Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1923-08-16

/
J the effects Of this; or as hp had said,
perhaps she was only tired He would
! make her take a rest: he'd shut the
! Office. close /; down. he thought ex-
! travagantly, If he couldn't get her
| away by other means.
| As II was. he paid Miss Conifee as
much rs he could get her to accept.
| She had positively refused a further
raise. He wished, vainly, that Nanine
| and Miss Cnnifee might he closer to
| each other as close as possible . .
! but on Nanne's account. This desire
suddenly recalled to him the startling
fact that Miss ConIfee, except, once
when he had been Ill., to take dicta-
ton. had never been in his house. The
Confess mother and daughter. had
rooms in the congested city, but his
house was in suburb, where 1t was
restful. quiet and green.
His customary train of late after
noon carried him for forty minutes
through the city to its outskirts and
the development of which his home
a deep wicker chair, absorbed in a
magazine of the moving picture world.
She was nineteen, had large, appeal
ing eyes. a spectacular pile of natu-
rally blonde hair, and she had taken
third prize in a beauty contest con
Quoted by Just such magazine as
she was reading.
The photograph of her upon which
this triumph had been based, greatly
enlarged, hung prominently on the
wall in the living room. In 1t her firm
shoulders were draped in a precari-
ously informal seeming piece Of silk.
her hair was dressed to It's utmost eff
fectivenesS; and the celebrated, the ap-
peallng. eyes regarded the world with
an innocent and tender surprise. Her
mouth the photographer had softened
In shadow
She nodded to her father, and in
Stantly returned TO the page before
her. Eldreda, he knew, was cross be-
cause he wouldn't send her to CalIfor-
MIA in order TO complete the success
so auSpicionsly begun. Sending her
He went on into the house, and up
to Nanine's and his room. His wife
was reclining on a couch. Since she
had grown so fat she found ii nee
eSsary to rest great deal. That fat
ness had come upon her so Overwhelm-
ingly that any vestlge Of struggle had
been doomed from the first She had
simply expanded until she resembled
an Inflated caricature of EIdreda.
"There You are" she said languldly.
eyes, here I am" he agreed; az
thought, maybe Nanine. the evening
was so fine we'd all take little ride
after supper"
at blows my hair" she answered.
without interest, land that back seat
Is too short. To say nothing Of Ell
dreda's complexion"
Nov look here" he cried, "I've
heard enough about that back seat
and Eldreda's complexion and your.
hair. There's a nice little limousine
fixed up and the owner can't pay for.
Well, | can get it right and I'm going
to buy 1t for you girls How's that.
hey?"
at might he good and then #
mightn't," she told him; at depends
If IT roars inside. If 1t does 1t will
hurt my head"
I'D hate to think over the times nv
heads been hurt through roaring" he
retorted, with display of spirit, land
there is another thing got to speak
Of-thats Eldrcda. I'm not going to
give her three thousand dollars to 90
to California with, and she might as
well stop posing and posturlng. l
amt a camera, | amt director, and
It'll get her nowhere"
Sooner or later" Nanine asserted.
what do you mean?" he demanded
heatedly.
Genius will be justified" she
added emphatically.
Suddenly he felt absolutely helpless
nothing he could say would move. af-
feet, his wife, nothing touch his daugh-
ter. 1t might be wiser to give Eldreda
the money at once, to speed her into
the West, to the acclaim and fortune
so surely-in her estimation and her
understanding for her.
Now If | was West / could get
about more" Nanine asserted. The
weather there they say, Is elegant"
This was new phase of the western
project and he was startled at the pos
sibiities it opened. Did she mean that
she would go out with Eldreda, he
asked. Nanine did. He could spend
the winters with them.
WHO would run the business. pay
for so much?" This question, very
silently, he answered for himself, Miss
Conifee. She could, very nearly, al
most, do just that But not quite; it
was the combination Of Miss Conifee
and himself that was so potent
The memory of the WEAKNESS he
had discerned in his secretary came
back to trouble him. She had grown
visibly older in the past year. The
day had stayed warm into evening,
and they, Nanine and Eldreda and he.
were seated on the porch. There was
an illusory glimmer OF moonlight, at
intervals there was faint star in the
locust trees along the sidewalk, and
the ingratiating subdued ripple Of
piano. At irregular intervals Eldreda
sighed explosively, agonized with the
tragedy Of everything; and though she
was yelled from Lewis Beitleman by
the dark, he knew exactly to which
emotions she was giving form and
body.
Perhaps, with his slight assistance,
she might mount in dazzling arc to
ck a rio In, 81 l..