Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-11-25
THE MAN WHO WAS TIRED
OF HIS WIFE
BY LUCILLE VAN sLYKH
Copyright Bpttersok 90.

s,r suburban society ana In preserV-
ipe her beauty.
vAI,GERY (THE 1MP)1rhirty-two,
%bt But fifteen in spirit: hoIdins ,,os thH Key
m.9,Sshand snatcher" by the neighbors.
,,aroery's entry on the suburban scene
~ ,omance pulsing again IN Charles
eS aud stirs resentment In Bertha.
w' ,oddling of Charles develops the
ihs, he, mat ho had known her as lone
Isuos kid and had been Kind to her. She
sS sSmIts her Identity and her gratitude.
TIE STROBE up the street grinning
4 II boyishly, hands in pockets. feeling
,.,,nressibly soothed and exhilarated.
,nlsssantly naughty-young! Life was
.ssin picnicky, care-free thing. A
aa,SIcuIous scrap OF schooIbov song
,,,irred long forgotten memories.
yorbere to 60 but out,
Nor,bere to come but IN.
N, feets 20 anywhere they please
leaves the ways to them.
There was rollicking tune-he found
"a not forgotten It; he hummed IL an
.be way home. He reacned aown W
weak Cunnin's ears until the dro"s'
sup yelped in comical dismaE. c,
''EHave a quick run, scoutF oharies
vas facetious. He opened the aoor ano
,hr,st the dog, sleepy and barking, INTO
&s night. Cunnin' waited seoately'
w ~ suspecting he was not on leash.
not ou.rtl nrscntly he shook himself eau
tiously, shifted the moist air ana amoied
quietly away. ..,, % ,bo s+o;rs
rather Lady Macbethish IN ner 'ra''-
ios MN %negIigce and long. braids.
ms .T,nnin's leash Is on the newer
-. n was too wet for me so left
lin for you."
"0h, he's out on his own" Charles
answered easily. VIA, ,
..rcally. "Why; he'll be LOST tina re dmwH never
Ssirs i now. "Charles, he'll be lost.
~."So such luck" Charles lighted a
,,rorette I he felt friendly with the uni.
rorse Rertha included. "Ho, hum
We ' yswned. Grand night for Sleep
ing, ehT -, por.ho, 20 toro cams mas.
s,orstely' f'Do you think l could sleep
aher what I saw tonight!'
"And what" he asked facctiously,
"a,d you see tonight?" Suddenly
dissgreeable certainty that it had been
s ,ss Rswsons' car that passed the Dear
horn house crept over him. :,
"If you think" she put her hand
"a her head dramatically that I'm
foing to endure this sort Of humilia-
fion' You're very much mistaken.
Everybody in the cnr saw you, every
body In the car knew that 1t was you.
will not have you hanging around
that woman! l will not have it,
He took hold of her arm rather
roughly. He led her to the library and
mt her down like a naughty child in
n stiff backed chair that he particularly
d.spised. His eyes sparkled dan
gerously. Gone was his happy mood OF
the moment before.
"Cut out that injured stuff he
ordered crisply. II suppose you cant
help being the sort Of snob you are,
living as we have with these suburban
tabby cats all these years. But for
heavens sake don't make any more OF
fool Of yourself about this than you
can help. Little Maggie Sherman is
Just as good or darn sight better than
most Of the folks that live around here.
I don't believe she cares whoop
whether they're decent to her or not.
But understand this. l do. You're
going to call on her. And you're going
to tell your fine friends the truth"
THAT she was n servant employed
by neighbOr of yours Bertha in
terrupted maliciously.
THAT she was protege of my Aunt
4 DebOrah's," he corrected her; that
Aunt Deborah was particularly fond of
her; that she was prac tically part of
our family all one SUMMER. Put it any
way you like, but put 1t decently. And
understand besides, that you're going
to be what you call nice to her. Not
catty NICE but nice Or I'll know
the reason why"
"You can't make me-" Bertha de-
/ fed him.
She was breathing hard.
oh, | don't suppose | can he
admitted dryly. But If you have even
grain Of common sense. If you stop
to think at ALL you'll see that that's
the only way you have of saving your
face. | don't care little bit what
the dubs around here think. Margery
cares less. But you do care. You care
,ore than you care about anything
tnink, seems to be the only thing thai
ever greatly concerns you. Well, wha
they're going to think this time is 60
ing to be exactly what you choose to
nave them think, because nobody else
Is going to do any. caring or talking.
30 It's up to you."
You haven't any right to threaten
I'm not threatening you. I'm tell
ing YOU" His patience was insult
ing. Personally, ! think you've bee.
|Sctng more of fool than usual. If
Eoad have the good sense to take the
|Snip OF your shoulder and meet NlargIt
halfway you'd fud out what a good
Fly she is. Why, Aunt Debs and
IaCie Rod and I used to laugh our
aeaaS oil at her, she was so droll. We
never knew what she was going to do
say next. Everybody liked her. She
%us the best pal ! ever had. Moth
lug ever stumped her. Nothing-except
glrl ln-a-cr-white dress and blg
"Saofn hat with pink roses on tt"
vanS ne p0tted Bcrtha's shoulder awk-
Sray; Come now, be fair! Mar
|sIlS Is She owned right up that she d
MAYS MAYS mated you. You see, she had
pteMy good cause. from the momenr
SSHeh l met you I sort of forgot her
b"no b"e was only thirteen, scraggly,
|TtS WITTY kid, and I'd been playing around
ahou. hu her all summer. l guess it Just
rSUut rS broke her heart. so she simply
and dd away, suffering God knows what,
hail. was so smitten with YOU that |
|"'IGly mnIiy noticed she'd gone-didn't really
|TSHte any decent effort to find her. Gao,
|dav"st selfish brute l was in those
Sso% SI-- - He stared ut her. He didn't
II dIGp"tte "te was thinking aloud. And YET