Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-08-07
A SWEETHEART AT THIRTY
The Story Of Woman's Transformation.
BY MARION RUBINCAM.
pro,rXcts,d by George Matthew Adams
AN UGLY SUSPICION.
(,bopter N,Nlu.

Caye up trying to convince Esther
sft,r n time that | did not want to nave
anvthinp 10 do with Mark Upjohn. She.
bad a curious mind, this sister-ln-law OF
mine. Once an idea was fixed IN her head,
il was practically impossible to get IT out
again. , .uo
I had liked Mark. l WAS not sure then
that | ever had liked HIM. l think was
in love with love, not with the man~the
ease with most young girls. And IN all tue
wears that passed, she had let the loo'
grow more firmly rooted-rthat was
froken-hearted when Mark went away
and married, and that l must be overIoy-
ed when he came back again, looking Tor
second wife.
If she only knewl
II was not that disliked Mark. No
woman thoroughly dislikes any man VINO Is
IN love with her. She may not love hln,
She NAV not approve of him, but she VIII
never be completely Indifferent. Perhaps
II is the egotist in all of us. We at least
approve OF the man for having the good
sense TO see our desirable quantities.
But | never saw Mark these summer
days. or thought of him, without having
another image come before my eyes-an-
other man Marks age, more successfui
than Mark, who had other qualities,
This man was Francis Meade, Bud $
employer, who that one evening had eX-
plored our end of the town with us md
ended by stretching himself out IN our
most comfortable chair and smoking a
long cigar while Vi and | made coffee.
| remember he said he made II point
70 know all his employees personally,
o en- to his office boys, and when he found
cal ability in any one of them, to push the
boy as hard as he could-to give nm a
start in business.
Mark had said something like that
but In what different way! tie was taking
what he considered a kindly interest IN
his nephew Bily--but Blilys damy
were afraid to contradict hlm tor lear ne
would withdraw his favor, which ne made
them feel every day. As for Billy, ne
frequently worked II hours out OF the
"a, for Mark.
And there was the physical difference,
too. Mark ut 40 was fat a nd settled, his
hair was thin, worn out in spots, and rolls
of flesh spoiled the outline of his face,
no matter from what angle you looked.
Francis Meade nj 40 was tall and slim
and well knit; he said he played tennis in
odd moments and that he spent many
evenings al an athletic club keeping HIM
self fit
But Of course could not tell Esther
this was not even conscious of il all my
self. | simply knew that the only sort Of
man ever could like would be man of
Francis Alcadcs type-never one like
Mark
Them as cant get what they want,
should take what they can get, Esther
semarked very ungrammatically IN an
river 10 some such thought of mine.
If can't have what | want, i d rather
do without, | answered.
Yes" she said, you always was q
fool. Enid
And seeming to feel at rest about
me now, she went on about some work,
and left me alone in the room.
And she was at rest In her mind, too.
For we had worried the. family a great
deal when we came back We were diff
ferent vet they could not exactly find the
difference For even when we dressed in the
badly made clothes that we had owned
for wears, and worked until We were
thoroughly tired out-even then, there
was a difference. After time, | began to
realize what this difference was
But as Esther left the room, Violet
came in. | had seen her standing out
at the gate, broom in hand and her damp
hair blowing off her forehead, talking to
Billy Diggs. Violet was one of the few girls
who could look charming under any cir
cumstances. She had been scrubblng the
porch, and had her skirt tied up over a
bright petticoat, and she looked little
like the statues of Dresden china shep-
herdesses, with her broom for the shep-
herdesS crook Billy, delivering groceries,
4 IL. /. IL, 4 70 Il
Billy brought us some mail on his
way past the postoffice, she said. This
looks like a letter for you from Helen.
Did YOU get maIl?' | asked Bud
had written but once since we came
home, one letter in two weeks.
II got-this."
She held out a picture postcard TO
me. 1t was nothing but a view of the
boardwalk at Coney. Under the picture
was little space for writing, and on it
was written in small, easily read letters:
Sorry you prefer the pastoral scenes
to the briny deep. The bunch-Toots,
Bud, and self-are here for the day"
And it was signed Pete
l looked at Violet questieningly.
"But | thought" / began.
81 know, she interrupted. ''He promis-
ed he would not run around with them
without telling me. don't want to take
him from his friends, but we know Pete
is not a good companion for him He hasn t
told me he has been going about with
him
/ tried to say, "Well, he will in your
next letter"
But | was not sure of it. An ugly little
suspicion was in both our minds. Suppose
Bud was not going as straight as he might.
neutrality-suspicious..