Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-06-22

legged among the tumbled bed clothes
and analysed an astonishing discov-
cry. She had found an outlet TO the
mother instinct by establishing a pro-
tectorate over william Grogan. Since
the death Of her father she had been
without any practical objective in
life. She loved children, but 1T was
impossible to mother the wild little
animals under her tutelage. She
never could get very close to them
sentimentally. for the reason that
teachers are looked upon by pupils
as natural enemies. If some little
girl made her the gift OF a bouquet
or some little boy left an apple
on her desk she readily un-
derstood the impulse behind the act
"a plea for immunity from punish
ment the next time punishment was
due. But to get them smuggling in
her arms was nigh impossible.
The majority Of them had all the
mothering they wanted at home.
They could put up with it there be-
cause they had to; but at school they
considered any such advances as an
encroachment upon their prerogatives.
True, they would come running to
her fast enough when they were hurt;
but this was in quest OF justice or
sympathy. and teachers We're the only
grown-ups at hand.
So she awoke with the discovery
that for several weeks, in fact since
the landing at Naples, she had been
mothering william Grogan, rescuing
him from greedy shopkeepers. sup
pressing his careless generosity in
the matter of tips, seeing to it that
he never left anything on trains
warning him against sea food in in
land towns. teaching him by degrees
what she knew of art and literature
despite the fact that most of 1t went
into one ear and out of the other.
Ruth gathered up her brush and
comb from the little stand at the side
Of the bed and began brushing and
combing her hair, which was golden
brown like the nest of a ripe chest
nut. Her skin was fine and firmly
padded. with hint of gold in the
soft. curving shadows. Her cambria
nishtgown. short in sleeve and loose
at the shoulders. revealed vaguely
the lovely contours of her young
body. But as in William, her chief
attraction lay in her eyes, deep gray.
f1ecked with the variegated browns
Of an October leaf.
Mothering William Grogan with his
shock of red hair, his amazing blue
eyes. his irrepressible good humor,
his irresponsible generosity! She
laughed and rocked her body. 1t was
so funny. Arguing with him what he
should and should not spend. order
ing him to do this or that. certain
that he would always obey her which
he always did. Accustomed as she
was to ruling children, it fell to her
easily TO dominate this Hercules who
was only child grown up. 1t never
occurred to her to peer behind the
curtain Of this apparent docility. Be-
sides, the experience had all the thrill
ing exhilaration Of stroking a purring
tiger. for while she might in time
completely forget that morning in
Venice. she would never forget the
cold. murderous fire in Williams
eyes.
Eight o'clock, She sprang off the
bed lively and eager. They would
be leaving for Port Said at nine
thirty. and she hadn't bit of pack
ing done. She ran to the window
sunshine. always sunshine. What a
wonderful world il was. She began
humming the spinning song from
The Flying Dutchman," and turned
to her suit cases. 1t was an actual
fact that these cases were visibly
shrinking or else her clothes were
growing. Soon she would be forced
to buy third case.
When everything was snugly pack
ed away and not so much as a hair
pin forgotten. she picked up Williams
little bag of gold and dropped it into
the pocket of her skirt, pinning the
aperture. Not only his mother. but
his banker. too! She laughed. The
bag was heavy and clumsy, but, once
aboard. she could turn it over to Will
liam or the purser.
At eight-thirty she was in the lobby.
searching for william. He was no.
where in sight and she considered
this rather unusual. So she found a
chair in the midst Of the confusion
and sat down to wait. Her fellow
tourists began to depart in groups.
Ten minutes to nine she became wor.
ried. Not belonging to that class Of
women who cannot do anything but
wait. she went to the desk TO learn
II William had left word. He had