Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-08-19
A SWEETHEART AT THIRTY
The Steey Of . Woman's Transformation.
BY MARION RUBINCAM.
MARK COMES AGAIN.

Chapter LVIII.
It seems to me as / look back owe,
that summer that it was series ol
climaxes, from which we dropped i'm
mediately to dead level. That momen,
tous day--the most terrible Esther had
ever cxpcricnced-found us sitting oalmiy
at tho dinner table, eating pork chops and
boiled potatoes, as though nothing ini'
portant had happened
Our hired men ate hurriodly ana rav-
enously and went out to their work.
Jim ate AS heartily as though ne hao
not been through some OF tho most
tcmpcstuous emotions possible, not TWO
hours before. Ragc, hate, guilt, ana re-
morsc-and anxiety as to whetner nis
homc would be broken up or not-had
no effect on his appetite. He ate hve
chops and regretted the fact that we
had only gingerbread and coffee Tor oes-
James did not appear and l thought
IL best for him to wait untii tne inca u,ea'
was over. But he came IN hnaiiy, niue
frightened. and sullen as USUAL Es'ner
ate as steadily and amply as usuai-ini,- n'.
not directly affected by the morning s
.,,err.,i were the only ones too upset Tor
food-Vi and myself.
al dunno what I'll do about 1t, Es-
thar told me that afternoon,
snd a little later in the day she re-
marked. .,;,..p
So She was going to forgive him after
all I suspected as much from the DC
"Are they all aliko?" vi asked me,
tho eternal question in her blue wlstful
ewes. "Do you think so? DO you think
Bud's-iust like all the rostp'
And when l could not answer, she
answered herself rr
sTm sure he isn't. Buds difierent-
from all the others. Don't you thlhk
30, Aunt Enid?"
dcceiving herself, she went on OUT VI
the room. -.
wa. worried and very much upset,
and I wanted in some way to help them
aI-thc whole family seemed TO De IN
a tangled web. and l could not see any
v,,v ont of il. All could do was TO hunt
nm lanes socks that needed darning ana
sit out on the porch and mend them tor
him. -,
Perhaps. I thought, it would be best
for Esther 10 90 TO the city. She might,
II she lived there, find the now point
of view that / had found; she might
wake up, as I had awakened; she mght
learn TO take care of herself ana per
haps win back some OF her iost youth
and prcttiness, as i had
But can woman win back nor husoaiio
whom shc has once lost him? Can shc win
hack her youth and her attraction when
she has so completely let 90? Must she not
have a great deal of imagination and
great deal Of ambition-and above all,
persistence. 10 accomplish this rejuvcna-
tion. | had the three latter qualities-but
Esther had not.
For. while could not condone my
brother in any way, stnl conio not
helr but feel that some of 1T was Esther
fault Jim had within him a real love OF
beauty. and a great deal of love and ten
derncss. And Esther had not tried. to
satisfy the first, nor TO encourage the last
In fact. she had discouraged 1T as being
in some vague way, not quite proper-not
becoming ina man years marrleo ana the
father Of family.
After all, what right had she to think
that she could retain this mans love
with her unkept hair, her shiny red SKIN,
her careless figure and stili more careless
clothesr
This line of thought reminded me that |
| was growing careless myself, for l was |
sitting out on the porch IN the housedress |
I had worked in all morning. went up To |
nv room, and dressed very particularly, |
watching with satisfaction how my SKIN /
cleared and took on color when l washed /
and masssged IL, and how my face lost |
wears when | dressed my hair nicely.
deliberately chose the most youthful OF
my gowns, and then went downstairs again
to my mending.
After all, l had gained something.
no longer looked young IN spite OF my
self, but at least l looked less than my
age when was very careful OF my dressing
A grating of wheels outside made me
loop up. Mark Upiohn's familiar little
car stopped at our gate. Marks too faml-
liar face pcered out the door and smiled
at me. l could do nothing but ask him IN.
Il hear you're goin' over to Laura's
for supper Sunday?" he said, sitting
down on the porch-and forgetting the
formality of removing his hat.
| nodded.
''How are they gcttin' on?" he asked
amiably.
They're quite happy, think" l an
swered. I'VE haven't seen them since
the wedding Mr.. Dwyer gave Charlie
a vacation, though it was the busy sea-
son. and they went off for little trip
Yes, Well, ! stopped off minute
as | drove past, Mark said. "Nice place
there, everything looks so new. / like
house where all the furniture is shiny and
new, don't your
"No, / don't" i answered promptly.
Don't your he laughed, looking over
at me. decided he had gained another
ten pounds and one more chin since
saw him last. "Well, YOU and me don't
agree on lots of things But we're pretty
good friends anyway, amt we, Enid?'
"Yes, very good" | answered, not
very enthusiastically.
well, that's all right then" he said,
getting up. 'I's going to Laura's Sum
dav, too. She asked me today. So I'll
stop for YOU and drive you over. I'D be
there at and we'll make round abou:
trip Of II"