New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1920-03-26

began IN Western New YORK, ana
some of you know the hero. I'm
morally certain. | reckon it'll be
safe to tell his name right here in
the buZzum of the family, but to be
on the safe side, I'll call him Stan
ley. lie manufactures something :
that's advertised in all the big mag.
azines, and most of the ladies use
1t to help out their complexion. Any of you that
have been TO guessing school can finish out his
name for yourselves"
"Oh, | know little Mrs. Smith twinkled. Il
always buy his dental cream. Bill won't let me
put the massage stuff on my face. Says my
skins good enough, and he"
you're next, all right" Jones assured her.
"Stnn used to be the liveliest fellow in our crowd.
Folks said nothing less'n a cyclone or having n
leg cut off would ever settle him down. He had
lots of sense, and could learn anything he set his
mind to. Trouble with him was that things came
too easy. He liked to strum n guitar and dance
and skate and ride a wheel and make love to the
girls. When l met him last February l couldn't
believe he was the same chap. There's nothing
like smashing a mans heart to settle him down"
II find that the cares of a family have the same
effect" Bob White said, solemnly, whereat the
other members of the club laughed.
81 like the family. but I've sometimes thought
it would be a good scheme to take the cares by
proxy, the way you do" Briggs remarked. "YOur
sisters kids and the kids of the club have made
quite a serious decent man Of you"
"Stan didn't have any kids, nor even any nieces
and nephews, to poster him. If he had. 1t wouldn't
have gone so hard with him. Jones averred. HE
was the only child. and his mother died when ne
was about fifteen. He and his dad and an OLD
maid aunt lived together. and l reckon he had to
tear around a good deal to keep from dying OF
of slow stagnation In that house. He couldn't
have been more'n % when two new girls came to
town. He'd run the gamut Of all the old girls, ana
he wasn't the sort to fall in love with a girl he'd
~. 49, 49,. H. aa,lI bnrn n
any of 'em for the asking. Oh, he wasn't what
YOU call a firt," as he caught the look in Mrs.
.Johnson's eyes. "Stan didn't break any hearts.
He took care to let the girls know 1t was all play,
and | suppose he never would have got In dead
earnest if it hadn't been for the two strangers
that dropped In on us the same week. one OF EN-
was n tall girl, with serious dark eyes and a rich
contralto voice. She'd been studying art In New
York and her folks were all In Europe for the
summer, and she didn't want to go along, so they
sent her out there to visit her uncle and do some
sketching.
The other girl was a tiny bit of a thing, with
yellow hair and big brown eyes and a complexion
like peaches and cream. When she sang 1t re-
minded you of a Baltimore oriole. When she
danced she made you think of a trick pony In n
circus. She could cut more dainty little capers
and do more amusing thingsn any dozen girls
I'd ever seen. l met her the same night Stan did,
and we'd both met the other girl a couple of
nights before. i saw IN q second tnat tnere WIS
going to be something doing in the old town that
summer. And i didn't miss my guess, I can tell
you. Half the boys were dead crazy about the
little girl, and she didn't make any bones of her
preference for Stan. Well. l woke up to the fact.
one starlight night, that the tall one was In love
with him. I had a yearning for her myself, and
that's how / came to surprise the secret from her.
"Stan had paid her a lot of attention, all right.
and it was a clear case of the little vixen cutting
her out. for the fun of showing us that she could.
But he didn't get up his nerve to propose till al
most the end of summer, and then she led him