The Washington herald., 1922-08-29
The Beautiful
And Damned

BY F. Scott Fitzgerald.


routes from dinner to the theater,
thence to the Frolic or. perhaps. at the
urging of the ever-curious Gloria
to one of the cellars of Greenwich
Village. notorious through the furi-
Gus but short-lived vogue of the
new poetry movement"
In January, after many mono
logues directed at his reticent wife.
Anthony determined to get some
thing to do" for the winter at any
rate. He wanted to please his
grandfather and even. In a mea-
sure. TO see how he liked II him
self. He discovered during several
tentative semi-social calls that en-
ployers were not interested in q
young man who was only going to
try IL for a few months or So" As
the grandson of Adam Patch he
was received everywhere with
marked courtesy. but the old man
was a back number now-the hey
day OF his fame as first an "op-
pressor" and then an uplifter of
the people had been during the
twenty years preceding his retire.
ment. Anthony even found several
of the younger men who were
under the impression that Adam
Patch had been dead for many
years.
Eventually Anthony went to his
grandfather and asked his advice.
which turned out TO be that he
should enter the bond business As
q salesman, a tedious suggestion to
Anthony. but one that in the emo
he determined to follow. Sheer
money in deft manipulation hao
destinations under all circumstances
while almost any side of manu-
featuring would be insufferably
dull He considered newspaper
work. but decided that the hours
We're not ordered for a married
man. And he fingered over pleasant
fancies of himself either as editor
OF a brilliant weekly of opinion. an
american Mercure de France. or as
scintillant producer of satiric COM
edy and Partisan musical revue
However. the approaches to these
latter guilds seemed to be guarded
by professional secrets. Men drifted
into them by the devious highways
Of writing and acting. 1t was palp-
ably impossible to get on a maya
zine unless you had been on one
before.
So in the end he entered. by way
Of his grandfather's letter. that
Sanctum Americanum where sat
and Hardy at his r'cleared desk"
and issued therefrom employed. He
was to begin work on the Esd of
February.
In tribute to the momentous oc-
casion this two-day revel had been
planned. since, he said. after he be-
gan working he'd have to get to
bed early during the week. Maury
Noble had arrived from Philadel-
phia On a trip that had to do witr
seeing some man In Wall Street
(whom. incidentally. he failed to
see), and Richard Caramel had been
half persuaded. half tricked into
joining them. They had condescen nded
to a wet and fashionable wedding
on Monday afternoon. and in the
evening had occurred the denoue-
ment: Gloria, going beyond her ac-
customed limit OF four precisely
timed cocktails. led them on as gay
and joyous -bacchanal as they had
ever known. disclosing an astonish-
ing knowledge Of ballet steps. and
singing songs which she confessed
had been taught her by her cook
when she was innocent and II. She
repeated these by request at inter-
walls throughout the evening with
such frank conviviality that An
was gratified at this fresh source
of entertainment. The occasion was
memorable in other ways-a long
conversation between Maury and a
defunct crab. which he was drag
sing around on the end of string.
as to whether the crab was fully
conversant with the applications of
The binomial theorem. and the
aforementioned race in two hanson
cabs with the sedate and impressive
shadows of Fifth avenue for audi
cnce, ending in a labyrinthine es-
cape into the darkness of Central
Park. Finally Anthony and Gloria
paid call on some wild young
married people-the Lacys-and
collapsed in the empty milk bottles
Morning now-theirs to add up
the checks cashed here and there in
clubs, stores. restaurants. Theirs to
air the dank staleness of wine and
cigarettes out of the tall blue front
room. to pick up the broken glass
and brush at the stained fabric of
chairs and sofas; to give Bounds
suits and dresses for the cleaners:
finally. to take their smothery half
feverish bodies and faded depressed
spirits out into the chill air or
February, that life might go on and
the services of a vigorous man at
. next morning.
do you remember" called An
thony from the bathroom. when
Maury got out at the corner of One
Hundred and Tenth street and acted
as traffic cop. beckoning cars for
ward and motioning them back.
They must have thought he was a
private detective"
After each "Reminiscences they both
laughed inordinately. their over
wrought nerves responding as
acutely and janglingly to mirth as
to depression.
Gloria at the mirror was wonder
ing at the splendid color and fresh
ness Other FACET seemed that
she had never looked so well,
though her stomach hurt her and
her head was aching furiously
The day passed slowly. Anthony.
riding in a taxi to his brokers to
borrow money on a bond, found
that he had only 50 in his pocket.
The fare would cost all of that but
he felt that on this particular after
noon he could not have endured the
subway. When the taximeter reached
his limit he must get out and walk.
With this his mind drifted on
into one Of its characteristic day
dreams. In this dream he dis
covered that the meter was going
too fast-the driver had dishonesty
adjusted it. Calmly he reached his
destination and then nonchalantly
handed the man what he justly owed
Ad GerH h,~s