The Washington herald., 1922-06-29
Continued from Yesterday. {.

he had met at the latter functions.
For. acting on broad hints from
Thetis. few OF ''the crowd" had in
vaded her home during the past
fortnight. She had wanted Dirck
all to herself.
Moylan's laughingly eager salute
to his eight visitors today found no
noisy response in their well-trained
hearts. They had been invited to
spend the weekend with a celeb
rity-the biggest celebrity most of
them had ever met. This was an
honor. something to boast of and to
remember. A celebrity must be
treated with due respect. An eld-
erly man of 40 would have the
right to common respect even II he
had not been a celebrity.
The youngsters. Were we'll bred.
They saw at glance. from Dirck's
mode of greeting. that he was seek
ing to put them at their ease and
that he was trying to unbend. for
their sakes. from his pinnacle of
advanced age and of fame. Anus
edly they appreciated the courtesy
Of his unbending. But they would
not take advantage of il. More
over. they were quite at their ease.
They were not school children. The
former generation could not teach
them anything in self-possessiop.
Therefore they returned his salu-
tation much as they might have TO-
turned that of the line Of hostesses
at the charity ball. Dirck felt
oddly dashed for an instant. but
he recovered. a thousandfold more
resolved to make these grave eyed
and decorous lads and maidens
throw of their shy reserve. and to
make them recognize that they and
he we're of an age and spoke the
same language.
These were Thetis' chums. They
were her crowd" They and their
like were the folk who. thus must
), henceforth be his own chief inti-
mates. And he strove to prove
himself Initiated to the Mystic Or
der of Youth.
Mrs. Layne says we're to have tea
out here on the veranda." he an
nounced. Don't dress for dinner
tonight. any of you. I've chartered
the biggiest and bumpiest hay
wagon in captivity. Anr. as soon as
dinner is over. we're going on a his
tory making straw ride. We're GO
Ing to drive owe. to Green Pond and
cme back here for a dance and a
sing song before we turn in. How
about it. eh?"
His beaming gaze swept the half
circle Of poli-s young faces. and he
waited to hear the chorus Of de-
light The chorus" might well
have rehearsed its responses in
deaf-mute asylum. But in a no.
ment. one or two of the visitors rail-
lied to the rescue of impaired cour-
tesy
That will Re very nice, indeed"
said Hilda Joyce bravely.
Yes" murmured Dicky verinder,
who was never without a ready
answer. won't it?"
Vaguely some other girl said.
Why. yes" and with equal vague
ness Nealy Wade remarked, "Surer
And then. after another instant of
sad silence. Mazda herded them to
the tea corner of the veranda be-
fore Thetis could find words to ex-
press her Indignation.
But Dirck was not in the very
least discouraged in his hope of
putting the guests at their ease and
OF turning the ultra-civil assem-
hlage into the merry reveI he had
planned. Boyishly he took control
OF the situation at tea. his tempes-
tuous nigh spirits sweeping the
scene Ike a flood.
Some minutes later he nulIsd nm
realizing that. except for Mafda's
valiant assistance and Thetis' oc
casfonal bewildered smiles or mon
osyllables. he might as well have
been seeking to put hilarity into a
state funeral Something was
wrong. He could not. for the life of
MIN tell what. The guests were
toying languidly with their tea,
most Of them refusing the piles of
indiEestibly delicious cakes and
bonbons wherewith the tables were
strewn.
After tea came tennis. 1t was
not at all the kind of tennis Dirck
had seen played on the country club
courts. The players seemed more
and more oppressed by their hosts
uncanny joviality. At his jolliest
sallies one or two Of them began
to glance worriedIy at each other.
And the sOlemnity deepened.
Mazda strove nightly and with
all her wealth of tact and good
heart to second Moylan. But it was
no use Even Thetis, as the host
prattled on, began to lose a tithe
OF the hero worship that had filled
her eyes OF late and to look worried.
Dinner was even more terrible
than tea From the head of the
table Dirck looked to right and left
at lines of severely self-contained
young people who ate with studied
refinement and moderation and who
eonversed sparingly and in faultIess
good taste. Once early in the NEAR
he attempted a limerick-one of the
few screamingly funny samples of
that classic form of rhythm which
will bear mixed company repetition.
He had been boarding it for days.
At the prelude of There was
young man from" no less than
three young men started in blank
terror of what might follow from
the ribald lips of the celebrity. AND
two of the girls looked uneasy
The mildest of amusement ripples
followed the verse. And the sorry
meal dragged on.
As the civilly uncomfortable
young folk arranged themselves
with martyr .smiles in the NAV of
the straw upholstered hay wagon
and the team set off at a joggIy
trot. Dirck Moylan made his sL-
preme effort. The jouncing motion
and the night air and the memories
of his boyhoQd stirred him to song
+ Thus. twenty odd years ago. he and
the straw-riding lads and lasses of
his home town had made night mu-
sical.
IAN together. now" he exhorted.
nd O.. ~