Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-11-18

mournful, at the funeral. But directly
!" after it, when alone, Ne had not been able to-
keep a faint smile Of relief from coming to
the surface. Josephine, like her father. had
been a person of very decided opinions, IN
which she had such implicit faith that SHE
could understand any opposition to 'them only
on the grounds Of a moral or mental defect.
HARDWOOD mournfully feared that his daugh.
ter Mathilde was like her in that.
All his life admiration of women had sur.>
rounded him like a. native cir. But early
training or temperament, kept him to q
conventional standard Of conduct; he was a
famous squire of DANES to whom no scandal
had ever attached. i.
He was now. in practical fact, engaged to-
Letitia Belknap, who had many admirable
qualifications for a wife-one of them being
the possession of ten million dollars-and
who was one year older than himself.
There was an odd paradox In his life, OF
which he was now aware. Women had av
ways been his friends. His big success had
come through a woman-Josephine Cutter.
He wns aaWare7-sensitively It secretly--that.
sonnermen held that against him, glightitsly.
saying that he had won his fnarshals baton
by marriage. nut BY his own merit: that the
most cbnsp!cuous object on his coat Of arms
~ ss2 n. dlfS IS kasss N NjSss Rs.E sssS;1 yss Gs+ H.
Belknap. In short. he had owed much ssto
woman, but not the great deht; for no;
woman had4.ever before carried him out, Of
himself and shown him a new heaven and
a new earthr Woman had given him d lot
of money and prestige, social consideration
and clients-a great heap Of small change
but no elysium. ~
Not until now. 1t by no means happened
all at once. That first day in Slow River he
} got a draught of wine which brought him
back for more-and the more he drank the
deeper the thirst. 1t took time, but by July
- ~ 5000 kl- Tn,,A$ g. r% C1rAr T4{vrnN-hn.
made no bones about it to himself: Forty.
three years old and head over heels in love!
When HARDWOOD started for Slow River that
Aptil day his life appeared to be firmly ar
ranged on q spacious and lordly pattern.
There had been a misfortune with his invest.
mehts, but he could wave that aside. II ne
had lost the money in stock gambling or the
lik4 he would-he said-have blamed him.
self bitterly But. he had gone into lestti-
mate business, on good advice. The in,es
had been ADVERSE; he'd suffered some poor
luck. AS Letitia BelknaD's husband there
would be no real difficulty about accounting
to his daughter for her share Of the estate.
It would involve a somewhat hun1iliating
explanation to-, Letitia. but he could show
hersthat he'd simply been unfortunate. He
WAS! sure there would be no real difficrhty.@
And as Letitia's husband there would be no
further bother about money.
So the pattern had been arranged. He
could not conceive of an acceptable, or even
tolerable, pattern Of life which did not In.
Glide an ample, secuVe income. He was not
a gambler Or profligate, but he had q fine
flair for spending money. His shapely, nerv-
GUS hands shed it as naturally as he
breathed. The luxurious furnishing OF his
law office and the conceit OF d cabin on the
root were only two instances. His income
from the lazy firm ran from forty to fifty
thousand a year; but that was mere begGaffy
hand to mouth Letitia would solve the
money question 4,
Then he had met a witch who cast an.
inescapabie spell upon bAAk Her clear
q laughter rang In his heart, Aimrningt all other
~ sounds. When he started in his car for Slow
River or took the train his pulses leaped.
At; glow River he couldn't rest until ne was
in sher presence and felt, the charm anew.
And every time the miracle happened over
again; across twentytXears youth and love
were poured through his veins.
ant at forty.three one has learned some.
caution even in love; he was itanry, apprc-
lending her attitude toward him. By July
many Of his friends were out OF town for the
summer but he stayed ont alleging .impDr-
TAFT business-which took him back and
forth to Michigan. In Aug ust he did a
!! two weeks vacation at Long Lake three
Z miles from Slow River.sSSSSThe end or the
month he was back: again for three days.
those days, the long, shiny cal stood in front
&c her mothers cottage. HARDWOOD and Her
mother sat on the verahda, WITH o. Honey.
st,tkle vine at the end. Bess hardly climbed
the steps before being aware that they had
besh talking about her; there was Open con.
sptracy in their smiling faces.
Harwood spoke: !" Sit down, Bess for
NOV he used her nickname Sitting down,
nd wondered what the conspiracy was..x ~
u 3nce told her: 81 Is III
aYsHow would 1t suit you sto, 30 to Chicago
assSmy secretary? I've got to have some.
body You can read law there, too" St5
Her eyes.sopened and shonet at him,
n Really q, sha breathed incredllously.
Ayes, indeed! You can do # better than
anybody I know" II