Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-03-20
MY MARRIED LIFE
By ADELE GARRISON
"VoU don't seem delighted to see me.
L am surprised at You"

handsome face marred by the little, leering
smile he generally wears, his bold, laughing
eyes staring down into my Mortified ones.
| do not believe that ever woman of a
| more superstltous time dreaded the evil
| eye as | do the glance of Harry Under
wood.
lie is fast becoming a bogie to me- He
bobs up In my path at the most unexpected
times. And whenever see him there come
lnvoluntarily to my mind the cool matter-of-
fact tones of Lillian Gale and the astonsh-
Ing words which she uttered at my chatting
dish party:
you are not used to our ways or |
shouldn't bother to tell you this But can
see that you are much annoyed at Harry
and don't blame you But you mustn't
mind him He is really harmless. He falls
in love with every new face he sees, has a
violent attack, then gets over It just as
quickly. You are an entirely new type to
him, so I suppose his attack this time will
be little more prolonged He'll make
violent love to you behind my back and
before my face, but you mustn't mind him
] understand. and I'll straightcn him out
when he gets too annoying"
| tried to assure myself that Mrs. Under
wood had been mistaken. But the look in
her husbands eyes whenever he met mine
always made me uncomfortable. There
was bold admiration in every glance but
also lurking behind it there was a touch of
malcvolence.
!
in the Aquarium. 1t seemed to, me that of
all places in the world 1t would be the most
unlikely to appeal to him.
A FRIGID GREETING
"How do you do :" | managed to gasp
trying to be courteous and chilling in the
same breath. Even with my slight expert
ence in such matters | saw that he had
been drinking heavily. and that the two
men that stood behind him, and who were
avoid
in even worse condition than he.
How do you do 80 he Knocked, selling my
hand and bringing it almost up to his
shoulder in a burlesque of frigd greeting
You don't seem glad to see me at all. You
don't seem surprised. either. You ought to
be eaten up with curiosity to know what
brought me down to this godforsaken place.
Worst hole ever struck. know you think
so. too"
How to answer him or what to do did
not know. He evidently had been drinking
enough to make himself irresponsible.
He did not give me time to ponder long,
however. who is your lady friend?" he
burlesqued. Introduce me"
A man less audacious than Harry Under
wood would have been daunted by the pic
ture my mothcr-in-aw presented he
turned toward her. Her figure was drawn
up to its extreme height, and she was sur
veying him through her lorgnette with an
expression that held disgust mingled with
the curiosity an explorer might feel at
meeting some strange specimen Of animal
in his travels.
Mrs. Graham, this is Mr., Underwood" I
managed to stammer Mr. Underwood,
Mrs. Graham, Dicky's mother
My mother-in-law may overawe ordinary
persons. but Hairy Underwood minded her
dsdan no more than he would have the
contempt of stately Plymouth Rock hen.
She had lowered the lorgnette as | spoke.
and he grabbed the hand which still held it,
shaking IL as warmly as if it belonged to
some long-lost friend.
AREN'T YOU CURIOUS?"
Well Well" he said effusively. But
this is great. Dear old Dcliys mother" He
stopped and fixed a speculating stare upon
her. You mean his sister" he said re-
provingly at me Don't tell me you mean
his mother. No, no, | can't believe that"
He shook his head solemnly. Evidently
he was much impressed with himself If !
had not been SO miserable | could have
smiled at the idea of Harry Underwood
trying on the elder Mrs. Graham the silly
specous batteries he addressed to most
women My mother-in-aw did not deign to
answer him. Her manner was superb in
her naughty reserve. although I could not
say much for her courtesy As he released
her hand she let it drop quietly to her side
and stood still, gazing at him with quiet,
disdainful look that would have made al
most any other man vince.
But it did not bother Harry Underwood
in the least. He gave her shrewd ap-
praising look and then turned to me with
an air of dismissal that was as complete as
her ignoring of him.
Say" he demanded. aren't you a bit
curious about what brought me down here?
You ought to be The funniest thing in
the world my being down here"
UNDERWOOD SCORES ONE
bio
tion. his slightly unsteady figure made me
realize with a quick horror that the man
was more intoxicated than supposed How
to get away from him as quickly as pos I,
sible was the problem faced. | decided to
humor him as | would any other insane
person ! dreaded.
81 am never curious" responded lightly.
"I suppose. of course that you are here to
visit the Aquarium as we are"
Visit the Aquarium! Ha Ha That's a
good one" he retorted laughing bolster
ously. Not but that water looks good to
me today" he went on refectvey. ANY
kind of water looks good to yours truly this
morning"
There didn't seem to be any answer to
make to this speech, so ] kept silent But
to the irresponsible mood of the man be-
fore me silence only meant provoking him
to more absurdites
Into his eyes flashed the dancing impish
look ! had learned to dread. He came a
step nearer to me and looked down at me
malcously.
Suppose. me proud beauty" with the
burlesaue imitation of the stage villain
which he affects, suppose / had been on
your trail for days, Suppose these were me
faithful henchmen" He waved an I'M
steady hand toward his companions. who
had withdrawn from us as far as they con-
yenienty could. Suppose i intended to
carry you off to lonely island and there
la Ha
the last words abruptly, his face almost
touching mine.
Then he drew back. laughing maliciously
at the frightened look which / knew must
have appeared involuntarily in my face.
tCopyreht)
CONTINUED TOMORROW