The Washington herald., 1922-09-28
The Beautiful
And Damned
co~ssnssS from Ysstsrdoy.


this was for many reasons-he
needed a rest from her and she
from him. She would be bored be-
yond measure in town, and she
would be able to see Anthony for
only q few hours each day. But in
his heart he feared that II was be-
cause he was attracted to Dorothy
AS q matter of fact he fved in ter
ror that Gloria should learn bs
some chance or intention of the re-
lation he had formed. BY the end
Of fortnight the ENHANCEMENT
began to give him moments of mis-
cry at his own faithlessness. New
sstheless. as each day ended he was
unable to withstand the lure that
would draw him irresistibly out of
his tent and over to the telephone
at the Y. NJ. c. A.
Dot"
'Yes?"
I may be able to get in tonight"
I'm so glad"
DO you want to listen to my
splendid eloauence for a few starry
hours?"
''Oh, you funny" For an instant
he had a memory Of five years be-
fore-of Geraldine. Then
"Tll arrive about s."
At Z he would be in a jitney
bound for the city. where hundreds
OF little Southern girls were wait
fnc ra~AnIiN nnrohaa for fhAfr
lovers. He would be excited al
ready for her warm retarded kisses,
for the amazed quietude of the
Slances she gave him-glances
nearer to WORSHIP D than any he had
ever inspired. Gloria and he had
been equals. giving without thought
OF thanks or obligation. To this
girl his very caresses were an in
estimable boon. Crying quietly she
had confessed to HIM that he was
not the first man in her life; there
had been one other-he gathered
that the affair had no sooner COM
menced than 1t had been over.
Indeed so far as she was con-
cerned. she spoke the truth. She
had forgotten the clerk, the naval
officer. the clothier's son, forgotten
her vividness of emotion, which is
true forgetting. She knew that in
some opaque and shadowy existence
some one had taken her-it was as
ahouGh it had occurred m sleep.
Almost every night Anthony
rame to town. 1t was too cool now
for the porch. so her mother sur
rendered to them the tiny sitting
room. with its dozens of cheaply
framed chromos. its yard upon yard
OF decorative fringe. and its thick
atmosphere of several decades In
the proximity Of the kitchen. They
would build a fre-then, happily
fneXhaustibly, she would go about
the business of love. Each evening
at 10 she would walk with him to
the door. her black hair in disarray
her face pale without cosmetics
paler still under the VIII; teness OF
the moon As a rule it would be
bright and silver outside; now and
then there was a slow warm rain
too indolent. almost. to reach the
ground.
Say you love me-" she would
whisper.
Why. Of course. you sweet baby"
Am 1 baby?" This almost
wistfulIy.
Just a little baby"
She knew vaguely of Gloria. II
gave her pain to think Of IL. so
she imagined her to be naughty
and proud and cold. She had de-
o'dcd that Gloria must be older
than Anthony and that there was
no love between husband and wife.
Sometimes she let herself dream
that after the war Anthony would
get a divorce and they would be
married-but she never mentioned
thls 10 Anthony. she scarcely knew
why. She shared his company's
idea tnat he was a sort of a bank
cIerk-she thought that he was re-
spectacle and poor. She would
say:
IF 1 had some money. darln.. I'd
give evy bit of 1t to you. I'd like
TO have about $4,000"
suppose that'd be plenty
agreed Anthony.
In her letter that day Gloria had
written: Il suppose IL We could
settle for a million it would be bet
ter to tell Mr.. Haight to go ahead
and settle. But it'd seem a pitv."
We could have an auto
mobile" exclaimed Dot. in a final
burst of triumph.
An Impressive Occasion.
Capt. Dunning prided himself on
being great reader of character.
NAN an hour after meeting a man
ne was accustomed to place him in
one OF a number of astonishing
categories-hne man, good man,
smart fellow, theorizer, poet and
worthless" One day early in Feb
ruary he caused Anthony to be
summoned to his presence in the
orderly tent.
Patch" he said sententiously
I've. had my eye on you for sew
eral weeks"
Anthony stood erect and motion
less.
And I think you've got the MAX
ings OF q good soldier"
He waited for the warm pIov
which this would naturally arouse.
to cool-and then continued:
This Is no child's pIay," he said
narrowing his brows.
Anthony agreed with a melan-
choly NO. sir"
h same-dHd we need
Ieaders Then the climax. SWIFT.
sure and electric: Patch, I'm
going TO make YOU a corporal"
At this point Anthony should
nave staggered slightly backward.
overwhelmed He was to be one of
the 250.o00 selected for that con-
summate trust. He was going to
be able to shout the technical
phrase, Follow me"' to seven
other frightened mon