The north Mississippi herald., 1920-09-17
The Wretched
Deceiver
By r. RAY BAKER

| Winnie Atom, as the cool DreeZe OF
Little Traverse bay caressed her brow.
| She was speaking to Leonard Brock
well, who sat on the hotel veranda be-
side her, striking imaginary flies on
| the railing with his dainty cane.
Leonard was not dainty. He was
more than six feet tall and the muscles
of perfect physique rippled under his
Palm Beach suit. He was good-look-
ing blond young man.
Winnie was the dainty one. being
fashionably slim and only five feet
three in height. She was a pro-
nounced brunette, and summer-white
frock with tilted pink hat made her
look exquisite.
eyes, it's so," replied Leonard, sti-
fling a yawn and watching a lake
steamer loaf into Petoskey harbor
"But, do you know, what appeals to me
most is to get away from driving the
everlasting motorcars. I've had so
much of it / was glad to leave the
cars in the garage and be able to
stretch my legs without depending on
gasoline"
you're right" Winnie agreed.
"Driving motors bores me to DEATH"
Poor, pretending Winnie! Her So
cial obligations consisted Of an occa-
sional visit to a dancing assembly back
In Chicago, when she was not too tired
from her activities behind the silk
counter. And all the motor she had
service on Aunt Martha's farm in cen
tral Ohio, where she spent last years
vacation.
For four years Winnie had saved
money, and it would have remained
in the bank where it was put If it had
not been for Phoebe Williams.
All Phoebe had done was to go and
| get married In sene manner she had
ccaught a rich man, and now when she
strutted into the store she left an elec-
tric out in front.
That had set Winnie thinking, and
she had come to the conclusion the
only way to enjoy life was to have all
the money one wanted and it seemed
the only way to such an attainment
was by means of the matrimonial Knot.
Her roommate had agreed, in so far
as the latter part of Winnies philos-
ophy was concerned.
"Its done lots and lots of times,
the chum declared, "and the rich men
are hooked the easiest at summer re-
sorts. All you need is enough dough
to live in style for few weeks at
one of those places, and the. hrst
thing YOU know some son of the idle
rich is proposing to you. It's easy,
they say, but for me, I'll stick to Jim
Wilson, even if he Is just truck
| driver"
That looked good-not the truck
driver, but the summer resort idea
50 when vacation time came Winnie
drew her seven hundred dollars from
the bank, invested a considerable por-
ton of it in clothing and took steam
er for northern Michigan. At Petoskey
she took a room in a hotel close to the
shore of the bay and began her cam
paign.
Winnie had the looks and personal
ity to win, and at the start the young
men staying at the hotel paid homage
to her. One of them, a frail anemlc
youth who never drew breath un-
favored with cigarette smoke, pro-
posed the second night she was there;
but somehow, for all of his evident
wealth. Winnie could not bring her.
self TO accept. She still retained girl
hood ideas in which marriage minus
love did not fit.
In the first week Winnie had three
proposals to her credit and five hun
dred dollars on the other side of the
ledger. She was progressing famously,
but she was not satisfied. All the men
who had placed themselves in her mar
ket were wealthy, no doubt; but they
we're insipd parasites clinging for life
TO the riches their more ambitious IA
Tiers had accumulated.
Then along came Leonard Brock
we'll. and she fell in love with him.
To be sure, the wealth that was evil
dent in his dress and bearing attract
| ed her as much as his handsome ap-
pearance: but before she had known
him twenty-four hours the money
question faded into insignificance be-
fore the mans wonderful personality.
She feared she would lose him, so
she felt obliged to continue the pre-
tense she had begun, which accounted
for her reference now and then to her
social sphere back home.
On the fourth night the climax
came. They walked along the beach,
in the light of full moon which
turned the blue of the water to burn
ished silver. They sat in an arbor OF
trees and there he proposed, and she
accepted
"The only girl ever could begin to
love" he breathed, and she told him
similar things; and they were the
truth.
But Winnie had a conscience and 1t
began to intrude itself. She tossed all
night in bed, unable to reconcile her
self to the idea of having won hus-