Omaha daily bee., 1918-09-02
CHAPTER XIII (Continued).


have been attending a party given by Mrs
James Blaisdell.
CHAPTER XIII (Continued).
r I'VE minutes later he had found
l. Miss Maggie, and was making
his adieux.
Miss Maggie, on the way home. was
strangely silent.
well, that was some party" be-
gan Mr.. Smith, after waiting for her
to speak.
ut was, indeed"
Quite house"
Eyes"
"How pretty Miss Mellicent
looked"
"Very pretty"
I'm glad at last to see that poor
child enjoying herself"
yes"
Mr.. Smith irowned and stole side.
wise glance at his companion. Was it
possible? Could Miss Maggie be show
ing at least a tinge of envy and jeal-
ousy? 1t was so unlike her! And yet
Even Miss Flora seemed to be
having a good time in spite of that
funereal black" he hazarded, again.
"Yes."
"And I'm sure Mrs. James Blaisdell
and Miss Bessie were very radiant
and shining.
"Oh, yes, they-shone."
Mr.. Smith bit his lip and stole an
other sidewise glance.
"Er-how did you enjoy it? Did you
have a good timer"
"Oh, yes, very"
There was a brief silence. Mr..
Smith drew long breath and began
again.
II had no idea Mr.. James Blaisdell
was so fond of--er-books. / had
quite a chat with him in his den"
No answer.
He says Fred"
"Did you see that Gaylord grip
Miss Maggie was galvanized into sud-
den life. Hes perfectly bewitched
with her. And she--that ridiculous
dress-and for a young grill Oh,
| wish Hattie would let those people
alonew
"Oh, we'll, he'll be off to college next
week." soothed Mr.. Smith.
"Yes, but whom with1 Her brother!
and he's worse than she is, if any
thing. Why, he was drunk tonight.
actually drunk, when he came! |
don't want Fred with him. ! don't
want Fred with any of them"
mo, I don't like their looks myself
very we'll, butt fancy young Blas-
dell has pretty level head on him.
His father says"
His father worships him." inter
rupted Miss Maggie. "He worships all
those children. But into Fred-into
Fred he's pouring his whole lost
youth. You don't know. You don't
understand, of course, Mr.. Smith.
You haven't known him all the way,
as I have" Miss Maggie's voice
shook with suppressed feeling. Jim
was always the dreamer. He fairly
lived in his books. They were food
and drink to him. He planned for
college, of course. From boyhood
he was going to write-great plays,
great poems, great novels. He was
always scribbling-something. l
think he even tried to sell his things.
in his teens; but, of course, nothing
came of that--but rejection slips.
AT 10 he entered college. He was
going to work his way. OF course,
we couldn't send him. But he was
too frail. He couldn't stand the dou'
bic task, and he broke down complete"
ly. We sent him into the country to
recuperate, and there he met Hattie
Snow, fell head over heels in love
with her blue eyes and golden hair
and married her on the spot Of course
there was nothing to do then but to
go to work, and Mr.. Hammond took
him into his real estate and insurance
office. He's been there ever since,
piodding, plodding, plodding."
by George" murmured Mr., Smith
sympathetically. ;.
"You can imagine there wasn't
much time left for books. / think,
when he first went there he thought
he was still going to write the great
poem. the great play, the great move!
that was to bring him fame and
money. But he soon learned better.
Hattie had little patience with his
scribbling, and had less with the con,
slant necessity of scrimping and
economizing. She was always am
bilious to get ahead and be somebody
and. of course, as the babies came
and the expenses increased. the de-
mand for more money became more
and more insistent. But Jim. poor
Jim! He never was money maker:
He worked, and worked hard. and
then he got a job for evenings and
worked harder. But don't believe
he ever quite caught up. That's why
was so glad when this money came
for Jim. And now, don't you see!
He's thrown his whole lost youth into
Fred. And Fred"
Erred is going to make good. You
H. Jnaen'tp