The Bismarck tribune., 1919-04-03
-, ,,h,r--.ana that they both were

n, oth,r---and that they both were
only surfaces,
|, had no, been, in her childhood'
tNa, she lSCS,N, energy 10 play, uiuu
want yn nlaX; aua It occasionally nap,
,s>n,xi that the cu,r.sy bottled ur reach'
M > pr,>>Sur, and the want an urgency
,,,sr ,,srr,,Ni her off. had her crumpleu'
,amEuS before she knew II. Nhei'
iNa; happened, she ran VIII io'
while. Well. no more was II, now
she WAS grown, that she was ihc'ls'o'e
a.; >;rpuS en,oiinnS Nor was IL Tue
.,,upriou> themselves that she resented
i, was their power to tumble and ru1-
III, that smooth. fiue>grainct surface
-, hers. She hated being made TO
rry. or blush, ur tremhle. hated the
drum Of the pulse III her thru't anu
ears So. when she could. she hetu'
NJ arms length experiences she sus-
,sNJ,sl ot the power to produce these
effects
Like most radical instincts. II sell
dom ohtru,'cd on her consciousness
She'd have denied, quite sincerely. 'na'
i, had anything to do with the major
decisions of her life: with. 10 take inc
supreme case. her marriage with AL
fred Blair. But il did have lat TO
do with it. Ii also explained the
slight sensation Of surprise that ran
around her circle of friends When her
eo-a cement to him WAS announced.
He waS perfectly eligible, Of course.
Only not just the man they'd have eN-
necre,i Celia French. with her eNaS-
strated faStidiouSneSS. to select.
Alfred Blair was man Of whom eNelV
one spoke well. But in speaking we'll
Of him. they were likely TO use rather
uninvitin- djectiveS-Selfmade. steady
industrious.
He WAS steady and industrious. and
The adjective Self-made was, perhaps.
justified by the fact that though he
was a licensed architect. and skllful
engineer. he was, ornamented by no
college degrees. He'd finished up his
formal education i'll one Of Chlcago'S $
technical schools. got a job at nineteen
with a firm of contracting engineers
that specialized III grain elevators and
factories and markets. At twenty
five. when his big opportunity came, he
had the audacity to grasp it: borrowed
every cent of his mothers little for
tune. and launched himself in similar
business of his own. His first big
contract, which had given him his op-
pcrtunity. had enabled him TO pay back
his mothers loan with a considerable
increment as her share of the profits
(he had insisted upon thiS) and left
him established. At thirty-five. when
he and Celia We're married. he had ten
successful years behind him and the
assured sense of power that success
brings.
A man of more eXhuberant manners,
on the strength of a record like that
would have been called brilliant
Blair'S puiet. steady. unornamental
way made the adjective impossible
caused him to be summed up, by
casual acQuaintances at least. in Il set
Of terms which didn't account for him
at all.
The thing that made it all the easier
for persons who had mastered Il social
skill to patroniZe him. Was. that ht
was much too Open-minded to despise
the things he knew he lacked and too
simple to pretend to a mild contempt
of them. He wasn't. ashamed to show
an almost wistful admiration of an(
desire for the graces and refinements
of life. Whichssaccounted amply. OF
course for his falling lin love witt
Celia French, fs a
But what attraction : had he fol
Celia: The less affectionate of hel
acquaintances had. Of course. an ex
planation ready to hand. The Trenches
had never been SO well-to-do as they
tried to look. Celia had never haG
proper dress allowance and had haL
to do lot of contriving even to &C
through the. motibns oflsspaying of
her social obligations. Here was ;
decently presenta bic man with plent.
Of money. 1t was as simple as two
and two. -...-.....t
Her real friends resented this impu
tatien hotly. When you got to know
Alfred Blair, YOU found him singular
ly attractive. He had such straight
way of looking. and speaking. and do
ing things He had Il pleasant!
modulated voice. He had. accOrdin;
to one or two enthusiasts. real tac
and charm. The question whether
she'd have married him. had he no
been prosperous. was Il perfectly bar
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