Oxford Democrat., 1921-07-19
10 Win the Love Of
Philip Usard
By DORA NOLAN
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That "A woman with fair opportun.
tty and without an absolute hump
may marry whom she likes" And
vanity Fair" being the book chosen
as the weeks English lesson for the
senior class at the Pitman high, It
came naturally about that this frag-
ment Of the philosophy Of wise man
should be the subject Of discussion by
group Of girl students gathered In
corner Of the big assembly room
why, it's no more to be doubted
tnat Professor Banks toupei" This
calm statement by Susan Belden ought
TO have settled the question forever
Tor hadn't Susan Uttered the steps
Of Pitman's school system with heart
breaksf Nor was she the prettiest
girl In the class, by several.
Some budding iconoclast In the
group murmured, sotto voce, "Her
mother feeds 'emr This drew smoth-
cred giggles. But II was Anne Tyson.
the acknowledged brains Of the senior
class. who had the temerity to open
ly qualify the dictum Of the class
belle.
you can win man. girls. by trick
cry. But You can't keep him by the
same method-n0t II he's worth it"
Came day when this shaft, sped al
fair mark. was to turn. boomerang
like. and fiy back at the archer.
Fate seems to have her own In
scrutible reasons for requiring certain
pairs Of individuals to "fall In" side
by side and march In step, even when
there Is no particular sympathy. or
even liking. 1t was that way at school
and afterward-with Sue Belden,
daughter Of the proprietor Of the
towns one little department store,
and Anne Tyson. whose father was
the towns leading physician.
They lived on the same street,
played in the same group as children.
were members Of the same class In
"high." both graduated from the COM
mercial course-and then obtained po-
sitions In the same ofice-that Of
big chair factory. which was Pitman's
leading industry. And to top It Off
fate carried her fantasy so far as to
plunge them both In love with the
same man at the same time.
Philip Utard. son Of the senior
member Of the firm. had been trans.
ferred from the Boston headquarters
to the Pitman plant to learn the de-
tails of production. And gossip spec
ulated as to whether he would not fol
low the example of his father and oi
an elder brother-and acquire also -
life partner from among the estab-
llshment's female personnel. Tha;
was getting to be quite the Utard
way.
II Philip did mediate any such
step 1t was soon apparent enough
the watchful gossips-that his choice
lay between Anne Tyson and Susa'
Belden. for Philip divided his leisur'
very evenly between the Tyson an;'
Belden homes, or escorting the girls
alternately to such entertainments a
the town afforded. Perhaps he eli
joyed the company Of Anne's father
for Doctor Tyson was a man OF broad
and genial culture. And 1t was sti!
said Of Sues mother that she "fe''
EN-"
Anyway, on certain day In Janu'
ary 1t would have been necessary for
Phil Utard himself to toss up penny
had he been pinned down to a deci-
sion there and then.
II was on this day that Susan took
close note Of Anne's heightened color
as Utard passed close to their desks.
She leaned slightly toward Anne. and
with a laugh that was Just little
machine made. inquired whether she
remembered the schoolroOm discus
sion ON the Thackerayism. "What
cocksure little idiots we were!" she
exclaimed. "yfise men change their
minds, don't they. Anne-and wise
wOmenT
There was a challenge in the girls
voice. But from the well-poised Anne
II got no response beyond non-com-
initial sometimes"
Yet the thoughts Of Anne were "long.
long thoughts" in the hour intervening
between her arrival home and the
serving of dinner by the rotund Lu-
cinda. boss Of the Tyson menage. This
hour Anne habltually spent before the
fire In the living room awaiting the
doctors return from lbs afternoon
round Of calls.
II was here that Anne confessed to
herself what she had never confessed
before-that for weeks she had been
irving with all her might and main
like the nursery rhyme man OF the
bramble bush-to win the love Of Phil
10 Utard. And had she. like the
bramble bush man, scratched out both
her eyes In the proceedingf
Just because she considered herself
n more tit wife than Sue Belden Tor
man of Philips mentality. did 1t fol-
low that she would be able to make
him happieri Suppose that, with de-
liberate effort. she won him-wouldn't
he be very likely to discover later
that he had been the man
of her choice. instead Of her being
the woman Of his? And would that
make for happiness for eitherf There
was nothing for her to do but Jump
right back into that bushi
That evening Philip came to call
and departed vainly trying to recall
what he could possibly have done to
so change Anne toward him. Not
once had she responded to word or
look of his in her usual bright. sym
pathetically interested way. And
when her father appeared after his
office hours she excused herself and