Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-01-30


able to somebody's blunder.
4 AOne of the Fates. womanlike.
loses her measuring-stick. or another
misplaces her scissors; some ones for
tune Is cut too long or too short, and
hence ane suffer. while another re-
3olceA Jove. too. may nod IN his
O,ympfan easy-chair. permitting the
brat Cupid to carry notes between We
nus and mortal man, thus breeding
deathless love and Trojan wars and
no end Of pretty curses for the world.
Now, Alcis J. Bowdin-familiary
known e. .Alky" behind his straight
back-owned or manipulated as many
besss steers as Abraham had sheep.
In hiS youth he had come across the
continent with long-horned. long-leg-
ged specimens consigned to the stock
yards; his six-shOoter and his wit had
been equally quick-triggered. That
was how he had gotten along and up
in the world. Few people mad ever
put anything over on AlciS j. Bow
din-wh ich places him in a peculiarly
vulnerable position, you might say, as
regards the activities of the three
Fates.. ~
Surely old Alky shouldn't have sus-
pected Ethel Cray. He had always
believe In handling a yearling with
a long rope, and he mad given consid-
cradle latitude Of action to his rather
delicate Harvard-bred son. who Incl
dentaliy had spent four years under
the Cambridge elms and returned TO
the streets OF Manhattan with no let
tiers after his name. If Wilfred want
ed a Japanese valet or a racing mono
plane or a pretty private secretary,
they were his to command, provided
Wilfred never overleaped his generous
allowance. From this We must not
infer that Mr.. Bowdin was an easy
boss, even in his sons case. But how
many eyes has a spider. and how
much attention had the energetic cat
tie baron to give to the one individual
who was to inherit nightly from him,
provided he did not make young
fool Of himself or, as his father put 1t
in his spare moments OF confidence,
III he don't cut himself on his own
wire"
Ethel Cray earned every cent she
got in wilfred's small offices. adjoin-
ing the plutocrat establishment over
which old Alky presided. Her busi-
ness was to assist Wilfred. to take
errands. She was possessed OF consid-
cradle personal charm. which was
surely not her fault. Her brown hair
had touch of red In 1t. suggesting
fire in a brush heap. She had fine
pale skin. and eyes which were some
3,
possessed Of great intelligence. Most
of the girls round the office thought
them cold. Perhaps they were right
in this thought, for Ethel Cray, at
least to outward seeming. was not
susceptible. She might have been. as
some suspected. eaten with ambition.
CECRETLY she rather despised her
~ employer. wilfred Bowdin, seeing
in him the second generation Of a
quickly made fortune. a princeling
made to order and destined to sQuan-
der the millions which Alcis J. Bow
din had accumulated. as rumor had 1t,
at the point Of gun. There was
something pathetic about Wilfred. she
admitted. He had nice eyes. but his
look was usually one Of puzElement
at the business which his father had
thrust upon him merely that his son
might appear to be occupied. He was
ing of highballs and conquests. equal.
ly damaging to his naturally fran
constitution. Seeing him day after
day in q relation which she endeavor-
ed vainly to keep on strictly BUSH
ness basis, she realized the depths OF
ethereal spaces between the planets.
He had been over year In his dummy
office, pretending to be absorbed in
affairs: yet Ethel was An hourly wit
ness to his inadeQuacy. And some
times she wished that the poor child
wouldn't pfattle 30, boring her with
condolences which any Intelligent adult
should have considered sacred.
One morning in iste Neveniber she
stood in Wilfred's Office fling away
came In. his hat on his head. the mink
collar Of his overcoat thrown back
from his shoulders. It was half-past
nine, old Alky's usual hour. but his
appearances in Wilfred's ONCE was
was Z smallish man. like Wilfred: but
unlike his SON. his every line and
gesture was expressive OF nervous
strength and uncomfortable energy.
AZ he stood there an instant. his enor-
twisting Of his rugged mouth. his keen
little eyes regarding her through
buShy eyebrows, she had feeling
that Mr.. Bowdin was working under
q strain. that the fierce racing ma
chine which had driven him these
and hurl the driving brain into the
sands Of destruction.
where's Wilfred?" he asked
through his cigar.
Hes not down yet. Mr.. Bowdin."
she replied, q little frightened.
Him! When does he usually get
About half-past ten," she told him,
adjusting the time schedule in favor
Of WtIfrsd, who seldom showed up
.Hm. send him in to me when he
yea NJ. Bowdin."
Whsn he had gone she had the feel
ing OF little girl who had been pun
lshsd for some stupidity. She was
just . tribe sofry for Wilfred: he had
such . pretty way OF clothing his
weak ideas In snowy phrases. just as
he clothed his weak body in fashion
able garments. Then she thought, as
innumerable others had thought. that
the girl who married Wilfred would
be mighty lucky in a worldly way.
Wilfred was sole heir to the Bowdin
fortunes. Wilfred would be az putty
in the hands of a graceful feminine
thinking entirely of herself, but OF
her brother Bob. who was now in his
senior year at the Boston Tech and
would be a brilliant architect some
day. provided poverty did not blight
him before his time for graduation.
She was worrying about Bob this
morning-she often worried about
him; but now she was considering his
case with something like despair.
Wtlfred came in at IL o'clock. He
was q delicate looking young man of
about twenty-four. His mouth. a
rather softer version of his fathers.
held . monogrammed cigarette at a
loose angle. That he had already en-
Joyed his morning cocktail was obvi-
Gus. for its perfume surrounded him
like 4 spectral gas. He wore his
clothes with a sort of quiet bravado
and Iooked-as the sons OF sudden
fortune often do-like the flimsy de-