Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-08-18
A SWEETHEART AT THIRTY
The Story off Woman's Transformation.
BY MARION RUBINCAM.
Protected by George Matthew Adams.
A LONG TALK.
IL AII

| Suddenly ! remembered that it was
| getting on to dinner time-and no prepara-
tions had been made. / slipped out of the
little door, leaving Violet and James deep
in the practical details of his new plan to
run away.
Violet was eagerly in sympathy with
he idea, she felt that life on this out-of-the
tway farm, doing hard work that he hated,
and subjected to both his fathers temper
and his mothers nagginR, was killing the
boy.
And it was But was not so sure the
solution was for him to run away. Alter
all, there is certain cowardliness about
dodging
AT the barn door | stopped. jim was
walking rapidly back to the fields. l
waited till he passed. ! did not want to see
HIM or talk to him just now Then went
on to the house, dreading TO enter.
How would find Esther? / had never
seen her face a tragedy did not know
how she would take it. Her parents
deaths had not been unexpected, and she
had taken that phiosophically and quiet
| " - 'his-how would she act under this
Iexpecte to find her either raging or sob
y :, 80 tllessly in her room.
Meantime, the dinner hour was nearing
and the men would be in from the fields,
starved and eager for food. i thought
rapidly of the quickest things to cpok.
When ! entered the kitchen, tlAre was
Esther, standing by the table, peeling
potatoes. | fairly gasped as | looked at
her.
"Dinn.r'll be late" she said, looking up
as | came in. 81 told Jim to tell them not
70 come till half past twelve"
Then it isn't true" | said with relief
ga hortf tkn-that ,x,ap,onpV Elt bpr
said, going on with her work. Eyes, it's
true. Jim denied it, but saw it was true
from his face when James came out with
1t. Finally he said all right, it was true,
and what was going to do about itG
And | wanted to know who it was, and
first he wouldn't say. He only admitted 1t
was some woman lived over to Eastlake
l don't know many over that way re-
member now, he gets -four from some mills
near there, and feed sometimes.
Then he told me her name. 1t WASH
anyone | ever knew or heard of. | don
know how he met her-guess the way they
usually do. He said she WASH Z that sort
though-swore she was perfectly all right,
widow, lives by herself. Expect me TO be-
lleve that--and she a widow living alone!
II dunno which way Id rather have
IT, she went on, her voice fiat and dull.
The other sort might throw him over
Tor someone with more money, or get
tired of him. But this sort might like him
and hang on to him. Guess I'll cut chops off
that pork, | won't be able TO roast 1t now.
She gave me 8 lot of directions while she
worked on rapidly, trying to have the blg
meal ready on time. | might have been
deceived into thinking that she took 1t
very calmly indeed-except that she kept
her face turned away from me as much as
possible. When did see it, knew little
of what she had been through. For her
eyes were so swollen by crying that the
flesh around them was puffed up and al
most hid them-Esther had little eyes set
far in, and now they could hardly be seen
at all. Her nose which like the rest of her
face, was getting fieshy was shiny and
red and anything but beautiful-in fact,
Esther in grief was pitiable thing to see.
He's beast to do it she burst out
once-heating the pan before she put IN
the chops, as carefully as though her only
concern was 10 fry the meat crisp and
tender.
I've been a good wife to him. never
looked at another man. Why should he
ever look at another woman? bore him
three children, and kept his house COM
Portable all these years and looked after
him. And all | get is-that-another
womani Enid, you'll need more butter.
I'm boiling the corn on the cob, 1t quick
er."
| went out to the ice box for more but
ter, marveling at her Not detail of the
meal escaped her. Yet she had according
to her standards, lost the one thing in life
she cared for most-her husband.
After all, the greatest consolation IS
hard work. The woman who can afford
the luxury of brooding is not 10 be envied.
The best cure for a broken heart IS the
necessity of doing an immense number OF
small tasks
Go upstairs and wash your face, and
go in my room and take some of my>
powder" / told her. "Then you'll look
better for dinner"
What's the difference?" she asked |
bitterly "He wont look at me anyway. |
And If he does, he wont care. Do you |
think he'd race around and give up the |
woman in Eastlake, Just because ! had |
pink powder on my face?"
"Well, put on a clean dress" | urged. /
= You've spilled water on that. Or listen, |
Esther, stay up In your room, and I'll /
,all you when dinner is over.
mo, it's got to be eaten and me having
I latel will only delay the work. | stay as
am"
Again it was the little details that won
,ut. After all, they would be Esther's
alvation-as they had been, in the first
)lace, the cause of her sorrow.
Tomorrow-MarkC Comes Again.