The Washington herald., 1921-05-08
Wherein Fate Plays a
Whimsical Prank or TtDo,
and, for Once, Gets the
Worst of 1t.

lVX bred He had once been Interested In
breeding horses. and the terms had retained
. place in his vocabulary. He was . good
natured, easy going individual, not particu-
larry brilliant. and, above an. neither keenly
snalytical IN his thinking processes nor nm
Seky In his use Of words When he called his
wife thoroughbred he meant It for . com
ptimsnt. The trouble about 1t was that hs
vas right and nexsr insw just how thor.
soshiy night 10 waA
Those who know horses WI ten you what
splendid qualities ensue from long and care
ful breeding, such as strength, beauty, en-
durancs, spirit, and vitality. Your poor,
stodgy work horse has none Of these. Yet
the work horse is patient and plods and
trutges, takes things as they come with
sort Of tatalistic philosophy. accepts the good
Of life while he stoicaIly endures the bad and
while he never rises to great heights. has the
eompensating consolation Of never sinking Il
great depths Whereas the thoroughbred,
keyed to q high tension. is startled by his own
shadow, Jumps at a sound, trembles under
restraint, and spends practically most Of his
life In Q state Of quivering nerves.
Mrs. Mott was Thoroughbred Sensitive.
ptoud. and refined, her life had. fortunately,
been sheltered from every disturbing influ.
ence Fate had dealt gently with her. She
had not the faintest idea Of how she would
act under the stress Of powerful emotion, for
the reason that the depths Of her emotions
lad never been stirred
The Motts had been married six years, and
had a single child, Lucille. who was five years
old, the idol Of her parents 1t had been .
happy marriage, or rather, to be exact, It
had been a tranquil and contented marriage
Mrs. Mott was as devoted 30 her husband as
she felt a woman could possibly be. She
loved his cheerful disposition. his kindliness,
and his tenderness to herself. Probably. II
you had asked her what she admired most in
her husband. she would have told you that It
was his trustworthiness
From which one might have deduced that
Mrs. Mott was inclined to be selfish, the quail
ity which appealed to her most being the one
which gave her the greatest comfort OF her
devotion to her child, however. there was no
question. It must, furthermore. be added
that Mrs. Mott was twenty-six years old slen-
der, and exceedingly pretty.
It all began upon evening when Mott.
detained by an engineering problem at the
ONCE Of the steel company by which he was
employed, tslephoned to his wife that he
would not be home until late and suggested
that, after Lucille had been put to bed, his
wife raIl afh harS h0 IfHrad IN,
the neighborhood- 1t happened that this
triend-a Mrs. Morris-was giving a party
that evening. and there Mrs. Mott, for the
nrst time. met Franklin Elder.
Even a. he clasped her hand Mrs. Mott
discerned the manner Of man he was-hand-
some, charming. selfish unscrupuIous, and
indtscrininately amorous. His adroitness
amused her. He held her hand just long
enough and pressed 1t Just tenderly enough
to convey to her the impression-his eyes
aiding and abetting the eommunication-that
she appealed to him A whole volume can
Be expressed In single handciasp. She
Ea1ed charminsiy. and promptly dismissed
him from her mind.
It was nearly hour later when, seated
alone upon a sofa, she saw him approaching
He seated himself at her side and plunged
heaHons into amusing TRADE against
social functions which soon had her lauxh
ing. Then her husband came 10 take her
hons and she introduced him to Franklin
Eldsr.
The Elder type b too common to merit
many words Of description Men who DUR
sus their Hscit diversions msthodacally, with
sut sven pssion as an excuse or pretsxt: to
whom no human ties appeal, and who. otten
under . pleasing exterior. conceal the ruth.
lessnsss of . beast Of prey. ara unfortunate
b. familiar to every community.
II vas Just two days afssr Mrs. Morris,
DArty that Mott came home quite excited.
DO you remember that chap Elder -.
met the other nasht7" he aid. well TODAY
he was elected q director Of our COMPANY.
He came into the once and shook hands with
ma I'd nks to have him up for dinner Soma
nisht-
within . few weeks Elder had become a
frequent visitor At the Motts' household.
Mott, who was entirety without guile himself.
liked him exceedingly. Through Elders In.
nuencs be had been promoted 10 more In
erstive position and he fslt under deep obi
CATION 70 him Often. when he called, he
found Mrs Aott alons. and yst, IN looarinG
back to &c an IN after years. she ooun never
REMAINDER that he had By WORD Or act opsnty
ayowsd ths feelings toward hsr vhaoh shs
always knsv he entertained
shs found him ooneentai and abrasive.
and a. long a. he kcpt hi thoushts ana d.