Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-05-28
HIS SECOND WIFE
NV ERNESI, POOLE
ny EhiNESl FOOLE
Author Of "The Hdrbor," "His Famiv7
Copyright, 1870. bv Pabho Ledger 90.

stopped to think and ask Yourself. "Wba,
are we all doing here7b how soon il
'os,eed so nsssna you back sh,in into linel $50.
Joe grew quieter, and with relief she
saw ne was ready to stay home, She
herself felt tired and relaxed and IL
was sood 70 SIT at home on these De-
nsrtIv nser ernr even,ngs % and feel that both hao
which they had been plunged lie had
| come out or II, she soon learned with
an image Of his wife that even Ethel
,as1ie ,aaei as ~ teit hu was swiftly becoming SO
TO the woman who had died. But eagerly
memory. ~ amy
She dwelt upon Amy's appealing side.
| her ioVable moods her beauty and dash,
her unerrlng instinct for pretty things
her unselfshness, her anxious planning
| for Ethel's good
And all this fitted In so we'll with the
picture Joe was making of the wife who
h hhaa oeen 30 true TO him, who had never
hnt ~ 'nousnt or wish for anythins
out ms career How cheerfully she had
gwen up all sorts Of pleasures, trips
ABROAD, house in the country, sum
'mer vacations. Year after year she had
spent the hot months almost wholly In
M ,own because he could not afford to
| leave, although she herself had had many
chances to go to friends In the noun
| tains or UP along the seashore. Inste sd
she had stayed with him in town and
in the evenings always she had been
waiting. good-humored and gay, ready
to stay home or go out; with never q
| word OF complaint for the delay of his
prosperity, but only encouragement and
praise.
| At times, as Joe talked on and on, in
this mood of hungry wistful love and
humility and self-reproach Ethel would
bring herself back with a Jerk to the
| Army she had known; but again she
| would feel herself borne along upon the
tide of his belief, and she was glad that
was It only when they talked. For
often in long siltnces, when she thought
| he was reading his paper. she would
glance up from her book and find him
staring into the past And again at the
plano, smoking and playing idly, his
music made her realize how his mind
was cropping back through tho years
| picking and choosing here and there
what he needed to build up his Ideal.
This music at times made her curious; pl !
been before Amy took him In hand.
where did you learn to play like that.
Joe?" He frowned a little.
| "Oh, long ago"
of his marriage. 50 Ethel let him con-
tinue his building; and though at times
she smiled u little at some or MS iono
recollections, still her own deep adora,
ton of her older sister, the whiri OF
happy memories Of that vivid month IN
town. and the sense Of all that Amy had
| been planning TO do for her, comolneu
| now with her desperate loneliness 10 put
I Ethel In a mood where she gladly and
loyalty believed almost anything gooo
| Of her sister. , 80
many similar incidents. They mad q
small Christmas tree for Susette, and
they hung up her stocking as We'll aha am,
went out Christmas eve ana p9uSn' i,
candy canes and dogs and dolls ana pic
ture books. , a., &,
And although this was Ethers idea, II
was made to appear as only tine thns
which Amy would have done hah she
So in these two hungry souls. crop,
ing for something bright and deep ano
strong upon which they could i've; swift
ly and unawares to them both the PIC,
ture of Amy was stamped up ldeanzco
and beautified. In life 1t had been fas'
cinating, but now II was almost herolC
as we'll. 1t was as though the small
gloved hand, which Ethel had noticed SC
many times, In death had increased the
power of its light, firm, tenacious hold
Ethel began TO feel more free, for Joe
was no longer on her mind. More than
once, in fact, she was surprised at the
Way he seemed to be settling down. she
felt a deeper change IN him. someth,ns I'm =
assed expression she had so often seer
on his face while his wife had been alive:
| the look OF 4 man driven and drained OF
his vitality, was nJw gone ana IN its
place was IN uncOnsccuS look OF con-
tent. He often stayed very late at the
office and more ami more In his eve
nings at home lie went to his desk and
| became absorbed in documents and blue
print ,pn. plans uo,,,. , n,or.. ,,s,nsss ,s I,
1 she though, with II twiEge Of envy.
| And wistfully she began to look about
| for some resource for herself She felt
the youth "sth.n her rise, but the city
| seemed so vast and strange. In her
| loneliness the big building of which her
present home was a part seemed doubly
huge. impersonal. hard and so did every
other building on that block appear. She
| felt lost, left out amid ceaseless tides of
gayety on every hand. She took long
determined walks, and on these walks
she donned the smart attractive clothes
| that she had bought with Amy. Sho
| strove to keep her mind on the sights.
the faces OF people afoot and In cars,
the adorable things In shop windows.
And she chatted busily to herself In
order to keep on admiring.. This old
habit Of hers, Of soliloquy, had grown
ugon her upawares, as refuge from
her loneliness. Sometimes she even
talked aloud. Sturdily she told her.
self.
You've only begun. You'll get up out
of this. Ethel Knight Just wait Cant
d
And scowling at her "morbidness' in
feeling dreary and forlorn. she resolItely
scanned the papers for news of lectures,
plays and concerts. She went to a few
| In the afternoons. and dressed for them
as carefully as though they were great
social affairs. And In the intermissions
when buzz of talk would rise. she
would begin with quick animation to
converse with herself and be gay, or
alert and argumentative.
| Her liDa would move inau6h Nau
and then she would brightly smile and
nod across the house at some friend
she pretended TO have seen. She enroll
Mental Science She resumed her her
reading of magazines and books on ali
high school days, and hungrily she
reached back for that old zest and in
quisltiveness about everything under the
moon and stars
And through this searching she caught
hints OF the presence In the city OF n
| life wider and deeper than shops and
yet not antagonlstic-a life of gayety,
grace and ease, but with 1t all the bril-
lancy to which Amy had been blind !:
the rich fernent of new Ideas In wom-
ems lives, discussions. work OF many
kinds, art, music movements" all COM
And again she felt Within herself that
rising tide Of youth and eager vitality.
oh what couldn't I do, my dear, II
only had a chance? Why doesn't
somebody see II at once-notice me now,
right here OF the street? You, madam,
in that iimouslne-look out and see me
don't go by You're losing. the chance
Of q lifetime! You're missing me--me
Ethel Knight"
As the dame in her car sped smoothly
by, Ethel suddenly laughed aloud. But
her laughter had a dangerous note. and
| .hn olHad HarpaIU hitting her lin,