and if the thought hasn't
flashed across his mind that if he could
lay his hands upon the collateral in
plain sight upon that lady's scintillant
bosom it would save him from ruin, and
possibly disgrace, l miss my guess. l
tell you, old man, that woman's pres
ence here has got on the nerves of
everybody in this house from the bell
hops up to that most noble lordling who
arrived here yesterday and is even now
sitting on Mrs. Larrabee-W Williams
right. The whole place is a seething
mass of covetousness, and the good
Lord only knows what infnitismal
seeds of crime may even now be germ
mating in human soil that up to this
time has been the center of innocence.
"Goshl !" he added, with fervor. 81 am
almost tempted to go after the confound-
ed things myself"
Go ahead" said l. "Just for lark
-eh? Got a scheme?"
"Surest thing you know" smiled
Rawson. Not for my own enrichment,
but for the education of Mrs. Larrabee-
Williams"
lust what is the plan?" I asked
eagerly.
"Oh, it's simplicity ITSELF" replied
Rawson carelessly. Nothing very orig
inal. I've adapted it from the Presi-
dents Mexican policy-watchful wait
ing"