davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington times., 1924-01-04

attitude-that we were merely two
vital beings, who saw In each other
a prospect Of superior sort Of
sensual delight --s
''That Is not true,'' she inter-
rupted him fiercely. "But you
seemed to me to be in that phase
when a man can think OF nothing
else. II I hadn't hoped-and BE-.
lieved--in youtNgainst all knew
Of men, I'd never have gone on
with it."
I'm sure that is true. I must
have disappointed you horribly.
You had felt the bond from the
beginning, and can imagine what
you must have dreamed I alone
could give you. The trouble was
that didn't realize that alone was
in fault, at the time. That boiling
pot in my brain was making too
much noise. But / can assure
you that I have returned to
normal, and IL I thought ] couldn't
satisfy you I'd let you go without
a word. But you know that can,
don't you?"
She nodded.
What is It, / wonder?'' He
sighed. II wish knew. But
- L.
must understand that in spite Of
the esratic creature you have
known since you refused to marry
me at once and left me with no
resource but to let that play boil
out, I am man. first and a writer
incidentally. I also have a strong
er ambition to be your husband
than to write plays. II don't
strangle what talent / have it is
because must have the money to
be Independent Of newspaper work.
Otherwise I should have neither
peace of mind nor be able to live
abroad with you. 1 know that you
cannot be happy here. and am
not a victim of that ancient myth
that two people who love each
other can be happy anywhere. En-
Vironment is half the battle-for
the super-civilized. at all events.
But you shall never have another
dose of the writer. I'll write my
plays in New York and rush pro-
duction. The greater part Of the
year shall spend with you in
Europe. and / cannot think of any.
thing I'd like more-why, the very
night I first saw you / was long.
ing with all my soul to get out of
New York and over to the other
side of the world. Why, Mary.
You are not crying? You! never
believed you could
"I-I-did not believe it either
But, are you sure? Could
you reconcile yourself? You seem
The Washington times., 1924-01-04
Take Nuxated Iron.

without strong nerves you lose
your magnetism, force and courage.
You feel your own weakness and
others know that you are weak.
Trifling things annoy you-this is
q sure sign Of nerve exhaustion.
Some people are born with q very
small amount of nervo-vital fluid,
because their nerve force has been
squandered by the lives led by their
ancestors. Others use up their nerve
force faster than the body can
make 1t.
When your nerve force becomes weak
lose their normal strength and vigor
and as result, all kinds OF alarming
symptoms may appear. From the pains
across the back, one person thinks he
has kidney trouble: another may think
his spine Is injured because of this ten
dull heavy pain in the lower part of
head leads another to think he Is going
to have paresis and, from the disagree
able fullness or pressure in the front of
die from high blood pressure. sleep
lessness and nervous irrita bility. heart
palpttation and indigestion are very
common symptoms. Naturally your
strength, vigor. endurance and brain
power are all greatly weakened. and in
such a condition you are in no position
TO compete with the strong. keen red
blooded man with nerves of steel When
you lack nerve force, there is only one
thing that is going TO help you--snd
nerve force exhaustion in which your
nerves and brain cells are starving for
want of a sufficient supply OF nerve
force or nervo-vital fluid. It 10 worse
The Washington times., 1924-01-04
Why People With Weak
Nerves and Thin Blood
So Often Fail in Life and Are TrampIed Down Bv
Strong, Keen, Red-Blooded Men With
Nerves of Steel

than foolish to waste your time taxi
ing mere stimulating medicines or mar
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must nave nerve food or something TO
supply more nerve force the same as a
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build flesh and tissue. For centuries
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prouSht to the attention of the Paris
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nerve cells of man. This rernarka BILE
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day after meals Nuxated Iron a lao
contains organic iron like the IRON in
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lentils and apples Organic IRON en-
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blood means more nerve force, SO tnat
Nuxated Iron not only directly supplies
the important chemical constituent OF
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the blood to manufacture a greatly in
creased supply of new nerve force,
Over four million people are using
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or they will refund your money. Beware
of substitutes Look for the word
'Nuxated" on every package. Nuxatsd
Iron for the blood and nerves is aoId
by Peoples Drug Stores
The Washington times., 1924-01-04

