South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-03-09
HOW DICKY WELCOMED MRS
DURKEE'S EXPLANATION.

HOW DICKY WELCOMED MRS.
DURKEE'S EXPLANATION.
I The tabled head of Medusa could
not have had a much more paralyz-
\ ing effect upon the members of our
/ little dinner party at BrOquin's than
did the entrance of the girl who
wore upon her head the hat of
which Dicky had just been talking
and which he had said he had
bought for me.
At sight of the hat. the girl who
wore it and especially Of the faces
Of the two girls who accompanied
her. Edith and Leila Fairfax, my
faith in Dicky which / had just
tremblingly regained after the
startling events of the afternoon.
fled. and sank back into my chair.
torn with Jealous misery.
The story Dicky had just told
must be an intricateIy threaded It's
sue Of falsehood and truth cunning
I " devised to keep me from guessing
the real meaning of the scene l had
witnessed in the afternoon at Ham
bells when 1 had seen him buying
the $4,000 blue hat had previous
ly coveted. and an expensive suit
for Edith Fairfax.
What fool 1 had been to believe
his tale, evidently made up in a
moment when he found out 1 had
been at Hambers, that Miss Fairfax
was going to pose for his iIlustra-
tons of novel and that the clothing
he had bought she was to wear for
J the drawings!
But why had he told so foolish a
tale? And why. if he had bought
the hat for Edith Fairfax. was il
gracing the head of this other girl?
The utter sordidness Of the whole
episode revolted me, but mystifed
me as well. When 1 finally glanced
toward Dicky what was my amaze
ment to find that his face held not
the look of guilty chagrin which /
expected, but one of angry mystifi-
cation instead.
Thanks, Little Pal"
Alfred Durkee was trying to con-
ceal smile of amusement and
wasn't succeeding very well. But il
was the look OF Mrs. Durkee's face
which puzzled me most. She was
gazing intently at the new hat. and
she had the absorbed look Of a stu
dent engaged in solving some intri-
cate problem.
Il have it," she announced az last
THAT hat isn't the one we saw.
Mrs. Graham. It's very clever
copy. 1 admit I only wish I had the
skill that girl has or whoever did
the copying. But the material is
infinitely cheaper, and the flowers
are very inferior to the reel ones. -
You marvellous woman!' Dicky
blew her a kiss. foreign fashion.
You have saved not only my rea-
son, but, l suspect, my happy home.
l could never have told that hat
from the original. and I should have
become a gibbering idiot trying to
account for its appearance here to-
night. And Madge would certainly
have been justified in thinking that
was deliberately stringing her.
Thanks. little pal. a thousand
thanks!"
echoed Dicky's words in my
heart. Bizarre as her solution was
realized that il was the true one.
and that as a consequence I was go
ing to be able to listen without pre-
JUDGE 10 Dicky's calculation Of the
mystery
You see. I knew neither OF the
Fairfax girls would have worn that
hat" he began, but I didn't know
about the other damsel. Rita Brown.
She's New York city product
east side originally. I suspect. al
though she's never admitted il. But
she's going 10 be a mighty clever
} illustrator some day. She'll earn
, thousands when the Fairfaxes will
! be teaching water colors and land
scapes 10 another generation of as
piring feminine Virginians-that is
II they don't marry.
But she's sadly lacking in the
finer instincts which are as much a
part Of the other girls as the air they
breathe" he continued. II have
never quite understood why the
Fairfax girls train with her. but
! suppose it's because of her superior
skill-they'd follow the devil if they
thought he were an artist.
, An UnwOrded Appeal.
J I've heard them speak OF this
girls ability 20 make over hats.
, believe she earned the money for
her first art studies by working in a
, millinery establishment. and I sup
pose when the things came 10 the
studio she saw her cbapca a,5 .oor
J II. But l hope the Fairfax girl.
don't see US. They'll be awfullS
{ Inundated IL they do"
Dicky paused. a little out Of
b breath, and looked around at US. hi.
I audience, a little timorously I knew
that he naturally expected doubt o.
2 so romantic a story. realized also
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