Evening star., 1923-03-03

my faith. I fatter myself that with
out it we shouldn't have come as far
as We have"
But what's the end of it all?
Haven't we got all that we need? The
only thing we haven't got is a yacht.
and you know you get frightfully
seasick.''
But l do want the Wetherbys
place at Newport, dear. The price Is
ridiculous. They're really. giving 1t
away.
"Muzzy. dear. I'm afraid you're
spoiled. We've all of us got into the
| way OF thinking that dad can do won
ders, like, magician taking rabbit
| out of hat. But it can't go on for
! ever.
| Jack Spencer says there may be an
awful slump in everything soon.
We'll. I'm glad were well beyond
being affected by that" said the
pretty lady rounding out the discus,
| sion, confidently. "Bpt l do wish you d
stay this afternoon, Cherry. Mr.. Ly-
| cett is so fond Of you"
| DO you really want me to-
/ muzzy?"
There's a dear. You can be SO
| agreeable when you like to be-
/ "Oh, all right" sighed Cherry. I'll
| get into riding togs and go later. but
and sic Lydia Brampton on to the
ethnologist person. He gives me
pain"
cherry, you're incorrigibl..,"
If one said that the actuating mo-
| tive of David Sangree's visit TO oyster
Bay was curiosity. one would come
! somewhere near the truth AS Georee
| Lycett had said, some water mao run
| under the bridge since he had been
/! home-a statement which applied as
| correctly to David Sangree as IL di9
to most of the people that ne hao
known But while Sangree had been
! sobered by the tragedies that
he had witnessed during the war
| some OF his younger friends II seem
| ed had taken the war as a kiho OF
amusing adventure which they re-
! linquished with regret. his own pal
! in it had been too horriple an a
| ence to be easily forgotten, for ne mao
| lived through three typhus epidemics
and had seen more than his share OF
/ death and starvation. He was sur.
| prised at the signs or lndinerenee
| which greeted him on every s,ue
| Even in England when he reacheo
here. the pendulum had ALREADY
| swung wildly and a frenzy or gayety
| was the order OF the hour among inc
people that he knew. rms was =
| planned away as the oes,iiitus h s;sseinIine .
| holiday, the breaking of the disGlpiane
| ~ war. an interim OF self-lnouisenSe
| which would not last. But 1t hao al,
ready lasted nearly two years anu
4 there was no sign OF d ." ihe h'o
OF the pendulum to normal.
| IN tho United States he found the
same condition Of affairs. II anything
| sIightIy exaggerated. and permeating
! ali classes Of society. The esseht,ai
| materiality OF the army philosophy
had led to a diminution. II not TO
| destruction. of old ideals. to an un :
| concern for the value of human NE
and taste for recklessness anu
| crime. offered in evidence every DAY
in the pages of the newspapers. me
study of aScient civilizations nau
given him historical perspectn.e
which he applied to the present SIT,
mation for his own interest and
amusement Every way the repatriat.. :.
| ed traveller looked he saw signs OF
| decadence which amazed hlm-
George Lycett, who acted 10! the
| present as his mentor and guide (aS
! Iycett expressed it, like Virgil CON
/ Quoting Dante through the netner-
| most depths of the Internal regions }.
1T seemed that David Sangree was
| taking the manners and customs Q.
| the day too seriously. After all. they
| merely reflected a passing phase IN
! the national life. Sturdy optlmist
| that he was. he believed that the IN.
nate good in the great majority Oh
people must ultimately gain the as
| Icendancy.
| But David Sangree wagged his head
4
reading had made him believe that
luxury and vice were the legacy OF
victorious peoples. OF one thing ne
was certain, that his own people
were living too fast-especially the
young people who were burning up
their spiritual potentialities in mad
purs,& Of pleasure. In which their
| elders were not far behind them. AT
every hotel, every cafe. there were
sounds of Jazz music and pople hop
ping or whirling perpetually IN
antics which suggested the prancing
Of the dervish or the sinuous motions
Of the Ooled Nail. the one of which
is fanatic and the other sexual.
! Particular instances Of reckless
ness in members of the younger set
| though he had never been inclined
to listen to gossip. the evidence was
[ too definite to be lightly regarded.
| The habits of Miss Cherry Mohun.
who had seemed to him a very splen-
did sort of a creature. were not
| who did not share the blithe op-
| timism OF her husband. made the
. definite statement that she smoked.
| drank, gambled, kept late hours. re-
fused to submit to the conventions
and was. in short. as careless Of pub
lilo opinion as a chipping sparrow.
| And. without seeking it. David San
gree had stumbled upon evidence that
lat least part OF Mrs. IycettS charges
were true, for one night, returning to
| the Lycetts' from a motor trip to
| Port Jefferson. where he had con-
| suited rather late with q fellow sci
| enlist, he had come upon car In
! trouble upon the road. There was a
/ broken fence and a damaged fender
| together with internal injuries to the
machine too serious for immediate
| diagnosis Sangree had succeeded In
towing the damaged car and its oc-
/ cupants to a garage few miles away,
| where the derelicts, a man and a girl.
declining his further assistance, OBJ
| tanned another car and followed him
! toward town at in the morning.
| The girl of the Joy ride was Cherry
| Mohun, the man, one of the party San
| gree had been at the golf club: but
| as the darkness had made excusabie
her refusal to recognize hin, he made
no attempt to remind her of their ac-
| quaintance. That her companion was
very slightly drunk might have
escaped his notice had not the causes
of the accident provoked a justifiable
| curiosity. Of this chance meeting
Sangree had said nothing to George