Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1920-01-01
What a Man Did
By WILL T. AMEs

tragedy as well as its sunshine; that
comes to the happy ending or to the
sorrowful one as the case may be,
and not as the narrator wills. II it
Is not just the kind of story you
would wish 1t to be search through
ancestries, analyze prenatal influences
and place the blame where it belongs.
Do not blame me.
June Phillips was the daughter of
her mother, and she Of her mother;
and the mothers mother the daughter
Of still another like mother. And
down that line of motherhood had run
a streak Of lightsomeness, and no
strain of eager willingness.
Easy, smiling. gay was June, beau
tiful with the beauty of great tawny
eyes, dark lashes and hair with the
CLINT Of mellow sunlight in it. She,
was soft and warm and pouting. En-
dowed at once with the lavish lure
of womanhood and with the pink and
creamy freshness of her scant seven
teen years, she drove John Halliday
half mad.
John was twenty-three and might
have been ten years more than that,
by the settled, strong way Of him. In
stead of school he had chosen to take
his education from an architect, af-
ter sixteen. Already he was a fin
ished draughtsman and on his way
to a place in his profession, under
Holly, his watchful employer.
To June futtering ~breathlessly on
the margin Of a never ending millen-
MUM Of grown-up "good times" the
attentions Of the responsible, we'll
groomed young architect combined
the virtues Of a continual social tri-
umph with limitless opportunity; for
John delighted to take the girl about.
A year Of this and then, because John
was insistent and the girl was the
daughter Of that particular race Of
mothers and possessed keen instinct
for the easy road to easy circum-
stances, they were married.
Two years later John Halliday,
knew, in the lottery that is marriage,
what sort Of prize he had drawn.
What depth Of stormy petulence hid
beneath the winsome pouting, he
could have told; but did not.
What greed for admiration, what
impish thirst to dabble in the shall
lows along the shores of the sea of
passion, what eternal restlessness and
hunger for excitement lay behind the
tawny eyes had been revealed to him
In long months of establishment.
But he vas strong, and as patient as
he was strong, and he bore with many
things.
Then, coming home after a two
weeks business trip, he found her
gone. She had left, the maid said,
the day after his departure, only in
structing the girl to remain aod keep
the house going till Mr.. Halliday's
return.
John maintained the home until his
lease expired, then sold the effects to
a new tenant and went to live at a
hotel. There were no babies. "God,
l thank you" said John, "for that
When John Halliday was thirty
three his professional opportunity
came. 1t took him to a great city and
to a profitable partnership. Still
young, enjoying reputation and es'
tablished position, his earnings well
in excess of his needs. life held much
~ ppopnico fo. him
Then it was that, walking home for
exercise through a sparkling avenue
in the orange sunshine Of a late DC.
tober afternoon, he met her-squarely
face to face.
A single glance was sufficient tG
verify the conclusion John Halliday
long ago had arrived at concerning
his wife. Everything about her-ir
the character Of her clothes, in the
manner Of her couture, in the degree
In which she had insulted with pig
ment the God-given splendor Of hel
eyes and skin, In her carriage, in the
way she held her head-was the mark
of the woman who has traded hersel1
for the thing she calls "life;" ant
who is satisfied with the transaction
and has no regrets.
She was quite unabashed. eHello
John" she remarked, easily and witt
her ever ready smile. 'Have you com
to life enough to visit the cityl You're
looking so prosperous?
$50, IL I may say So" replied John
"are you"
"Oh, I'm having a perfectly lovely
time. There's no place like the biz
town, you know. You'll like it If vol
ever come here to live"
81 live here now"
Really Well, you might come
and see me some time-if you'll tele
phone ahead. The name is Spencer
Miss Spencer; Selkirk apartment
Fifty-flrst street. Now / must run
along--Good-byp
With that she was gone; and JohI
Halliday, mistaken. master Of his owl
nerves. proceeded on his way. On
convincing? Improbable? ! thinl
so myself. But, remember, / told vol
this was a story from real life.
It was a full week after this tina