Evening star., 1922-09-18
Period Stuf.
voHN MUNRO LINDSAY had

6er1ous problem on MS hanoe.
A man to get rid Of! For his
~ ordinarily happy homo had
been anything but herpy during the
weeks since his little u....-c-haired
wife had met K Worthington Will
loughby.
Willoughby was an architect. And
he had trailed persistently at M ISiam
Lindsay's heels ever since q day
that he had discovered that her .ther
was man Of means. For it seemed
to the enterprising architect, that. II
he could fire Merriam's s enthusiasm
mission Willoughby into designing
house for her. And he knew that
Merriam was rapidly becoming 2
leader in the set in which she moved.
and he quite naturally hoped that he
her many friends.
All Of which was perfectly lauda-
Bile on the part Of the young archi-
tect. but very hard on John and Mer-
riam Lindsay.
For the more allurins the word
pictures and pencil sketches with
which young Willoughby tempted
poor Merry, the harder 1t became for
John to control his headstrong wife.
The once dear little Pumkin Shell
mad begun to look mean and d.ngy to
her. And the once amiable Merry
was in danger Of becoming a common
nag.
The climax same ono night when
Wiiloughby left on the Lndsay's
hall table some charming wash draw
thought might prove irresistible to
the ambitious young matron. 1t
was really a beautifully designed
house. Merriam gave cry Of delight
when she came in and found the
drawings propped along the wall.
a:stically, isn't that peach! Umm!
That lovely pinky color and that
heavenly roof-line! Just you wait
till show that to dad"
He put his hands on her shoulders.
Merry. dear" he said miserably.
get this and get 1t straight ! can't
let you go begging. You married me
for richer or poorer, and I've tried
my darndest to keep 1t from being
poorer-but 1t Is. 1 haven't q cent
to build even shack with-and I'm
will turn and I'll make something
and you can build any old kind of
house you please. But right now
his jaws set grimly-"this is all !
can afford. and I don't mind saying
mhe ;,,,,. a, glanced s -. aroYnd the aignifsd
looks mighty good to me-"
But I can't stop now" Merry's
color was high. You soc. Leila
Graham got back from abroad today.
and she was swanking 30. and she
introduced her to Worthy. and we
-he-well. we rather let It out that
he was planning house for ua and
one thing led to another. and I prac-
tically promised to buy the Italian
furniture n1 ltuse. from from, her s Park Park avenue avenue
in the fall You see. it's wonderful
period stuff that cost poor old Put
Graham fortune. and she offered
1t to me cheap az dirt knew
@ that dad dad you'd be glad to get it for
Merriam" he interrupted, have
you lost your wits?''
She leaned against the stair rail-
ing and looked up at him defiantly.
Just found them, think. You
er ssa not waiting da5ak to aks hnSs Hys
dad. but don'tl you see it's simply
silly for us to go on living like
beggars5 And SO utterly unneces-
sary! And dads a peach. Nobody
need ever know whether he did It
all very well while the babies were
little for us to go on living in this
shabby little spot, but it's not fair
any longer. We're Just packed in
like sarlines and I'm 50 sick Of
my ancestors battered old mahogany
that I want to kick it. and-truly,
its not fair to the children"
Not fair, to the children" he is.
terrupted hotly. What difference
DO you suppose It makes to a couple
Of three-year-old babies whether
they are narring up colonial stun or
Italian stuff! They have all outdoors
to play in and good beds to sleep in
and good food to eat, and I promise
you' Merriam. that II I'm not making
enough to send them to good schools
when they are school age" he gulped
clinched manfully. II probably will
be: Only right here and now get
this'-we are going to out out all
this CAB about period stun and we'ro
| not going to beg your dad to buy
any of Leila Graham's secondhand
furniture or to build you any italian
houses. This Willoughby chap seems
to have hypnotized you! For years
you've gone around making fun OF
Leila, saying you thought Americans