The Washington times., 1923-10-18

me. Tell him 80, Phil
tell him I'll fight II he brings an
action against me. I have my
reputation and I won't let him
make me q grass widow"
Burns interrupted apologeticaIIy.
Mr.. Lansing at the telephone.
Would Mr.. Baldwin speak with
him?
Hello. there. PhilipinoF' came
WIlbur's cheerful accents. How
about it? Can you get away IN
half an hour and meet me at the
office? We can chew the rag
bit. and perhaps have some eats
later"
"Sure, I'll be down." Philip
agreed in a toneless voice.
AS he hung up the receiver, he
experinced sharp vertigo. He
leaned heavily against the door of
the dark closet. It broke upon
his tardy consciousness that he
must be prepared to face strug-
gle between the two people who
had long been closest to him.
Condolences.
A flood of light. streaming from
a cone-shaped reflector suspended
from the ceiling. illuminated the
faces Of the two men seated upon
either side of the polished surface
Of the desk.
IT tell you. love her and she
loves me. Phil. I can't see as either
one OF US ia to blame. :
Lucy started to row about it.
I was content to let 1t go along as
It was, but she hred detective
agency to spy on us. We both
had been thinking about Lucy
and her rights up until then.
God knows, I'VE tried to do the
right thing. It started with a
mild kind OF flirtation-an eve-
ning's amusement. You know
how those things are. 1t was
when we were all down at Del
Monte. remember? I kissed
her that night and it kind Of set
me crazy. 1 don't deny 1t. Lucy
seldom kissed me, apd when she
did, her affection left me stone
cold. OF course, that was just
physical, but what could you
expect? I hadn't kissed a woni-
an except my w1fe-well, not
since I was soldering. And then
I tried my level best not to
think about F1ossie Oh. it's
rotten to go back and analyze
the processes of your mind! But
I want you to understand, Phil
everything. I've been waiting
year to put this before you. I
want you to get 1t all right
cat first, I'll tell you frankly,
I couldn't think Of anything ex-
cept that kiss. It stayed with
me; I couldn't get away from it;
I'd wake up in the nights and
think about It.. I asked Lucy to
go away with me, take a trip
some place. would have liked
to have gone away with her for
long while-but couldn't leave
the business to run itself. Lucy
didn't care about just week or
twos vacation. She wanted to
go to some damn reception that
was coming off Little things
. shape a mans destiny
Brutally Treated.
'I saw a lot Of FIossie when
you and Leila were married. and
after you went away. Her hus-
band treats her like the scoundrel
he is. He's a cheap sport and a
booze hound. He'd come home
drunk and . blow his sinking
breath in her face-oh, God. the
mans a swine! He never
gave her a cent of money! Tells
her to charge things. y'undcr-
stand-but there's no allowance.
She's suffered terrible humiIia-
tions: had to borrow from her
friends to pay her bridge debts.
had to pawn her jewelry 10 pay
back her friends; I had to go
down and redeem things or
they'd've been sold, Then,
thank God, he had to go away.
He had to go to the Philippines
and was gone four months :.
1t was while he was away, Philip,
I learned what Flossie mean: to
me. She has everything In the
world in common with me. Phil;
none Of this damn society busi-
ness; she doesn't care a. whoop
whether a persons got money or
not, who their grandfathers were,
or where they came from! :.
Good God, all that stuff Lucy
goes in for makes me sick! {.
Flossie just wants to enjoy life
simply. That's me. I like a
good dinner and. a show. or a ride
to the beach-and I like a good
game OF bridge, and Flossie's a
cracker-jack player Oh well,
that's not to the point. Lucy and
I don't get on. that's all there is
about it. She wanted her way,
her method Of living-and
Couldn't and zuno,,IdnIf fnrcn har