The Washington times., 1923-01-14

le1l met Olu IHhIi, - tHS1S ~
strong love interest in this story,
as they say in the publishers
catalogues :"
The. bait was irresistible. There
had been several sirens, it trans
PRED, and one of them creature
of surprising beauty, wit and
fascination Never mind her
name" said Legs mysteriously, Il
always called her Gree"
ITO rhyme with Percy" MUIR
INJURED his offspring. "Do go on,
pater, / like this much better than
the storm off North Africa"
So Hugh Legs told him all about
the exquisitely appointed villa on
the Mediterranean where he and
the lady whom he called Gree had
dalIied, forgetful of time and
/. duty; told him of the blue sky
and the wine-dark sea, and the.
oranges and myrtle.
ssYes, yes, cut all the Nature
patter' from Teddy
Told him of the Gordon bleu
who had prepared their Arcadian
meals; told him, above all, how
Gree had adored him, waited on.
him, thought him peerless amongst
men. hung enraptured at his travel
stories, sung to him when he was
tired, and now lay like broken
chalice eil1ptied Of all joy because
he had said goodbye to her.
And, mind you, boasted Teddy's
father, s.it wasn't that | was the
only one. She simply wouldn't
look st 4 Chicago millionaire who
was q keen Is mustard and there
I was d Scotch Lord and three RUS
sian Grand Dukes,
Teddy kindly informed him that
Russian Grand Dukes were out 81
date. There's something quaint
and o1d-WOrld about EN-, 81 course,
but you can't swanI EN- any
more. Anyway, what / want 70
know is, why ever YOU lett this
better ole 0f yours
The wanderer became inn
pressive, with hollow note iii his
voice. No man can escape re-.
morse, my son. We sowxOur wild
oats, we lie lOtus-eatihg upon
sunny shores and then, quite sud.
denly, We know that Il must end.
DUTY, parenthOod Teddy wriR.
gled uneasily. Every niRht in
my dreailfs had vision Of
Penelope waiting, Penelope weep
ing; my patient, gOlden-haired
little wife, not daring 70 believe
me alive, yet unwilling 20 believe
me, dead, growing paler md older
and thinner with suspense, wiring
ing her hands through the long,
lonely nights realized that +
was i selfish, callous brute. NV
conscience gave me no rest. +
came home. am here, ready To-
shoulder my responsibilities. When
your call comes, Teddy, may
you throw of temptation a.
resOIutely
: Yes, yes, yes, vel" said
Teddy, springing erect from the
table, and stretching himself with
4 lcng-pent-up yawn. well, you
see, dear old dad, | am happy to
make an announcement which will
satisfy your conscience and at the
same time set you free to 70 back
to your little harmless romance IN
the shores of the wine-dark, etc.
The matters going to be married
tomorrow"
Hugh Legs staggered.
"Get me a drinkp he gasped.
Teddy mixed him one from the
tantalus on the sideboard, and
+b0,1n1,%f nl1vy vxxa% obnl L. u -
Joy too much for your" he
queried. shes marrying rather a
big pot, as it happens-Sir Gordon
MacDougall, of the Foreign Office.
/ don't mind telling you that I
biffed on the match for all | was
worth. The Foreign Office is my
mark, you see, when I have tootled
through Oxford; and my step
father-to-be has enormous infiu-
ence. He could wangle me almost
any job / wanted. He likes me.
too. You see, pater, with all due
respect you couldn't do much for
my future, could you? mean
you're a bit of a dug-out nowadays.
especially after you've been knock
ing around all this time. Now. as
long as you are sensible and trim
off at once, so that the mater
should go on believing you dead
1t really was damned inconsiderate
of you to come back tonight of
all nights!" concluded Teddy. in a
sudden burst of wrath.
His father made feeble at
tempt at authority, and suggested
that Teddy ought to be in bed and
not concerning himself with the
complicated affairs of grown-ups
Teddy remained patient under this
extreme provocation. ''What Won
don't appear to grasp is that the
law permits woman to marry
again if during seven. years she
has received no news of her hns-
band, and genuinely believes him
dead. Mater is so conscientious
she would never do anything that
wasn't legal. If she once heard
you jawing and breaking the
furniture, and came down and
recognized you, nothing would
make her marry old Macdonald
tomorrow" Teddy paused Inn
pressively. "ro-morrow the seven
years are upr'
Perhaps" agreed Levs stol;dlv