Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-08-23
A SWEETHEART AT THIRTY
The Story OF Woman's Transformation.
By MARION RuBINCAM.
Projected by George Matthew Adams
WE PREPARE TO LEAVE.

SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS.
Enid Haines at 35 looks so, and is
considered q hopeless old maid by the
people in Henly Falls. She lives with
her brother Jim and his wife, Esther,
Laura the oldest daughter, james, and
Violet, youngest and prettiest.
Niolets decision to go to the city to
college saves Aunt Enid from sinking
entirely into hopeless middle age. She
goes to the city with Vi, and the two,
freed from Esther's oppression, sudden
ly find out what life can hold for them.
vi is in love with Bud, the affair is not
very happy. When they return for the
summer vacation, Enid looks scarcely
80. Mark Upiohn, an old beau, comes
around again. Lau ra marries. Jim quar-
rels with his son, who mentions a woman
his father knows in some other town. There
is reconciliation between Jim and Esther.
Enid definitely refuses Mark, and Violet
has letter from Bud asking her to come
back to the city.
CHAPTER LxI.
'I must 90" Violet said to me- Bud
wants me.
That in itself was sufficient for her.
As for myself, | wanted nothing more
than to get back to our little apartment
in the city We lived our own lives there
here, we were subjects to Esthers des-
potism, which irked us, no matter how
benevolent she intended it to be.
Helen comes out to see us this week,
j said. she's taking vacation. We cant
go until after that"
''All right Vi said with little sigh.
"In tell her how much / want to go
back. and she won't mind if we all live
together for week or so. I'll write to
Bud tonight"
Better go to bed and forget about it
till tomorrow" / answered. There's
no mail from the village until tomorrow
at FIVE. Go off in the woods in the morning
and write to him. I'll do your work"
mo, thanks" Vi answered. "Tomor-
row is too far away"
/ smiled a little in the dark.
There is no tomorrow In the calculations
of youth, though all life is a tomorrow
for them. Youth looks st the present
moment, age looks backwa rds. Few of us
are content to live In, and believe in,
the future.
Feeling her unhappiness, / was rest
less too. Hours later / was still awake.
i got up and looked down the hall The
light shone out from under the door of
her room.
/ had my own thoughts too, more
than enough to keep me busy. Esther
said several times that she wanted to
go to the city this winter, and now /
was sure she really intended to do it.
There were several reasons why.
For one thing, / had only enough
money for part of the year. l talked
it over with Esther only that morning.
II am going to send my check for the
first half of the college term / said.
THAT will be until February. That
will leave enough In my bank account
to cover our rent until the end of JAM
uary, and enough besides to keep us
quite comfortably-in fact, by being
very economical we might have enough
TO stay on In the city until March Then
vi would escape the worst part of the
country winter-and you know the cold
always bothers her."
''She ought to be used to it," Esther
grumbled. "Shes spent some II winters
in Hen.y Falls.
But her health is never 80 good in
the winter" | answered "She has q
cold from December until March, usu-
ally
"Well, she's. likely to spend several
more winters in the country" was all
the sympathy Esther expressed. "If
she d bundle up warm she wouldn't get
so many colds"
After time Esther said,
maybe Jim would pay Wis expenses
and the fat you got and all that, and /
could go with her this winter. 1t perked
you up so-and l guess need some
thing to ohappen to me like what happened
% you"
1 said nothing. After all, / knew /
would do whatever my sister-in-law de-
eided. could not help myself.
"Guess Jim might pat with the money