South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-04-14
OCH A6NhuTCilN6ON

friends.
The meal wasn't precisely a ban
quet We helped ourselves and
stacked up the soiled plates as we
used them No servants. d'you see?
That was pretty clear by now. No
wife. no servants. no wedding ring;
nothing but cd Bright's daughter
and old Bright's daughters baby
and-and-Sabre.
"Once the baby whimpered. and
she got up and went 10 it and stopped
over it the other side Of the sofa
from me. so 1 could see her face. By
cad. if you could have seen her eyes
then, Motherhood. Lucky you
weren't there because If you've any
lea Of ever painting a picture called
otherhood. you'd Ia gone straight
no and cut your throat on the mat
despair
Well. anyway. the banquet got
ore and more awkward to. endure
as il dragged on. and mighty glad /
was when at last the girl got up
without a word-and picked up the
baby and left us. We were no more
chatty for being alone. l can promise
you.
Then all of a sudden he began.
He hshed out some cigarets and
chucked me one and we smoked like
a couple of exhaust valves for about
two minutes and then he said, Hap
good, why on earth should have to
explain all this to you? Why should
~
Il said. a tiny bit sharply was
getting a bit on edge, you know
said, We'll, 1 haven't asked any ques-
tions, have ~
Sabre said, No. know you
haven't asked any. and I'm Internal
" grateful to you. But I know
you're thinking them-hard. And I
know I've got to answer them. And
/ want to. 1 want TO most fright
fully But what beats me is this
Internal feeling that 1 must explain
to you, TO you and TO everybody,
whether 1 want to or not. Why
should L? It's my own house. 1 can
do what l like in it. I'm not. any
way, doing anything wrong. I'm do
ing something more right than I've
ever done in my life, and yet every
body's got the right TO question me
and everybody's got the right TO be
answered and-Hapgood it's the
most bewildering state of affairs
| that can possibly be imagined. I'm
up against a code of social conven-
tions, and by Jove, I'm absolutely
down and out
DO you know what I am, Hap
good 2 and he gave a laugh. as I've
said I'm what they cell a social
outcast. A social outcast. Beyond
the pale Unspeakable. Ostra cized.
/ Black balled. accommodated He
got up and began to stump about
| the room, hands in his pockets, chin
on his collar, wrestling with it-and
wrestling. mind you. just in profound
interested bafflement.
Then he settled down and told
me. And this is what ne told me-"
IL
when he was out in France this
girl I'd seen-tI.is Ellie, as he called
her. Effie Bright-had come TO live
as companion TO his wife 1t appears
he more or less got her the job. Any
way, she came. She came somewhere
about October,e15, and she left early
in March following, just over a year
ago His wife got fed up with her
and got rid Of her-thats what
Sabre says-got fed up with her and
got rid of her. And Sabre was at
/ home at the time. Mark that, old
man. because it's important.
Very we'll. The girl got the sack
and he went back to France. She
got another job somewhere as COM
/ panion again. Well. he got wounded
and discharged from the army, as
you know. and in February he was
| living at home again with his wife
/ fl the conditions 1 described to you
} when I began.
The very week after I'd been
/ down there, his wife. reading a letter
I at breakfast one morning, gave
/ kind OF a snort Gas I can imagine I'D
and chucked the letter over to him
| and said, 'Ha! There's your wonder
full Miss Bright for you! What did I
\ tell you? What do you think of that?
| Hal
Continued I'm Our Next Issue)