Evening star., 1923-03-02

little, for Jack had been at Yale and
Cherry at a fashionable boarding
school up the river. But each new oc-
casion when he met them seemed to
strengthen the belief that IL trine
spoiled. they were very remarkable
children, quite superior, in fact. to
any others of their acquaintance, for,
In ADDITION to personal beauty, which
they took from their mother, they
had inherited a little Of his own def
infteness and much OF his magnetism.
And so Jim Mohun was quite willing
to believe what other people told him
that his wife was the most capable
as well as the most beautiful woman
in New York.
The town house. though not large.
was in a fashionable neighborhood
and decorated with those colors which
comported best with the FURNISHED
gold of Alicia Mohun's hair. Her hair
mad always been rather gorgeous, and
the threads of gray which had appear
ed upon her temples were banished by
means OF secret process known only
to herself and her maid. But she was
, wise enough not to make the mistake
or doing 1T all over" as SO many
women of her set had done, and trust
ed to its natural vitality to preserve
the wave and color. The youthfulness
or her figure and face. which deceived
SO many as to her exact age, was the
result of habits of abstemiousness,
regular massage and the use Of vari-
Gus unguents. the ingredients of
which not even her own daughter
knew. Her face was her religion, and
many were the secret hours spent
upon the ritual of regeneration.
But the real secret of her perpetual
youth lay in the nice adjustment OF
her mental processes, for beginning
with the theory that IL is worries
which age one and not the years. she
permitted no thought to enter her
head which would cause her the least
anxiety or dismay. She did not per-
init herself even the luxury Of pity. All
of her charities and her husband S
being executed, vicariously. by in
dividuals employed for that purpose.
Life was always at the flood, and she
rode gayly on the first wavelet, preen- :
ing herself in the bow Of her splendid
craft.
it is difficult to daunt the aspira-
tions of such a person, and she bad
now attained almost every ambition
of her life. That this attainment had
cost her something in the qualities
which count az spiritual Is not to be
doubted. but what did those deficien-
cies matter to Alicia Mohun, since she
was unaware of them?
And IL there were people who said
that her beauty was little cold. her
lips Il little hard. she knew that she
had only to smile at them to hitch
her critics to her chariot wheel.
In the casual and impersonal way
of the youth OF the period her chill
dren adored her. She flattered them
constantly and let them do exactly
As they chose She had perfect con-
! tidence in then-be cause she was sure
that DaskinG in the constant sum
shine of her own projections. they
could not possibly do anything dis
| creditable In the back of her head.
! OF course there was hope that
| Cherry would make a brilliant match.
Mrs. Mohun had succeeded in every
! thing else. why not in this? And
| indeed her daughter, even before her
debut was already surrounded by a
gay set of wealthy young men. most
Of whom were distinctly eligible.
| from the worldly point of view, which
of course was the only point of view
| that mattered.
| If Cherry had formulated any ideas