The Washington times., 1920-12-05
Fire of Youth
CHAPTER XVII. (Cont'd).

~ talk with Adela. he deter
mined to walk home in order to
clarity his thoughts.
He walked along Fifty-seventh
street through the stiffness OF the
night. past the country OF automo-
biles. in the region OF Broadway.
Seventh and Sixth avenues; past
centeel apartment houses and cost
ly dwellings into Fifth avenue, and
the mystery OF the night that was
wont to evoke his wonder and de-
light now contained something elu-
sive and sinister. because his soul
was troubled. Adela had spoken
Cf ambitions. What could he do?
Could he turn in his tracks and be
something else-an artist--a novel.
ist-a statesman
II was wonderful the way Adela
lad developed. From a little girl
In a country town she had become
this keen and fiery young woman,
very much at home in New York.
beautiful, admired. fit to be some
great mans wife-fit TO be great
herself Whereas, he, for his part.
had positively shrunken. That was
due TO the sensual Wilma expert
ence, he reflected bitterly. But 1t
was himself rather than Wilma he
was blaming.
"You kissed me once" she had
said tonight, and now you are
afraid to touch my hand" AS II
there were anything he'd rather do
than kiss Adela. But there were
good grounds for his fear. Sup
pose, however. she loved him
enough to ignore all past short
Comings? That was the thought
lie kept repeating endlessly in his
mind as he made his creaking
couch-bed in Twenty.third street.
The evening of Clarice's party
was at hand. Clarice had asked
Anthony to bring at least one other
nan and Anthony had selected
Douglas Nash.
It was not large party. Includ-
ing Clarice and Adela there were
only some ten or twelve people in
the room. Mostly they were young
men and girls from the League
classes, shrewdly picked by Clarice,
since youth is ordinarily too seri.
Gus for a frolic.
The girls had shortened their
frocks somewhat. prepared pima
fOres, some OF them, and all had
their hair down. some in pigtails,
some merely with bows or single
comb holding it back from the fore
head. Some of the young men
were in knickerbockers, and one
rudgy young artist, named Robin
son, seemed as though he would
hurst from his at any moment; An
tlOny and Douglas, however, and
one or two others conceded no far
tler than to wear Eton collars.
Douglas Nash seemed to develop
With a mushroom-like growth in
at warm atmosphere to a positive
I envy of childishness. 1t was as
though the long contemplation Of a
rich marriage forever fOrcvd upon
him by his mother demanded a
fierce reaction OF reckless gayety.
or som, reason he and Clarice
seemed peculiarly drawn to one an
Cther--to understand each other.
In Douglas. too. there was some
thing youthful and child-loving. Hn
and Clarice were soon whispering
together about the next move in
It's ceremonies, about shifting Of
I lrniture for the charades, about
distribution of refreshments. And
when Clarice was poor Sally Waters
sttin2 in the sun, waiting and wait
ing tor some one to come-and
Y he'll duly advised to wipe her eyes
and look east and west for the one
she loved best, it was Douglas that
she chose.
In Anthony. however. those hours
we're working a magical transfer
nation. Try as he might at first
he could not throw himself into the
atmosphere of childhood. But as he
looked upon Adela, with her brown
cyes-she was the long-legged Adela
6f his boyhood again, Of the time
when life stretched away to eter-
nifty, TO greatness-the land Of
Cockayne, when all things were fair
and all things possible.
Earlier in the evening he had
been jealous because the pudgy art
student, Robinson, had embraced
fdela in kissing game. But now
rs he looked at the short-frocked
Edela with the aura of light and
ilfinitude haloed about her beauti-
FIJI head. he was jealous OF all the