The Meeker herald., 1919-01-04

That night at dinner frst impress.
sions were a. favorable ~ hrst impress
sions auspiciously may be. and In or
der to prevent the conversation from
taking a personal turn Blackstone
monopolIzed It to an unusual extent
He had made mp his mind not to leave
the two women alone and not let them
guide the conversation. 30 he went
Into needless details regarding his lat
eat law case, explained the meaning
Of professional terms that were quite
beyond the ken or interest Of either
Of the women, and gave Q resume OF
brief In which he had been recently
engfossed.
For week things went on thus, and
the only times that blackstone feared
an open expression Of opinion was
one night when his mother and Mar
garet CHANGED to meet for dinner be-
fore he could get ON the scene. But
apparently nothing disconcerting &C.
Cured, and Immediately after dinner
Margaret excused herself for an Inn
portant engagement that Blackstone
knew to be q meeting Of her suffrage
club. The next night Margaret had
another suffrage engagement, and
Blackstone's mother claimed an en-
gagement, too, 20 1t was not until three
nights later that the three again met
at dinner after Margaret and Black
stone had closed their Office desks
Following dinner came . play. and
In spite Of the fact that Blackstone
had taken his mother and his nancee
to an especially divefting dining place.
and In spite of the fact that the play
was uncommonly good that night, the
evening hours passed slowly and Black
stone felt the effect Of the depressed
spirits of the two usually high-spirited
women.
But he felt even more depressed
when he took Margaret home that
night after they had seen the mother
60 to her downtown hotel.
Blackstone, I'm sorry" Margaret
said when they had reached the shell.
ter of her apartment. "rm sorry. but
can't keep my feelings to myself any
longer. I feel like q traitor. Tho
meeting night before last made me feel
what q culprit have been. and then
last night at the mass meeting. when
I looked. around at those women from
all over the world working together
for each other. I wondered how I had
been 20 desplcable ~ to promise to
conceal my Interest In the cause from
anyone. You don't know how q meet.
ing like that 6res and thrills one"
The fact that Blackstone's spirits
had already been depressed made him
especially susceptible to take o6Iense.
'.Then II II were q question Of sui.
ftage or me, suppose you would take
suffrage" hs said. Il simply asked
you to use . little tact in order to
prevent my mother being unhappy.
and you don't care enough about me
or her to do It. I'm sorry. Margaret,
but It II better tor % 10 and It out
now than later"
Decidedly" replied Margaret. Who
could be Just ~ quick to jump at con.
clusions a. her rance. And when,
few minutes later, Blackstone was out
Of Narsaret's apartment In the street
It was with the terrible feeling that
Margaret was lost to him forever.
Somehow. unreasonably Of course. he
blamed his mother for this breach Of
his happiness.
The next morning he Joined his
mother at breakfast at her hotel.
"Well, Ely visit II almost ovef,~ the
mother began over her soft-bolled
eggs. II had hoped to get better &C
auainted with Margaret but apparent.
y she does not want to be alone with
me. haven't said two words to her
alone, Blackstone"
Blackstone made no answer, % his
mother went on. II suppose 1t IL the
eternal barrier that stands between
tho two types Of women. The one will
never be able to understand the other,
and - the suffrage cause gains more
and more converts the barrier only be.
comes tho higher. But there will al.
ways be some women on the other
side-even when our great victory 10
won. I suppose It was foolish Of me
to hope. Blackstone. that your wife
would be on our side Of that barrier
II she had been then there would never
have been any OF the mother.ln-law
and daughter-in-law feeling between
Us. ! was foolish to hope It, perhaps.
but, Blackstone, after that wonderful
meeting night before last I felt -
thrilled that 1t seemed for the time -
II the barrier might be broken down
and that all women might rally to the
same cause. I wish that you and Mar
earet might have been there"
Blackstone leaned over the table at
which he and his mother were sitting.
"You don't mean you were at the sui.
frage mass meeting. do you. mother r
Swhy. certainly" came quite calmly.
"How do you think managed to come