Cleveland County herald., 1919-09-18
By Booth TarkingtoIl


connection by marriage with the Am persons he never had worn and never would wear a swaller-tail coat Mem bers of his family had exerted their influence uselessly = at eighty-nine conservative people seldom form rad ical new habits, and old John wore his Sunday suit" of black broadcloth to the Anderson ball. The coat was square, with skirts to the knees; old John called it "Prince Albert and was well enough pleased with 1t, but his great-nephew considered it the next thing to an insult.
 The large room had filled, and so had the broad hall and the rooms on the other side of the hall, where there were tables for whist. The imported orchestra waited in the ballroom on the third floor, but local harp, cello, violin and flute were playing airs from "The Fencing Master" in the hall, and people were shouting over the music. Old John Minafers voice was louder and more penetrating than any other, because he had been troubled with deafness for twenty-five years, heard his own voice but faintly, and liked to hear it. Smell O flowers like this al ways puts me in mind O funerals he kept telling his niece, Fanny Minafer, who was with him; and he seemed to get a great deal of satisfaction out of this reminder. His tremulous yet stri- dent voice cut through the voluminous sound that filled the room. and he was heard everywhere.
 Presently Georges modification was increased to hear this wmill droning harshly from the midst of the thick ening crowd: "Ain't the dancin' broke out yet, Fanny? Hoopla Les push through and go see the young women folks crack their heels! Start the cir GUS! Hoopsey-daisy r Miss Fanny Minafer, in charge of the lively vet eran, was almost as distressed as her nephew George. but she did her duty and managed to get old John through the press and out to the broad stair way, which numbers of young people were now ascending to the ballroom. George began to recover from the deg radiation into which this relic of early settler days had dragged him. What restored him completely was dark eyed little beauty of nineteen, very sight of this dashing advent in the line of guests before him George was fully an Anderson again.
 "Remember you very well indeed '" he said, his graciOusness more earnest than any he had heretofore displayed. Isabel heard him and laughed.
 "But you don't, George!' she said. You don't remember her yet though of course you will Miss Morgan is from out of town, and I'm afraid this is the first time you've ever seen her. You might take her up to the dancing; I think you've pretty well done your duty here"
 "Be d'lighted," George responded formally, and offered his arm, not with a flourish, certainly, but with an impressiveness inspired partly by the appearance of the person to whom he offered it, partly by his being the hero of this fete and partly by his youth fulness-for when manners are new they are apt to be elaborate. The little beauty intrusted her gloved fin gers to his coatsleeve, and they moved away together.
 As he conducted Miss Morgan through the hall toward the stairway they passed the open double doors of cardroom, where some squadrons of older people were preparing for ac- tion, and, leaning gracefully upon the manteipiece of this room, tall man, handsome, high-mannered and spar klingly point-device, held laughing converse with that queer-looking duck, the Sharon girls uncle. The tall gen. tleman waved a gracious salutation to George, and Miss Morgan's curiosity was stirred. "Who is that?"
 q didn't catch his name when my mother presented him to me-" said George "You mean the queer-looking duck"
 q mean the aristOcratic duck
 "Thats my Uncle George. Honor able George Anderson. I thought ev- erybody knew him."
 "He looks as though everybody ought to know him." she said. "It seems to run in your family"
 If she had any sly intention it skipped over George harmlessly. "WeH, of course, I suppose most ev- eryhody does" he admitted-"out in this part of the country especially. Besides Uncle George is in congress; the family like to have someone there.'
 "Why?"
 "WelI, it's sort of q good thing in one way. For instance, Uncle Sydney