Gilpin observer., 1920-01-08
. A WRIT
OF REPLEVIN
tCopyright.)
By MAX HART

Va AhStuuce, tutTe WIS the WOnQer-
ful silk-blue silk-gown, with Irish
point-lace and sash made from the
wing of an angel; there was the two
wheeled bicycle running on pneumatic
tires which the family refused you,
until life seemed drab and useless {;
there was the seventy horsepower tour
ing car, with its French driver; or per-
haps 1t was Il country home on Maine
nil, diamond sunburst, Il clockwork
horse in pale pink with n stiff tail-a
hrst suit of evening clothes, Daghis-
tan rug, new heels on your old shoes,
check from responsible sources, the
encouraging smile of a strange woman
whom you had discreetly admired,
the new crystal in your injured watch
1T might simmer on indefinitely.
This is the point. and it permits Of
no dissension, it allows no argument, it
Is unto itself an all-incontrovertible
fact; That which we have, we are
quietly pleased with. when it is good !;
but the keen and biting edge of our ap-
probation becomes dulled from the
first moment of possession-the wire
fine edge of the joyous, shocking thrill
OF novelty slides rapidly away, despite
our best efforts to hold 1t. and some Of
us become numb-very numb.
The "this-suits-me-fine" of the second
day loses One-half a tone, and there
can be no better way of illustrating
than to wander idly into the home Of
Mr.. James Brainard, on Morningside
Park.
Mrs. Brainard-Aline, of cOurse-is
sitting on a green couch in the morn
ing-room. Her eyes are fastened upon
q naphtha launch that scurres along
the surface of the Hudson mile away.
1t is a delightfully."- busy launch, and
for long time Mrs. Brainard watches
1t circle and line, until the water-spout
on the building next door blots 1t out
Around her is wealth-profuse, un-
restrained wealth. and the culture that
follows it. There are servants at the
end of each thin bell-wire. The floors
are inch deep with expensive rugs.
Paintings fill the bare spaces, and bits
OF statuary are scattered through the
larger rooms.
Wherever she looks. Mrs. Brainard
sees possessiOns-those things that she
owns. she and Jim Brainard, who, at
the movent of our impertinence, is puz-
zling over legal problem in Broad
street.
James Is very rich. very successful,
very much sought after and very close
to the ragged edge of smash-up, not
financial. not moral, not domestic, not
romantic-just plain smash-up, for
which no defining expression is yet
within the language.
And now to draw back the curtain.
Aline and James married in Dubuque
Iowa. and came to New York city OH
the first two hundred dollars. For a
long time after their arrival. James
operated upon fieeting basis, without
office. without practice. and frequently
without food.
He did little tasks around police
courts. and Aline was captain and gen.
eral manager Of the little apartment
on East NInety-third street. which
cleavered away from their tiny sink
lng-fund the sum Of sixteen dollars per
month. 1t was genuine sinking-fund,
living strictly to its name.
On East NInety-third street the land
lords run to furnished flats, and the
Brainards occupied one. 1t was small
beyond the Jokes In comic papers.
Aline promptly discovered how 1t
should be used, even If 1t were intended
for nfhin.r hn Il,
hung almost beside the door leading
into the hall, 1t was her thoughtful
custom to greet James upon his return
from downtown with wifely kiss,
which she delivered thu ough the leather
ring.
Not bit Of sense TO 1t, of course
but Aline liked II. and the ring just
covered her eyes. So. sometimes. Jim
couldn't tell that she had been crying.
When the little launch drifted out of
her sight the little fiat drifted In, and
for long time she sat In silence, re-
calling one familiar object after an
other, and wondering what had hap
pened to her and TO Jim In the years
that had crept between.
MOI SO very many years, she mused.
He was bit younger then, to be sure.
So was she.
But In those happy, pOverty-stricken
months. life had held something for
each Of them that 1t no longer pos
sessed. At least, If 1t still held 1t for
her. in q measure, II seemed not to for
Jim.
II was appreciation. she decided. or
course. Jim was comparatively happy.
He realized that his life was flowing In
smooth waters. He was pleased with
his beautiful home and with his wife,
but always In dull, inert way.
He had somehow reached tomorrow,
and had found It commonplace and,
worst of all. he was drifting away from
~ ,,.xI, 1t.