Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-10-21
THIRTEEN

Of animation l never had. but I'm
no, really clever. for Two tried and
can, do It /: only makcs ma tocl
silly 10 pretend to DC what am
not"
Her confession s,ruci, him. while
no listened 20 i. as the sweetest
and most womsrly one ha had ever
heard
-" cannot imagine your pretend
Ing he answered.. and fclt that thu
remark was as inane as II no had
quoted it from play. After a mo-
ment, as she seemed 20 be waiting =
for something. ne continued With,
greater assurance, "I dare say they
have quality that the older gcncr-"
alton missed. 1t isn't just common
ness. The modern spirit means. l.
suppose. brcathlcss Vitality. We,
are more Intensely alive than our
ancestors. perhaps. more restless.
more inclined 10 take risks
The phrases he had used made him
think suddenly Of Gideon Vetch. Was
that the secret OF the Governors ir-
e.a,s,ts.s a.x-a>,qua. Ct bis mc,eorlc
rice Into power IA embodied tho
modern totish-sucr--*: he was In
the lively idiom OF the younger SET
--Dcrsonii"d Pep" After ALL IL tho
old order crumbled, was It not be-,
cause Of It's own weakness? Was not .
the fact OF IT. decay the sign Of some.
secret disintegration. OF rottennsss at
the core? And IL the new spirit ,
could destroy, perhaps II could build,
as well. There might be more in it.
he was beginning tn discern. than
mere lack OF control. than vulgar
hyster!a and undisciplined violence
The quality expressed hy that dread
full word was the SPARKLE OF tho edge
OF tho tempest, the lightning flash
that revealed the presence OF cleo
tricity in the air. After all. the god
az the future was riding the whirl-
wind.
IL wonder IL we can DO wrong, YOU
ana Il" no went on prouen;ly. for
getting the intsrscly personal ma
turc of Margarets disclosures. while
he followed the abstract trend OF
mis- reflections. Isn't il conceivableN
that we are standing, not for what 81,
- necessarily better, hut simply for
what is Old? Isn't the conservative
merely the creature OK habit? / sup
pose the older generation always
'Coks disapprovingly at the younger.
md. in spite OF our youth. we really
belong 20 the past generation. We
see things through the eyes OF our
parents We are mentally middle,
tGcd-f"r middle age Is state of.
mind after all. You and wcr.
broken in by traditional least
know I was. and even the war
-"udm't free mo. 1t only made me,
restless ana dissatisfied. II de-
'troycd my belief in tho past with
lat giving me faith In the future
II left me eager 10 SO somewhere:
but It failed 10 Offer me any direc-
lion. I, put me to sea without a
compass"
Claspins his hands behind his head
4" leaned back against the carving
Of his chair. and fixed his gaze orr
the portrait OF tho English ances-
trcss over the mantelptece Tho
hrcllGht h!ckcred over his Arm. clear
cut features. over the sleek dark
hair. which was brushed stralpht
back from his forehead. and over his
H"mb"r smoke colorcd eyes In which
dusky glow came and went Mar
Earct. watching him with her pen
sive smile, though, that she had
never seen him look so interest.
ing"
w" used to talk In those first
days about the spiritual effect Of the
war, no resumed drcamily. speak,
'ng more To himself than TO his com
PAM IN. AS ii organized violence
could have stcadyinG efrect-cou!d
AnT" any results tina; are not tho
offspring ~ violence. II is hard for
me TO talk about IT, I've never ever,
tried before TO put 1t into words a
hut we are both suffering from TN,
same cause, think. I know IL has
PLACED the very deuce with my lie.
IL has made me disconnected with
what ] have: but II hasn't shown me
anything else that was worth striv-
ing for. seem TO have lost the
power OF wanting because I've dis
covered that nothing is worth hav-"
.na after you get II. Every apple has.
turned into Dead Sea fruit 90
II" had never before snoben So frc,
y, and Wien no had finished he telt-
awkward and half rescnt;ul Mar
Sar"ts extraordinary frankness had
ttartcd him, he supposed, on a sim
i!ar strain; BUT he wished that he
had kept back all that sent:mental
nonsense about what his mother
called disapnrovingly, his frame OF
NINA Any frame OF mind EXCEPT
the permanently settled appeared
unsafe to Mrs. Culneper; and her SON
ieli at the moment that her opinion
was justified Somehow the whole
th!ng seemed to have resulted from
his meeting with Gideon Vctch 1t
was Nctch who had "unsett!cd' HIM
who had taken the wind out OF thu.
Stif sails OF his preJudiccs Had the
war awakened In him, he wondered
N" need Of crude emotional stimu
ANTS. the dangerous allurement o,s-
IN" unfamiliar tina exotic? Would
II ever pass. and would life become,
'=H!N normal and placid without loa-
ing it's zest and ito interest? For
I was tho zest OF life. he realized. +.
mat he had encountered In Gideon
Ne;ch g
''iut Won are a man" Margaret
was saving plaiut!veiy. "EverythImg
is easier for man. You can go,
out ana DO things"
so can women now. You can even
go into politics"
She "ade pretty gesture OF aver
sion. oh. I've been TOO we'll brought.
up: There ism, any hope FOR a girl
VII" is we'll brought ~ except the
church. and even there she cant do
'nythinI but sir and listen 10 ser
mons. Mothers consolation" she
added with soft little laugh. Isl
that should have hccu a belle and.
beauty in the DAYS when Madison