SO much part Of New York, Of this
strange high-pitched civilization.
If you are not sure-if you are
only tired Of New York for the
moment. Yes. will!
I'll give it all up and live here.
OF course love New York Itself
was it not my Mary Ogden home?
And there are delightful people
everywhere No doubt my
dream Of doing great things in
Europe was mere vanity"
''Do you believe that?'
Perhaps not But, after all, what
1 tried to do might be SO easily
frustrated in that cauldron--why
should I risk personal happiness
the most precious and the rarest
thing in life, for what may be
chimera-wasted years and a
wasted life. Why are we made as
we are. il to coax that hidden spark
into steady flame is not our high
est destiny? 1t certainly is our man.
ifest right Dreams of do
ing great things in this world are
nine-tenths personal vanity. / be-
lieve that when we leave this
planet we go to a higher star,
where our incompleteness here will
be made complete; and perhaps
we are spared a term of probation
If we make ourselves as completes,
here as mortal conditions will per-
init. And possibly, once in a great
while, two human beings are per-
mitted to effect that completeness
together"
They were both in an exalted
mood. The wood was very still, its
The Washington times., 1924-01-04
CHAPTER XIX.

The hour between seven and
eight was a lively one in the
upper corridor. There was only
one bathroom on the second
floor. Scores and Miss Gold took
their morning plunge in the
lake. but the rest preferred the
less drastic shower. and there
was a continual darting to and
fro of forms clad in bathrobe or
kimono: the vanquished peeping
through door cracks waiting for
the bathroom door to open
signal for another wild rush
down the hall, scuffle at the
door, a triumphant slam and hoot,
and loud vituperations from the
defeated. Mary cannily waited
until the last, and came down,
clad in a white sweater and
heavy white tweed skirt, after the
others had cleared the generous
platter Of ham and eggs, and the
mountain of corn bread was a
hillock of crumbs.
"Oh. Nary said Mr.. Dinwiddie.
reprovingly, "and you as prompt
as royalty. In camp
"I've no thought of going with
out my breakfast" said Mary un-
repentantly. Ring the bell, Din"
The men had risen, but Claver-
ing alone had determination in
his eye. He pulled out a chair be-
side his own, and Mary accepted
ii gracefully, waving a morning
greeting to the others.
How good Of you to keep this
chair for me. Mr.. Clavering," she
murmured. Tt is shocking of me
to be so lazy"
I'm sick of this game" grawled
Clavering. If you act today"
"Shh! / am sure you are goinS
to take me out on the lake today
The Washington times., 1924-01-04

beauty Incompatible. Ana they
might already have been on an-
other star.
Across that divine balsann-scsnt-
ed stiffness came the deep irnper-
ative notes of a bell.
CIavering twitched his should
ers in1patiently.
Let them go on their screaming
picnic" he said. I'VE stay here
Did you mean that, Mary?"
"Yes, meant 1t. We win not
go to Europe at all-except to
visit my Dolomites some day.
When you are writing I'll come
up here"
Il don't know that / shall ask
that sacrifice Of you. A part Of
your brain is asleep now, but IL lie
a very active and insistent part
when awake. In time you might
revert-and resentment is a fatal
canker; but let's leave it open. II
is generally a mistake to settle
things off-hand. Let them alone
and they settle themselves"
VERY well. At all events, whiE
we are here, shall not give &
another thought. The present
least is perfect"
Eyes, 1t is perfectw He put botl
arms about her. The past was
blank to both. Their pulsing lip.
met in the wonder and the ecstaE
of the first kiss Of youth, of Pre-
found and perfect and imperishabl,
love. They chung together exalte
and exulting and for the momen
1T least they were one.
(TO Be Continued TOmOgrOw.l
tCopyrisht 1923. by Gertrude Athertor
The Washington times., 1924-01-04

I vote we make Rolly carry sack
of potatoes"
Its agreed, then?" asked Mr..
Dinwiddie, yelling his hope that it
was not. But the assent was gen.
eral. They were all as excited
over the prospect Of a picnic as If
they were slum children about to
enjoy their first charitable outing,
and it was settled that they wers
to start at 10 o'clock. Mrs Minor
and Miss Gold went into the kitch-
en- to help Mrs. Larsing make sand
wiches and salads, and the others
ran down to the lake.
The Washington times., 1924-01-04

