Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-12-23
q q q
They L0Ue
Her--Then
Disappear
Introducing = Hero


~rr HAD gone to London the momen
III he was out Of uniform, and he 90
tbere for a reason typical OF him.
! For most Americans single tracl
.,ccess is an inspiration Of life; Their
ia raw meat satisfaction IN hew
T.. TO the line until some tree fall
III also an instinct for playing th'
.tsst game. II it is money making
trade. or industrialism, or produc.
Ton. efficiency, the rank and file Il
ssntng after It until some one ring,
tor The undertaken. l have always
thought that the source Of the imagina.
Han which was responsible for Petel
i,sWolfe's tastes, policy and conduct
vss most difficult to uncover. The
true sense of play, not only applied
n nlay but to all the endeavors Of life
svef those which are usually accounted
srimAlike war and MARRIAGES. a
ARE flower to bloom on the Ameri :
can soil; It is still more rare n bios
som to find growing on family tree
rooted, as Peters was rooted, in a bed
Of money and only fertilized by that
| kumdrum conventional pretense of our
| large cities which at latest accounts
b still giving many persons the same
old pale glorles.
This rare flower bloomed in Peter
and saved him from doing the common =
places with himself which rich young
men who have become orphaned bach :
elors usually do. 1t made Peter n
sreat deal more like those individuals,
rare enough even abrOad--the whimsical
Englishman, the adventurous French
man, the humorous Spaniard and the
practical Russian, who. though they
Be the white crows of their respective
| focks, exceed in numbers the Ameri-
cans who value full living above that
rather uninteresting and easy prize
which IS called "Success."
| Peter took an interest in living. The
common run Of bachelors who are pro-
vided amply with millions accept the
alternative of going to hell or going
10 business; DeWolfe's imagination
came to his rescue and provided him
with third choice. which, in his quiet
way, he seized about the time he left
college. 1t was to live for the sake Of
living.
To some this might have meant self
Indulgence; to Peter 1t meant an in
diligence of mankind. To some it might
have meant fads and whims such as
the source of the Nile; Peter would
do that very thing perhaps, but it
was nm incident not half so interesting
to him as an oil field he developed in
Texas or settlement house he pro-
NOTED in New York. He kept himself
as a very neat. we'll cleaned slate upon
which life could write if it wished il
1t failed to do so Peter wrote on It n
little himself-enough to keep himself
useful. The same man who invented
the DeWolfe milimeter also set down
from time to time some charming verses,
and the public knows at least one short
lyric from the Leaves Of Argonne,
which he wrote in the hospital before
bis promotion to major.
Dark skin, blue eyes, thin sensitive
lips. the appearance of one we'll bathed
In ice cold water, the flexible lean waist
Of good horseman, the long muscular
fingers of good tennis player who had
not lost the delicacy Of touch which
made him something less than a dis
tingulshed performer upon cello
these were the outward introductions
which made that particularly admirable
little group of British gentlemen officers
find his acquaintance so quickly.
sEversby Benham of the r. A. r.
must bear the blame for the months in
which DeWolfe found his great adj
venture at a time when to Peter ad-
venture had become dull beyond words
ana the mlnd-image of himself sitting
on New York park bench, surrounded
by engaging little foreign brats, listen
ing to urdy-gurdy in the summer
ohsk, was the most exciting and deli
tlous picture coniurable from his re.
sourcetul Imagination Of what won.
dcrtul moment of life after n whirl
with war could be. For it was Ben
man, who only later went home to the
once of the Air Ministry, and who
mas since distinguished himself in the
deve!opment OF vil-fying, who first
ereren the young American across the
path of Brena Selcoss.
ham, ' i''
"Home," said DeWolfe. with an at.
Tempt to say the word without senti-
ment.-
A.. ned Cross Ladies'. Waacs, beau.
.ifil high caste Parisiennes and even
tne charming daughter of your what's
ns.hame at the bloody Peace Confer
TmnCm"rand m1m, still bachelor! BY the bye.
naM oite, what happened to your lazy
,Mith the gorgeous arms at that fIubby
Eeine:" 'i '"'
IT. An engaging goddess" said De-
,Molie. 'Shc is, believe, a petticoat
nuyer:. She tried to convert Inc into
.ne Methodist faith. Those beautiful
a'ins are for the neck of some Y. NJ. G..
~. man with glasses and tickling
cough She borrowed thirty francs of
nre ana then went off to see daughter
VI hers who is driving an ambulance
near Coblenz."
T. You are well armored. Peter" Ben
nahi had said, gazing with reflective
.hu perhaps mischievOus smile across
.ne nat field of France with their titled
squares and wisp- armed trees and thin
lnists Of dusk. "By the bye, l say.
a9esn,t this landscape remind one of
'orot paintings!"
DeMolfe grinned.
hat would make You fall in love
WIN wonan!' asked Benham.
81, Almost anything" Peter replied.
nrl nHf that's not the problem: the
falling out?" '
-, 1ou re saying that any woman---
onm oaTt Is, with the thing you Americans
."il come-on, good or bad-may make
man ma fall in love with her?"
.n,. was saying that we are all hypo-
sriteS' Such woman would touch us
Wi-attect NJ any Of us--me, for instance.
&c are made ready by a wise nature.
stand stand by for love- she says, and
ttbHuth ttbu stands by. Benham. But what's
u,, ,un use, If that = all? Life is n long
Pul. No dimplcd chin should be al
iS"rd to turp. the tide. No discourse
VI prillance chartered off like a disc
record in. conservatory. No noseful
" the faint odOr of violcts nor moon
,ight on bare shoulder nor a rating of
~ ~" 9ld man. That's what | mean.
a nnui why most men marry but I
~ 81" dHIardened by too many inspections
VI dlmpled chins."