Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1914-04-30


carriage, rolled up to the curb and
emptied its sober-faced, self-conscious
occupants in front of the door with
the great black bow; with each arrival
the crowd surged forward, and names
were uttered in undertones, passing
from lip to lip until every one in the
street knew that Mr.. So-and-So, Mrs.
This-or-That, the What-Do- You-Call-
Ems and others of the city's most ex-
elusive but most garishly advertised
society leaders had entered the house
Of mourning. 1t was great show for
the plebeian spectators. Much better
than Miss So-and-So's wedding, said
one woman who had attended the
aforesaid ceremony as a unit In the
well-dressed mob that almost wrecked
the carriages In the desire to see the
terrified bride. Better than circus,
said man who held his little daugh-
ter above the heads of the crowd SO
that she might see the fine lady in
wild-beast fur. SWEETEST funeral New
York ever had, remarked another, ex-
cepting one way back when he was
kid
At the corner below stood two pa
troll wagons, also waiting.
Inside the house sat the carefully
selected guests, hushed and stiff and
gratified (Not because they were at
tending funeral, but because the oc-
casion served to separate them from
the chaff: they were the elect.) 1t
would be going too far to intimate that
they were proud of themselves, but it
is not stretching it very much to say
that they counted noses with consider
able satisfaction and were glad that
they had not been left out. The real,
high-water mark in New York society
was established at this memorable
function. AS one after the other ar
rived and was ushered into the huge
drawing-room, he or she was accorded
a congratulatory look from those al
ready assembled, tribute returned
with equal amiability. Each one noted
who else was there and each one said
to himself that at last they really had
something all to themselves. 1t was
truly pleasure, a relief, to be able
to do something without being pushed
about by people who didn't belong but
thought they did. They sat back
stiffly, of course-and in utter stiffness
confessed that there could be such
thing as the survival of the fittest.
Yes, there wasn't nose there that
couldn't be counted with perfect Sc
renity. 1t was a notable occasion.
Mrs. Wrandall, the elder, had made
out the list She did not consult her
daughter-in-law in the matter. 1t is
true that Sara forestalled her in way
by sending word, through Leslie, that
she would be pleased If Mrs Wrandall
would issue invitations to as many of
Challis' friends as she deemed advis-
able. AS for herself, she had no wish
in the matter; she would be satisfied
with whatever arrangements the fam
lily cared to make
1t is not to be supposed, from the
foregoing, that Mrs. Wrandall, the
elder, was not stricken to the heart
by the lamentable death of her idol.
He was her idol. He was her Grst-
born, he was her love-born. He came
to her in the days when she loved her
husband without much thought of re-
specting him. She was beginning to
regard him as something more than
lover when Leslie came, so 1t was diff
ferent When their daughter Vivian
was born, she was plainly annoyed but
wholly respectful. Mr.. Wrandall was
no longer the lover; he was her lord
and master. The head of the house of
Wrandall was a person to be looked
up to, to be respected and admired by
her, for he was very great man, but
he was dear to her only because he
born
In the order of her nature, Challis
therefore was her most dearly beloved,
Vivian the least desired and last In
her affections as well as in sequence
Strangely enough, the three of them
perfected a curiously significant rec
ord Of conjugal endowments. Challis
had always been the wild, hayward,
unrestrained one, and by far the most
lovable; Leslie, almost as good look
ing but with scarcely a noticeable
trace of charm that made his brother
attractive; Vivian, handsome, selfish
and as eheerless as the wind that
blows across the icebergs in the north.
Challis had been born with widely
enveloping heart and an elastic con-
science; Leslie with brain and a
soul and not much Of heart, as things
go; Vi7jan with a soul alone, which be-
longed to God, after all, and not to
her. OF course she had heart, but it
was only for the purpose of pumping
blood to remote extremities, and had
nothing whatever to do with anything
SO unutterably extraneous as love,
charity or self-sacrifice,
AS for Mr.. Redmond Wrandall he
was very proper and dignified gentle
man, and old for his years.
1t may be seen, or rather surmised,
that if the house OF Wrandall had not
been SO admirably centered under its
own vine and fig tree. IL might have