Oarsing carrying the parapher-
naliO in pine grove on the sum-
NUT of hill, and then walked
back again, clamoring for sup
per. Mary had been monopo-
lized by Scores and Bolton, oc-
casionally vouchsafing Clavering
a glance. During the evening
they were all too pleasantly tired
and replete to dance or to play
the charades they had planned,
but lay about comfortably, listen
ing to concert Of alternate arias
and jazz: Clavering did not have
a word alone with Mary. She
sat on one of the divans between
Cora and Todd, while Scores lay
on the floor at her feet, his head
on cushion, one foot waving
over lifted knee, the perfect
picture of the contented play
wright. They kept up a con-
tinuous murmur, punctuated with
gales of laughter. Clavering had
sullkily taken q chair. beside
Babette Gold, whose metallic
humor sometimes amused him,
but she went sound asleep before
his eyes. and he could only gaze
into the fire and console himself
with visions of a week hence,
when these cursed people had
gone and he was the most for
tunate man on earth.
His room was downstairs next
to Mr.. Dinwiddie's. and he made
up his mind to let himself out
softly at midnight, throw pebbles
at her window and whisper to her
as she leaned from her easement.
1t was a scene that IL introduced
into a modern play would have
driven him from the theater and
tipped his pen with vitriol next
morning, but 1t appealed to him,
somehow, as a fitting episode
in his own high romance. But he
was asleep before his head touch
ed the pillow, and did not lift an
eyelash until the first bell reused
him at o'clock. Then, however,
he lay for some time thinking,
soDerly.
The Washington times., 1924-01-04
Forced Gaiety

His amiability was immediately
restored, but his gayety was some.
what forced. You are looking
charming this morning, Miss Og-
den. wished last night that there
was a guitar or even a banjo in
the camp, that I might serenade be-
meath your window"
And Mary actually bIushed.
She had slept dreamlessly,
and between the light mountain
air and her new role. she felt
as hght-hearted as Eva Darling.
who was holding Mr.. Dinwiddis's
hand openly.
Oh, Excellence! cried Mrs. Mi.
nor from the other end of the tabla.
What do you say to having a pic
mic lunch? Didn't you tell me that
you knew Of a lovely gorge about
six miles from here? Steak broil-
ed between forked sticks! Potatoes
roasted in the ashes! Flapjacks.
Heavenly"
Anything you say" replied Mr..
Dinwiddie rather tonelessly. want
to put it to the vote?"
Let me answer for the crowd"
commanded Todd. TT is our duty
when in the woods to eat QUE
meals after DIS much unnecessary
toll and to enjoy as much discom.
fort as is humanity possible. 9th.
erwise we might as well stay in
town. Well hilariously tramp six
miles with packs, sit on the damn
ground, extract earwigs. eat burn,
steak and half cooked potatoes.
and then tramp back again, our
spirits gradually rising at the
prospect of a decent meal eaten in
comfort -"
"Kill.joy!' cried Minor Don;
we come to the woods to tramp?
l want to lose twenty pounds this
trip. and il you don't you ought 70
The Washington times., 1924-01-04

woman I loved, not merely the
woman / desired. And I believe
that ! love you ever more than !
desire you. You are all that, but
so much--so much-more."
She had fixed her startled eyes
on him, but he did not turn his
head.
There has always been a lot Of
talk about the soul. Sentimental
lists wallow in the word and realisrs
deride it. What it really is do not
pretend to know. Probably as good
a word as any-and certainly
very mellifluous word-for some
obscure chemical combination of
finer essence than the obvious
material part of us, that Graves
foretaste of immortality while VIC
are still mortal. Perhaps we are
descended from the gods after ;tll,
and unless we listen when they
whisper in this unexplorable part
of our being, we find only miser-
able substitute for happiness, and
love turns to hate. Whatever it is
that golden essence demands, I
have found it in you, and If circum-
stances had been different I should
have known it long ago. know
now what you meant that night
when you told me you had spent
many distracted years looking for
what no man could give you, and
although I doubted at that time /
could even guess what your own
mysterious essence demanded,
know now--still vaguely, for 1t is
something as far beyond the de-
filming power Of words as the faith
of the Christian. 1t can never be
seen, nor heard, nor expressed, but
it is there. And only once in i
lifetime does any one mortal have
it to give to another. A man may
love many times, but he is a god.
man only once"
He held her more closely, for. she
was trembling, but he continued
to walk on, guiding her automatic
ally through the trees, for his eyes
were almost vacant, as If their Wis
ion had been reversed.
Il have had some hours of utter
despair, in suite Of the double ex-
element of these past weeks, for
it has seemed to me that I was no
nearer to you than / had been in
the beginning. There was a sense
of unreality about the whole af-
fair. At first 1t seemed to me the
most romantic thing that could
happen to any naa. and it was in
credible that had been chosen the
hero of such an extraordinary ro-
mance-intensified, If anything. BY
the fact that it was set in roaring
New York. where you have to talk
at the top of your voice to hear
yourself think. But that passed
in a measure. / was beset by the
fear-at times, mean; I was no.
always in a state to look inward
that you were slipping away. No.
that I doubted for a moment you
would marry me, but that your in.
nermost inscrutable self had with
drawn, and that you accepted what
must have appeared to be my own
The Washington times., 1924-01-04
CHAPTER l..

