Charlevoix county herald., 1921-09-16

He looked at her with a great rush
of admiration and affection. She was
not only pretty and q clever wOm-
an; but, In her plain black, with this
new aspect of gravity and dignity, and
with new notes of pathos and appeal
in her exquisite voice, he realized that
she was an extremely charming wom-
| an.
Before ne said goCd-by to her, he
had asked her to marry him. He well
remembered her look OF bright and In
terested surprise.
"D'you mean to tell me you have
forgotten your lady love Of the hoop
skirts and ringlets" she had de-
handed.
| "No," Peter had told her, frankly.
| II shall always love her, In a way.
But she is married; she never thinks
of me. And like you so much, Alix;
L like our music and cooking and
tramps and neutrality-suspicious.. Isn't
that pretty good basis for mar
| riage?"
mol" Alix had answered, decidedly.
! Perhaps if we're madly in love with
| you / should say yes, and trust to
little fingers to lead you gently, and
so on"
He remembered ending the CONVEX
! sation in one of his quick moods Of
| irritation against her. If she couldn't
take anybody or anything seriously
| he had said.
Poor Alix-she was taking life seri-
ously enough tonight, Peter thought,
| as he watched her.
"Tell me about Cherry" he said.
Cherry is well, but just little thin,
and heartbroken now, Of course. Mar
tin never seems to stay at any one
place very long, so l keep hoping"
Doesn't make good !" Peter said,
shaking his head.
Doesn't seem to! It's partly Cher
ry, l think" Alix said honestly. "She
was too young, really. She never
quite settles down, or takes life In
| earnest. But he's got a contract now
for three years, and so she seems to
be resigning herself, and she has
| maid, l believe"
"She must love him." Peter submit
ted. Alix looked surprised.
why not?" she smiled. II suppose
when you've had ups and downs with
a man, and been rich and poor, and
sick and well, and have lived in half
a-doZen different places, you rather
take him for granted" she added.
"Oh, you think it works that wayT
Peter asked, with keen look.
well, don't you think so? Aren't
lots of marriages like that?"
you false alarm. You quitter!" he
answered. Alix laughed, a trifie guilt
lily. Also she flushed, with great
wave of splendid young color that
made her face look seventeen again.
Your father left yOu-something,
Alix?" Peter asked presently, with
some hesitation.
THAT" she answered frankly, us
where Anne comes in!"
"Anne?"
ANNE and Justin came straight
over" Alix went on, "and they were
really lovely. Doctor Younger and
George Sewall were here every day
you and George were named as execu-
tors l was so mixed up In policies
and deeds and overdue taxes and in
terest and bonds"
poor old Alix, II 1 had only been
here to help you'll" the man said. And
for moment they looked little con-
sciously at each other.
tsNNa1I onvuouv ha ,yiy II racuynad
hastily, "when 1t came to reading the
will, Anne and Justin sprung a mine
under us 1t seems that ten years
ago, when the Strickland patent fire
extinguisher was put upon the mar
ket, my adorable father didn't have
much money-he never did have,
somehow. So Anne's father, my Un-
Gle Vincent, went into it with him to
the extent of about three thousand
dollars"
Three thousand!" Peter who had
been leaning forward, earnestly at
tentive, echoed in relief.
THAT was all. Dad had about
three hundred. Dad did all the work,
and put in his three hundred, and Un-
Gle Vincent put i'm three thousand
and the funny thing is" Alix broke
off to say, musingly, uncle Vincent
was perfectly splendid about it; I.my-
self remember him saying, Don't
worry, Lee. I'm specializing on my
own responsibility, not yours"
"Well?" Peter prompted, as she hes
itated.
"Well. They had a written agree
ment then, giving Uncle Vincent q
third interest in the patent, should 1t
be sold or put on the market"
"Ha ~ Peter calculated. struck.