Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1922-02-23

you MAD at me? You looked so glum
at breakfast"
"WeIl, you had nothing to do with
it ~ she assured him, in her big-sis-
terly voice. ''And it was the first or
child / ever had, and loved you for
itw
1t was with something like pain and
impatience in his tone that Ward said
gruffy:
Eyes, you do You like me about as
much as you like Nina or Granny"
81 like you-sh! just little better
than l do Granny" Harriet confided.
Don't spoil your dinner with olives,
| Ward! Don't muss that-theres a
dearl Dinners announced. by the
way It's quarter past eight"
I'm goingv' he grumbled, discon-
| tentedly.
cat any rate, l love the orchid!"
Harriet said, soothingly. He was
| laughing, too, as he disappeared, but
| something in his face was vaguely
| troubling to her none the less, and she
remembered it now and then with a
little compunction during her quiet
| evening of reading. Well, she would
see Linda on Saturday, and have Sun
day with her and the children, and
| that meant always a complete change
and Shifted viewpoint, even when, as
/ frequently happened, Linda took the
oIder-sisterly privilege of scolding.
/ I1ov. NJ hod oh
and Amy to the Friday afternoon mat
inee, and had duly deposited Amy aft
erward in the Hawkes. mansion, and
| had escorted Nina to her grandmoth-
er's apartment she was free to direct
Hansen to drive her to the Jersey
tube, and to spend a hot, uncomfort-
able hour in stream of homegoing
commuters, on the way to Linda's
house.
She mounted the three cement steps
from the sidewalk level, and the four
shabby and peeling wooden ones that
rose to the porch. On this hot sum-
! mer afternoon the front door was
open, and Harriet stepped into the
odorous gloom of the hall, and let
the screen door bang lightly behind
her.
Immediately, in the open archway
into the parlor, q girl of fifteen ap-
peared, a pretty girl with blue eyes
and brown hair, a shabby but fresh
little shirtwaist belted by a shabby
but clean white skirt, and a napkin
dangling from her hand.
you darling"
Harriet, laughing, went from the
child's wild embrace into the arms OF
Linda herself. a tall, broadly built,
pleasant-faced woman with none of
Harriet's own unusual beauty, but
with a family resemblance to her
younger sister nevertheless.
"Well, you sweet good child!" she
said warmly. "Fred-here's Harriet
Well, my dear, isn't it fortunate that
we were late! We'd hardly COM
mencedI"
The remaining members of the fam
lily now streamed forth: Fred Daven-
port a thin, rather gray man of fifty,
with an intelligent face, a worried
forehead, and kindly eyes; Julia, a
blonde beauty of twelve; Nanny, a
fat, sweet boy of five, with a bib on;
and Pip, serious ten-year-old, with
black hair and faded blue overalls.
Fred was newspaper man, one Of
the submerged many, underpaid, over
worked, unheard, yet vaguely gratified
through all the long years by the feel
ing that his groove was not quite the
groove of the Office, the teller's desk.
or the travelling salesman's beat"
Here in the little suburban town hts
opinions gained some little weight
from the fact that he had been ten
years with New York evening paper.
Mrs. Davenport was interested in ev-
erything her sister had to say; knew
the Carriers, and even some Of their
closest friends, by name, and asked
all sorts of questions about them.
Later In the evening Fred was at
the piano. 1t was a poor piano, and
he was poor player who smoked his
old pipe while he painstakingly
fingered Mendelssohn's "Songs With
out Words" or the score of "Tht
Geisha." But Linda loved him.
"He will putter away there, per.
fectly content, for an hour" she told
Harriet. "And at ten you'll see him
starting to get Josephine. They're
great chums-she thinks there's no
one in the world like Daddyw
Harriet's thoughts had wandered.
"How's David?'
II oil 70 ne
for Sunday dinner" Linda said. "And
he always asks for you" she added,
with some significance. David Daven-
port, Fred's somewhat heavy and plod-
ding brother, a successful Brooklyn
dentist, had never made any secret
of his feeling for the beautiful Har-
riet.
II like David" Harriet said, in an
swer to some faint indication Of re-
proach in her sisters tone. But i'm
mediately afterward she added, in a
lower voice: Ward Carter has had
Royal Blondin at the house this
week J"
Linda's rocker stopped as If by
shock. There was an electric silence.
When she spoke again 1t was with
awe and incredulity and something
like terror In her tone.
Royal Blondin! He's in Englandi"
HE was" Harriet said, dryly. Hes
been in New York for two years now."
Linda shuddered.
II know remember!" she said IN
a whisper. And she added fervently,
"T hODed he was dead 7"