The Washington herald., 1922-10-06
The Beautiful
And Damned
Continued from Yesterday.
By F. Scott Fitzgerald

scious of being a Farmover girl
and Future Wife and Mother" IN
perpetual capital letters. And girls
who had never been kissed hinted,
with shocked expressions on their
plain but not particularly whole
some faces, that Gloria had. Then
these girls had gone East or West
or South. married and become
people" prophesying. II they pro-
phesied about Gloria, that she
would come to pad end-not
knowing thatAno endings were bad.
and that they, like her, were by no
means the mistresses of their des
TIMES.
Gloria told over to herself the
people who had visited them in the
gray house at Marietta. 1t had
seemed at the time that they were
always having Ncompany-she had
indulEed in an unspoken convict: on
that each guest was ever afterward
slightly indebted to her. They owed
her a sort of moral $40 apiece, and
should she ever be in need she
might. so to speak, borrow from
them this visionary currency. But
they were gone. scattered like
chaff. mysteriously and subtly van
ished in essence or in fact.
BY Christmas Gloria's conviction
that she should JON Anthony had
returned, no longer as a sudden
emotion. but as a recurrent need.
She decided to write him word of
her coming, but postponed the an
EUunCs ment upon the advice of Mr..
Haight, who expected almost
weekly that the case was coming
up for trial.
One day. early in January, as she
was walkinS on Fifth avenue.
bright now with uniforms. she met
Rachael Barnes. whom she had not
seen for nearly a year. Even
Rachael. whom she had grown to
dislike. was a relief from ennuI.
and together they went to the Ritz
for tea.
After a second cockta they be-
came enthusiastic They liked each
other. They talked about their
husbands. Rachael in that tone of
public vainglOry. with private
reservations. In which wives are
wont to speak
RCdman's abroad in the Quarter
master Corps. He's captain. He
was bound he would go. and he
didn't think he could set into any
thing else"
"Anthouy's in the infantry"
These words in their relation to the
cocktail -ave Gloria a sort of glow.
With each sip she approached
warm and comforting patriotism.
By the way" said Rachael half
rn hour later. as they were Ieav-
i0-. cant you come up to dinner
tomorrow niCht2 I'm having two
awfully sweet officers who are go
Ing overseas. l think we ought to
DO all We can to make it attractive
for them
'Euria accepted gladly. She took
Gown the address-reCOgnizi by i.s
Umber Il fashionable apartment
building on Park avenue.
RS been awfully good to have
seen you. Rachael"
It's been wonderful. I've wanted
TO-"
With these three sentences a GER
tain night in Marietta two sum-
mers before. when Anthony and
Rachael had been unnecessarily at
tentive to each other. was forgiven
Gloria fOrEave Rachael. Rachael
Ipr@ave Gloria. Also II was for
given that Rachael had been wit
ress to the greatest disaster in the
lives Of Mr.. and Mrs. Anthony
moves along.
The WileS of Captain Collins.
The two officers were captains of
the popular craft. machine gunrery.
At dinner they referred to them
selves with conscious boredom as
members Of the Suicide CIub'-rn
tI"s" days every rccrndite branch
of the service referred to itself as
the Suicide Club. one of the
northumberland captain. Gloria
observed a tall hOrsy man If
80 with pleasant mustache and
u-Iy teeth. The other. Captain
Collins. was chubby. piuk-faced.
"ul inclined TO laugh wit abandon
very time he cau-ht GIoria's eye.
lie took an immediate fancy To- her,
md throughout dinner Showered
her with inluc compliments With
hcr second -lass of champagne
Gloria decided that for the first
tIm. in months she was thoroughly
rnioviuG herself.
After dinner il was suggested
that they all 60 somewhere and
dance. The two officers supplied
themselves with bottles Of liquors
from Rachael's sidcboard-a law
forbade service to the military
end 50 equipped they went through
ru0umertbIe CoN-trots in several
-rfrartn2 caravanseries along Broad
way. faithfully alternating part
u"rs-whiIc Gloria became more
and more uproarious ana more an.
more amusing to the pink-faced
captain. who seldom bothered to re-
move his genial smile at all.
At II o'clock to her great sur