Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-12-18

Srouokt out BY the eor. but 'nteT
s,tsa IN Cherry. His modest fund
% a." %incestcd .eifh her father, .
ufW MOHUN, a scy.mdde fndncie
isoder. Too busy to think Of ~
,ckiIdren he leaves them to :.
vPS MOHUN, toho has successfully
rvii;pated the social side OF Hte.
1RUCE COWAN, a, motorcdr sa!es
man. OF Gaze man type, Of uhon
cherry inugines she Is enamorcd.
yoB M0HUN. son, is a typicdl'v rech
esOReGB SSi IYCETT: elderly chorus
pkilosophising as the story develops
S6HN CHICHESTER. ,.nhom Mrs
Xohun roald like to call so" lin lao
CHAPTER XN
Work '.
NIIERRY slept uneasily and awok'
u nnhoppy. It seemed after the inter.
,;ow with her mother that something
,ifal had gone out of her life--perhap.
ths ycstIgcs of youthful idenlism center
ins around the family as r., cntity--tht
snirit Of the clan. Her mother hat
t;ld ts;lcd them since the hour Of their mis-.
fortunc, which seemed TO have robbed
h.r Of some intrinsic quality Of charac-
Mr that had been hers before. Cherry
rss "a startled now to discover how wide
was the breach that had grown between
tbem. Yesterday. even. she had benn
sblc to think Of her mother with a's,nilt
M indulgence. Today she could think
only of her father. What she had seer
Ind shocked her and the situation had
been brutal. But her severity had been
instructive. She had no regrets for her
frankness and expressed none at the
hrenEfast table where her mother joined
her. showing. as Cherry did. the indi :
cations of a restless night. Neither
alluded to their conversation. which ha'!
notrutialitics for even greater spiritual
Samopc II was her fear of this which
represscd Chcrry's one impulse TO throw
hersrlf into her mother S arms and
nlcod with her for the dignity of the
family, But the moment passed. Alicia
WAS iciIy civil. She had the mind of Il
child with the manners Of woman of
thc world. and these had always served
her with kind of spurious dignity.
;mprcssiyc to those who did not know
hcr well. It was the attitude OF one
above rcproarh intended as rcbukc to
her contumelious daughter. Cherry
understood and was silent.
OF course Chprry's conscience was
clear rs to her visit TO Dnvid's rooms.
tut that did not rob her mothers rev
elaion Of any of its significance. lcO-
plc.-mcn-wcre talking about her
vieE. What hurt her more even than
the knowledge that people were tax
inr was her mothers indifference rs
To the facts of that visit. Any weapon
had served for Alicia's ripostc and she
had chosen il blindly in her rage.
Rather childish and silly. but none tn"
less hurtful because OF that.
In the old days Cherry had done many
things almost as indiscrcet, dining, sup
ping late. alone with boys. staying out
until all hours of the night. and her
mothers protests had never been at the
most moro than perfunc;Ory. But
Cherry had alrcndy discovered that the
change in their fortunes had also
changed her relations with the world
and tho worlds with her. In the hal
cyon days she had been merely n spelled
child doing what she pleased. Now she
was girl with II reputation to lose.
Then, she had chosen hcr friends care
lessy and shrugged the rest Of the
world out Of existence. Now. thf
world seemed TO weigh more heavily in
the scale against her. 1t shocked her
to discover herself rather conspicuous
against tho background Of her peccadil-
loes. With this choice morsel of gossip
to their tongues. Cherry already stood
condemned.
Fate chose to be ironical. Cherry
srinncd into the bathroom mirror as she
washed out some underclothing. 1t
would have been funny it it weren't 30
serious" John Chichester had probably
known of this for some weeks. Per-
haps-. Cherry dropped the garment
with splash. and stared at her sur
prised image. This morsel of gossip had |
reached John Chichester's ears!
This now explained why he had never
proposed to her. The coincidence was
startling. His attentions had suddenly
ceased shortly pftcr that visit. And
David Sangrcc. she remembered. had
fallen at abou: the same time under |
ine ban Of his displrasurc. or course.
ono was almost certain now. Poor i,
Ramcscs
~ her nature. relic of some forgotten !
Ir'Sl! ancestor nmcnablc TO the humor |
o. tue paradox. n spark of mcrrmcnt
onrst forth into flame. She sank TO the
edge OF the bathtub rega riding her drip
pm: hands and laughed.
~, Nature has its safety appliances.
~" smallest capacity for humor some
times weighs heavily in the bclance
ssa'hs, bitterness. tipping pcrlously
s' scnr III" edge Of despair. She forgot the |
.s'.nr'S OF yesterday in tho sardonic
picture of her innocence and Dayid's.
ne nsd b"cn SO startled when she had
kkhorked at his door. so disturbed abou.
Ss s clothlng. 80 austerc in his kindness.
Such lover.
t ana yet it was just those rcprcssions
winch Cherry liked in him-for they
se'mcd tn" index Of his character and
s'ssest'd by their negative qualities
q. Sense OF force in restraint. lie was
- souhd, so sane, and he had always
i;epd iG;teiped hcr so much. She would have
tn nsed nothing better than to have gone
nm now and unburdencd herself of
un S,r new trouble. But this, of course,
W var impossible. She could not speak
v y. ner mother to any one. The con-
hsr'au3n with Genie too had made
,s,, ..r icel Just n little awkward about
ii,ti!.h ii,1.hs to David. and she wondered n
"ou,, e at this, because as far as she
Si@I remember she had never been
c"ue,ht-about c"ma', anything. She was
LII ,S;ussclons OF shades OF constituencies
m" MN regard to Dayid-with regard to
-. hany OF her old contacts with life that
~. mau never remembered possessing
'"s was learning to feel.
hsr GO nusntcr, bitter as It was, gave
TM1,urage. Youth and health were In
n.n r.oenion against despair. Until the
;r.,sseht ;.,eht moment she had failed in cvcrv-
~. ttShae that she had undertaken, found
nss rss rue level of her incapacity-with
PERSONAL prOblems ,t Lo,,o IL i |