The Washington herald., 1922-09-03
The Beautiful
And Damned
By F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Continued from Yesterday.


Was this Maury? thought
Gloria. From anyone else the story
would have amused her. but from
Maury the infinitely appreciative,
the apotheosis of tact and consid
GRAFTON
"The-pan-ic-has- US
So ha-a-as-"
A drum of thunder from outside
drowned out the rest of the song;
Gloria shivered and tried to empty
her glass. but the first taste nau-
seated her. and she set IL down.
Dinner was over and they all
marched into the big room. bear
ing several bottles and decanters.
someone had closed the porch door
TO keep out the wind. and in conse-
quence circular tentacles of cigar
smoke were twisting already upon
the heavy air.
Paging Lieut.. Tannenbaumv
Again 1t was the changeling Maury.
Bring us the flute" a..
Anthony and Maury rushed into
the kitchen; Richard Caramet
started the phonograph and ap-
preached Gloria.
Dance with your well-known
cousin"
Il don't want to dance"
Then I'm going to carry you
around
As though he were doing some
thing of oyerpowerine Importance.
be picked her up in his fat little
arms and started trotting graveIy
about the room.
: Set me down. Dick! I'm dizxy,"
she insisted.
He dumped her in bouncing
bundle on the couch and rushed of
to the kitchen. shouting .'Tana!
Tana!"
Then. without warning, she felt
other arms around her. felt herself
lifted from the lounge. Joe Hull
had picked her up and was trying,
drunkenly, to initiate Dick.
Put me down" she said sharply.
His maudlin laugh. and the sight
of that prickly yellow jaw close to
her face. stirred her to intolerable
disgust.
AT once"
"The-pan-ic-" he began. but
got no further. for. Gloria's hand
had swung around swiftly and
caught him In the cheek. At this
he all at once let go, of her. and
she fell to the floor, her shoulder
hitting the table a giancins blow
in transit.
: Then the room seemed full of
men and smoke. There was Tana
In his white coat reeling about sup
ported by Maury. Into his flute he
was bIowing a weird blend of
sound that was known, cried An
thony. as the Japanese train song.
Joe Hull had found a box Of
candles and was juggling them,
yelling "One down. every time he
missed, and Dick was dancing by
himself In a fascinated whirl
around and about the room. It ap-
peared to her that everything In
the room was staggering in gro
tesque fourth-dimensiona gyra-
tions through intersecting planes of
hazy blue.
Outside the storm had come up
amazingly-the nlls within were
niled with the scrape Of the tall
bushes against the house. and the
roaring of the rain on the tin roof
OF the kitchen. The lightning was
interminabie, letting down thick
drips of thunder like pig iron from
the heart Of a white-hot furnace.
Gloria could see that the rain was
splitting IN at three Of the windows
--bnf she could not move to shut
them.
She was in the hall. She
had said good might but no one had
heard or needed her. It seemed for
an instant - though something
had looked down over the head Of
the banister, but she could not have
gone back into the living room
better madness than the madness
of that ciamor. Upstairs
she fumbled for the electric switch
and missed II In the darkness; <
roomfuf OF LIGHTNING showed her
the button plainly on the wan. but
when the impenetrable black shut
down. II sgain eluded her fumbiing
ringers. so she slipped on. her dress
and petficoat and threw herself
weakly on the dry side Of the half-
drenched- BED.
She shut her eyes. From downs
stairs arose the babel Of Z the
drfnkers puncfured euddenry nv 4