The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1924-08-22
JOSSELYN'S WIFE

Then Ellen slipped upstairs, equally
unable to review the events Of the day
or to anticipate those Of tomorrow
with any equanimity. There would b.
q big dance tomorrow night, and a rid
to the Red Lion" for lunch. Ellen die
not ride. Well, she would go with ole
Mr.. Josselyn and Mrs. Rose in the
closed car. Unless she had a wire from
Aunt Elsie saying that Grandpa was
dead-ah, If only she might
Blu Grandpa was far from death
and Saturday had to be endured. II
was all worse than Ellen's fears. Mrs.
Rose was not going OF the ride, after
all she and the aunt and the Josselyns
were going to play bridge. Lucia I'M
bent from her Indifference long enough
to urge Ellen to try to ride. But Ellen.
although she was eager to dare 1t, did
not like to risk the danger of making
herself absurd on a horse.
There was another choice, but that,
too. Ellen did not see until long after
ward. She might simply have pleaded
indisposition, have begged to be left
quietly at home, and so have watched
the bridge, which interested her. and
have had another pleasant %tea-hour.
But instead she let Lucia separate
herself from her friends to drive the
funny girl from Long Island in a small
roadster. The roads were heavy, but
Ellen knew nothing of cars, and did not
know that really difficult driving was
angering the already exasperated Lu-
ella. Fol- perhaps fifteen minutes out
of the long two hours the girls talked
naturally.
They reached the RED Lion" an
hour after the others, and Immediately
had a large and noisy lunch in a sort
of club lunchroom, with stays antlers
and bearskins, a roaring open fire. and
exposed rafters of dark wood to give
q rustic effect. After lunch skis were
brought out, and Ellen was dragged
several cold miles on a sort of combi-
nation walk. scramble. slide, and skate.
The boy called Red" drove her silent
ly home; he had had a good many
cocktails before and after the walk.
and drove recklessly.
They got home none too early to
dress for the dance, an experience that
Ellen never forgot. The young guests
In the house had been Indifferent to
her yesterday; today they actively dis
liked her, and she afforded them deli
cious material for laughter. No one
asked her to dance; she might have
been an invisible witness to the gayety,
as she heartily wished herself, for any
s.A.<fN tI.N ffA-Al - NJ |
girls, perfumed, powdered, laughing,
pushed by her without a glance, and
the boys, gathering eagerly about them,
saw her as little. At twenty minutes
one Ellen found herself watching
the bridge game. Mrs. Rose was play
ing with Mr.. Josselyn, and it was evil
lent that the luck was running against
them.
There's no bidding hands like
/ declare l never saw anything
like 1t !"
81 suppose we can't start another
said we would stop at one" young
Mrs. Josselyn smiled. Ellen saw Mrs.
give her a look as the
hands tumlled the cards idly,
tllu liz II nan liCot1 ahd QuA(h
Y added the various scores.
I'm going upstairs. now" Ellen put in
II ana sort of a headache
think I'd really betterl And Mrs.
Rose. will you tell me about trains to-
norrow-I think / had better-Aunt
elsie expects me-"
She had nerved herself for opposi-
ion. but Mrs. Rose made none.
I'm sorry you can't stay" she said.
stay and have a little more
God time. Auntie will forgive you'll
come down and have some
upper nowr" {
But Ellen murmured of her head {
che again. She slipped upstairs. And. /
nee In the safety of her own room, she {
egan to undress automatically. with
carlet cheeks aud a heaving breast.
hey had been rude to her, they had '
cen rude TO heri She had only want
d to be lnnocently happy, she had v
My asked that they be reasonably @
ind, and they had turned her world
pside down, and SCARED the old hap b
y confidence foreverl S
In Mrs. Roses room. beyond the y
lthroom, a fire was burning, and v
len went in to II, and sat down. Hud- {
ed In her wrapper. she was dream f
9 over the Goals, when the door was q
open. and she turned with a Il
iile, expecting to see her hostess. c
But il was young Mrs. Josselyn who "
me In, wrapped in a splendid orient d
robe, and with her thick, soft brown II
ir hanging in a loose coil between S
r shoulders. h
II saw the door Open" said she,
into the chair opposite Ellen. "
m tired to death. but ! don't feel W
e going to bedi' q
She stretched her slippered feet to NJ
= blaze, locked her hands behind her q
ad. and yawned, as u-nselfconsciolH al
a cat. Ellen studied the lovely
lite arms. the smooth low forehead "
IN which the hair was swept. the l.
opped bronze eyelashes. She dared