The Washington times., 1923-11-24

hsr mothers brains. she's equal
% anything"
81 thought that your Mary was
composite perfection"
''Never said anything Of the
sort. Didn't I tell you she always
kept US guessing? sometimes
used to think that IL It hadn't
been for her breeding and the
standards that involves, and her
wealth and position, she'd have
made q first-class adventures.
She was a good liar?"
"She was insolently truthful,
but I'm certain she wouldn't have
hesitated at q whopping lie If 1t
would have served her purpose.
She was certainly rusee."
"well, the dinner should be
highly interesting with all these
undercurrents. I'll cali for you at
q quarter past eight. ! must run
now and do my column.
Brutal.
Clavering, often satirical ana
ironic, was positively brutal that
afternoon. The latest play, book,
moving picture, the inefficiency
Of the New York police. his afflict-
ing correspondents. were hacked to
the bone. When he had finished.
his jangiing nerves were unac-
countably soothed. Other nerves
would shrek next morning. Let
'em. He'd been honest enough,
and II he chose to use a battle-ax
instead of Toledo steel that was
his privilege.
He called down for a messenger
boy and strolled to the window to :
soothe his nerves still further.
Dusk had fallen. Every window
Of the high stone buildings sur
rounding Madison Square was an
oblong Of light. It was q SYM
phony Of gray and gold, OF which
he never tired. It invested bust
ness with romance and beauty.
The men behind those radiant
panels, thinking OF nothing less,
made their brief contribution to
the beauty Of the world, trans
ported the rapt spectator to
realm of pure loneliness. ;.
A light fall OF snow lay on the
grass and benches, the statues and
trees Of the square. Motors were
flashing and honking below and
over on Fifth avenue. The roar
OF the great city came up to him
Hike q flood over q broken dam.
Black masses were pouring toward
the subways. Lifel New York
was the epitome OF life. He en-
jOyed forcing his way through
those moving masses, but it inter- !
ested him even more to feel above,
aloof, as he did this evening.
Those tides swept on as uncon-
scious Of the watchers 50 high
above them as OF the soaring
beauty Of the Metropolitan tower.
Ground hogs, most Of them. but
part Of the ever changing. ever
fascinating, metropolitan pageant.
The arcade OF Madison Square
Garden was already packed with
men and he knew that q triple line
reached down Twenty-sixth street
20 Fourth avenue. There was to
be prize fight tonight and the
men had stood there since noon,
buying apples and peanuts from
peddlers. This was Tuesday and
there was no hah-holiday. These
men appeared to have unbounded
leisure while the rest Of the city
toiled or demanded work. But
they were always warmly dressed
and indubitably well-fed. They
belonged to what IL vaguely
known as the sporting fraternity.
Ind were invariably in funds,
they must have existed.
with the minimum Of work. The
army Of unemployed was hardly
larger and certainly no bread line
was ever half as long. Mounted
police rode up and down to avert
any anticipation Of the nights
battle. A loud barking murmur
rose and mingled with the roar of
the avenues.
The Warning Bell.
The great clock of the Metro
politan tower began to play those
sad and sweetly ominous notes
preliminary to booming out the
hour. They always reminded him
Of the warming bell on a wild and
rocky coast, with something Of the
Lorelei In its cadences, like a
heartIess woman's subtle allure.
poignantly difficult to resist.
There was a knock on the door.
Clavering gave his daily stint to
the messenger boy. He was hunt
ing for change, when he recap
tured his column, sat down at his
desk, and, running 1t over
hastily, inserted the word "au-
thentic." New York must have
its Word, even as its topic.
Authentic" Ioosed upon the
world by Arnold Bennett,
was the rage at present. The
little writers hardly dared use 1t.