Evening star., 1921-09-25


II his dozen or more excursions
, the realm Of adventure. Spur
! by certain tales he had read in
book he had picked up in the
d. "a book that likened New York
new Bagdad-he had from time
time left his comfortable chair,
cred a taxicab and proceeded to
lie address chosen entirely at ran
". BY means always at the dis
al of q well-dressed man of gen.
lely gentlemanly appearance, he
entered one home and another
found what he was pleased to call
scnture.
adventure, the book had said. lay
lind every closed door, and Morley
it'll had found this true, since
n eating a meal in tenement
use was a real adventure to one
had breakfasted. dined and
pped. year after year. in the best
ID in New York. At a time when
,ry one else seemed to be entering
service of the Army or Navy
'ese little adventures had served to
,tp Morley Smith from feeling that
was entirely out Of things.
This pleasat May day Morley
nth felt unusually pleased with with
just been oversubscribed and he
It he had done his part in that
Il had thus hooked himself to the
.,.r chariot. He had subscribed a
oInd hundred thousand dollars and
nd worked on the clubs loan com.
ittee, actually securing an exact
illion dollars in subscriptions among
.he club members. including his own
description.
1t was evening. and a good dinner
'a!ped his self-satisfaction. The
vening was unusually warm. and
~, liked this. because there had been
ines during the winter when he
nad felt it necessary to complain to
he house committee regarding the
'.-rnperature. The only reply he had
'ad was that the house committee
ifhcult to get coal. The president
II the club himself had gone so far
IS to bring coal to the club in his
limousine, else there would have
"aen one night with no heat what
ever.
Morley Smith, sitting in his COM
Portable chair. tapped the bell on
the table at his side.
"A gin rickey," he said to the
waiter who came Immediately.
I'm very sorry. Mr.. Smith," said
the waiter contritely, but we are
out Oh your ldEoTlte GIN toudy. Inc
war. sir; there's none being import
ed now. l can give you a rickey
made with Blue Rose gin. sir. That's
all we have in the house."
"Beastly bother. this war" said
Morley Smith. VERY well. I'll try
this Blue Rose stuff. Rotten. I dare
say"
It's not what we would like it to
be, SIR" said he waiter.
-
WHEN the rickey arrived, Morley
Smith found it was certainly not
what he would have liked it to be.
To his exacting taste it seemed more
like gasoline than like gin. He
slipped the drink distastefully. I'm
mediately all his perfect satisfaction
with himself evaporated. Doing great
things by selling a lot Of money
burdened chaps lot Of liberty
bunch of the bonds himself and feel
ing puffed up about it 1t had meant
only that he had invested some of
his surplus money, on which his bank
had refused to pay him any interest
whatever. And that was all the war
work he had done.
He turned to his memories OF his
of the pleasant satisfaction that had
been SO glowingly present few
minutes before. Now they look
cheap and tawdry.,,. What had they
amounted to? He had gone to some
unknown door and had entered. just
case he had a we'll filled purse in
his pocket. In every case the solu-
tion of the difficulties he had worked
himself into so artificially had meant
handing out money. And he had
called that adventure. jolly bit Of
rot. what? Any silly ass could get
into trouble by knocking at a strange
door. and any spoofer could get out
of the same trouble by handing out
cash.
A deep and dire detection came
upon Morley Smith as he slipped the
abominable rickey that tasted like
gasoline. What no! his life had been
jolly well a failure, what? Even the
comfortable bachelorhood in which
he had wrapped himself was a cheap
and tawdry method Of escaping re-
sponsibilities when con s l d d
through the medium of a Blue Rose
gin rickey. He had made a life fight
to avoid a wife and children and to
assure himself utter comfort, and it
all eliminated in having to drink a
rickey that tasted like hair oil. Bah!
What about little shaver about
three feet tall. with yellow hair and
knees scratched and eyes that could
look up trustfully? What about a
kids hand that would cling to his?
Christmas and all that sort Of thing.
don't you know! Jove, if he had had
the nerve and had married Cora Flor
ence the boy might be in the avia-
tiOn this minute. An ensign. what?
commanding what-you-call-it of
flying boats. Coming to the club
txyirh dad 10 y,
Smith" All that sort of thing.
Morley Smith moved uneasily in his
chair. He had an intuitive glance
at how he must appear to hundreds
q well dressed nothing, a nobody in
a time of glory.
pc could not have stood Cora Flor
ence. He shuddered at the thought
of what life with her would have
been. Handsome. tall. well filled out.
brainy-she was all of those-but a
talker. And she was the only wom-
Sion on him. She was the only wom-
an he could think of as his wife.
If he had married Cora Florence he
would not have to be drinking a
Tickey that tasted like gasoline; she
would have had his favorite gin in
even if this thickheaded bar COM
mittee couldn't. She was efficient
but such talker!
Morley Smith heaved a deep sigh
and shook his head as he thought Of
what talker Cora Florence was.
Some young women talk moro or
less. but Cora never talked anything
Out more. She talked enthusiastic
ally and jcyously and eagerly, but
also continuously. No one else ever
had a chance to say q word. She
was the most tireless talker in the
world.
AS Morley Smith thought OF her
he could not remember that her talk.
ing had ever wearied him, because
she WAS bright and had IDEAS Nearly