, 1922-01-28


The worst thing said his father
THAT is. II there's any Part OF Il
that's worse than snother@ths worst
thing about It f. tnis about Noble
DILL
what about that I.sr thiaEr'
Aunt Harriet asked I'VE haven't
heard
why. I walked up from downtown
with old MAJ DILL" said Mr.. Atwater,
-srd the Dill family are all very much
worried II seems that Noble started
downtown after lunch. as usual, and
pretty o o he came back TO the house
and he had a copy Of his awful paper
hat little Florence had given him
who gave It to himl" Aunt Fanny
asked sWhoT-
little Florence
-why. that's e~urious- Cousin virri-
mia murmured. Il must telephone and
ask her mother about that"
The brooding Herbert looked up.
and there wal n CLEAN In his dogged
eye; but he said nothing.
go on" Aunt Harriet urged what
did Noble dor
-why. his mother said he Just went
up to his room and changed his shoes
and tie"
II thought So Aunt Fanny whis-
pered, hurriedly. but solemnly.
Crazy
-And then" Mr.. Atwater continued,
b left the house. and she supposed
he'd gone down to the Office; but she
was uneasy. and telephoned his IA
ther. Noble hadn't corr. de didn't
come, al afternoon. and he didn't 20
back to the house; and they tele-
go. that they know of-and they
couldn't ind him or hear anything
about him." Mr.. Atwater coughed, and
paused.
But what Aunt Harriet cried,
what do they thinks become OF himf'
"Old man Dill said they were all
pretty anxious. said Mr.. Atwater.
They're afraid Noble has-d,sap-
peared."
Aunt Fanny screamed.
Then. In perfect accord, they all
turned to look at Herbert, who rose
and would have retired upstairs had
he been able.
As that perturbing evening wore on.
word gradually reached the most out
lying members OF the Atwater family
connection that Noble Din wns' miss
Ing. Ordinarily. this BIT of news
would have caused them no severe
anxiety. Mobiles person and intellect
were so Observation-Disclosures"
was the term usually preferred in his
own circle-thnt he was considered to
be as nearly negligible as 1t is charita-
BILE to consider a fellow being. True.
there was one thing that set him
apart; he was found worthy OF a SUI
perlative when he fell In love with
Julia Atwater. OF all the large and
ardent group m like condition. he OBJ
tained conspicuousness as "The
Worst" or course. his distinction
caused him to become better known
and more talked about than in his
earlier youth
However. the eccentricities of a per
son in such an extremity of love are
-eldom valued except ms comedy: and
even then with no warmth of heart
for the comedian, but rather with an
i~ncredulous disdain so II is safe TO say
that under other circumstances Noble
might have been missing. indeed. and
few Of the Atwnters would have
missed him. But as matters were. they
worried n great deal about him, fear
ing that a rash act on his part might
reflect notoriety or themselves through
their beautiful relative-and through
the North End Daily Oriole. And
when nine O'clock came and Mrs. Dill
reported to Herbert's father, over the
telephone, that nothing had yet been
heard from her son, the pressure Of
those who were blaming the Oriole
more than Julia became SO wearing
that Herbert decided he would rather
spend the remaining days of his life
running away from Wallie Torbin than
put In any more of such a dogs eve
ming as he was putting in-thus he
defined 1t.
He made a confession; that is to
say. 1t was a proclamation. He pro-
claimed his innocence. He began the
history of It with q description of
events distinctly subsequent to the lit
tie game with Patty Fairchild, and
explained how he and Henry had felt
that their parents would not always be
with u-em, and as their parents wished
them to be polite. they had resolved
to be polite to Florence. Proceeding.
he related In detail her journalistic
exploit.
OF the matter in hand he told the
perfect and absolute txuth-and was
Immediately refuted. confuted and
demonstrated to be a false witness by
Aunt Fanny. Aunt Carrie, and Cousin
Virginia, who had all heard him We
hemently declare, no longer ago than
the preceding Sunday. that he and his
partner had taken secure measures TO
prevent Florence from aver again set
ting foot within the newspaper build
ing. In addition, he was quite show
cred with definitions: and these. though
SO variant, all sought to phrase but the