The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1924-02-27

DAA- AS ASvS MA SOAl ~
sively and utterly? Clear thinking
fed with the last of his doubts?
(. And when a man de.
taches himself from the gross ma.
terial surface of life and wings to
the realm Of the Imagination, where
he glimpses Immortality, what mat.
ter the penalty? Any penalty? Few
had the thrice blessed opportunity.
Il he were one of the chosen, fhe
very demi-gods, jeering at mortals.
would hate him.
And then abruptly he fell asleep.
4, XXX
He went direct from the office
that evening to Mrs. Oglethorpe's
house in Gramercy Park. During
the morning he had received the
following note from her. and he
had puzzled over It at intervals
ever since:
Dear Lee:
"Will you dine alone with an>pli
woman tonight-a rather bewilder.
ed and upset old woman? l sup.
pose to the young nothing is too
new and strange for readjustment,
but l. have hardly known where I
am these last few days. You are
the only friend care to talk to
on the subject, for you always un.
derstand. I am probably Older
than your mother and look old
enough to be your grandmother,
but you are the only person living
with whom ever feel inclined to
lay aside all reserve. Old men are
fossils and young men regard me
as an ancient wreck preserved by
family traditions. AS for women l
hate them and always did. Do
come and dine with a lonely puz-
zled old woman unless you have
an engagement impossible to
break. Don't bother to Dress"
"Your affectionate old friend.
F7''"'t: Jane Oglethorpe."
whats up?" Clavering had
thought as he finished it. MARY
or Janet?"
It was an extraordinary letter to
receive from Mrs. Oglethorpe. the
most fearsome old woman in New
York. To Clavering she had al.
ways shown the softer side of her
nature and he knew her perhaps
better. or at all events more init.
mately, than any Of her old friends,
for she had not treated him as
negligible Junior even when he ar.
rived in New York at the tender
age Of twenty-five. His ingenuous
precocity mad amused her and she
had discovered a keen interest In
the newspaper world Of whose e1
Istence she had hardly been aware:
no interviewer had ever dared ap
proach her: and as he grew older
developing rapidly more and more
unlike her sons and her sonsk
. they had fallen into an
easy fpallist intimacy. were franB
to rudeness, quarrelled furiously.
but fed each others wisdom and
were deeply attached. During the
war she had knitted, him enough
socks and sweaters to supply halt
his regiment: and when he had left
the hospital after a serious attack
Of Influenza it had been for the
house in Gramercy Park. where he
could have remained indefinitely
had he wished.
But in all the years Of their H.
timacy never before had she
broken" given a hint that she fell
the long. generation between them.
He found her more interesting in
talk than any girl. except when he
was briefly in love, and her alb
sence Of vanity. her contempt for
sentiment in any OF It's forms, filled
him with blessed sense of securi.
ty as he spent hours stretched out
on the sofa In her upstairs sitting
room, smoking and discussing the
universe. She was not an intellec.
tual woman, but she was sharp and
shrewd. monument Of common
sense and worldly wisdom. II
would be as easy to hoodwink her
as the disembodied Minerva, and
it was doubtful II any one made
even q tentative attempt. Claver.
ing wondered which Of those timex
secret personalities was to be Re.
vealed tonight.
As he stood In the drawing room
waiting for her to come down he
for the first time in many
years the ,full-length picture Of her
painted shortly before her mar,
riage to James Oglethorpe. She
was even taller than Mary Zattiany
and in the portrait her waist was
round and disconcertingly small to
the modern therapeutic eye. But
the whole effect Of the figure was
superb, and dashing. the poise OF
the head was almost defiant. and
the hands were long. slender. and
very white against the crimson sat
In Of her gown.
! Ito Be Continuedl