ClaVer1ng had tied the boat 10 a
tree in little inlet far down the
lake, and they were walking
through a wood of spruce trees and
balsam. There was no leafy cur
tain here, although they could see
one swaying on either side through
open vistas between the rigid col
umns of the spruce. A trail was
hardly necessary, for there was no
underground, and although the
trees were set close together they
were easily circumnavigated.
1t was some time since they had
spoken. His face was graver than
she had ever seen it, and she waic-
ed for him to speak. She almost
could feel those unuttered words
beating on the silence Of the woods.
There was nothing else to break
that silence but the faint, constant
murmur in the tree tops, and once,
beyond that leafy curtain, the
sudden trilling of solitary bird.
Again. the tremendousness Of this
high isolation swept over hsr.
The camp and its gay party might
have been on some far distant lake.
No Pretense
He put his arm around her firm,
ly. II am not going to pretend
any further" he said. ut is too
big for that. And you have never
been anything but Mary Ogden to
me, except, perhaps. on that night
/ have practically dismissed from
my mind. I called you Mary Og-
den to myself until Il learned your
new name, and / don't think that
name has ever come into my
thoughts of you. And although
you slipped on another skin with it
you were always Mary Ogden un-
derneath. You needed a new name
for the new role. but, like any
actress on the stage. it had nothing
to do with your indestructible per
sonality. / say this because
want you to understand that al.
though | cannot play up to yo1r
little comedy any longer and go
through the forms of wooing you
as II you were girl shouldn+
like you half assweIl IL you were
| do not think Of you or wish you
to think of yourself as anything
but Mary Ogden"
He paused a moment, and she
slipped her arm about him and
they walked on through the wood.
II cannot go on with it because
these days up here that we can
spend almost altogether alone, if
we will, are too sacred to waste on
an amusing but futile game. Do
you realize that we do not know
each other very we'll? I sometimes
From the time fell in love with
you until you promised to marry
me, was at one sort Of fever
pitch, and when I got to work on
that play I was at another. No
writer while exercising an abnoc-
NAL faculty is quite sane. His
brain is several pitches above nor
NAL and his nerves are like hot
taut wires-that hum like the devil
If this we're not the case he would
not be an imaginative writer ST
all. But he certainly is in no con-
dition to reveal himself to a WON.
an. have made wild and spor.
adic love to you-sporadic is the
word, for between my work and
your friends, we have had little
time together-and I don't think
1 have ever taken you in my arms
with the feeling that you were the
The Washington times., 1924-01-04
By Gertrude AthertOn.
Author of Many Notable Novels,
and One Of the Most Widely
Read Writers Of the Day.
CHAPTER XLvIH.

CHAPTER XLVIu.
Clavery, when making up his
hist with Mr.. Dinwiddie Nby
courtesy, had, with the excep-
ton Of Todd, who was always
the life Of any party, Cora,
whom he always like to have at
hand, and Eva Darling, who was
q favorite Of ''The Ambassador
TO the Court Of the Sophisti-
Gates" as Todd had long since
dubbed him, chosen his guests
at random. taking whom he could
get, careful merely to ask those
who, 80 far as he knew, were
on speaking terms.
But he hardly could have gath
cred together a more congenial
and lively party. nor one more
delighted to leave New York for
the woods. Henry Minor, editor
Of one of the intellectual and
family radical magazines, whose
style was so involved in his
efforts to be both different" and
achieve an unremitting glitter,
that he had recently received a
petition to issue a glossary, was
as aniable as a puppy in the
society Of his friends and when
In the woods talked in words Of
one syllable and discovered q
mighty appetite. His wife, who
had demonstrated her originality
by calling herself Mrs. Minor,
was what is known as splitting
cook and top-notch dresser. She
had, in fact, the most charming
assortment Of sports clothes in
the camp. Eva Darling, who
danced for pastime and illustrated
for what little bread she was per-
nnitted to eat at home, was as
lively as a grasshopper and scarce
" less devastating. Babette Gold
wore her black hair in smooth
bands on either side of the per-
feet oval of her face. and had
/ the sad and yearning gaze of the
nnforgiven Magdalen. andphshe had
written two novels dealing with
the domesticities Of the lower
middle class, treating with
clinical wealth of detail the irrita-
Die monotonies of the nuptial
couch and the artless intimacies
Of the nursery. She smoked in
cessantly, could walk ten mile
The Washington times., 1924-01-04
BLACK OXEN:-:By Gertrude Atherton

at stretch and was as passion
less as a clam. Gerald Scores,
who wore a short pointed beard
and looked the complete artist,
was one of the chief hopes Of the
intellectual drama cunningly COM
mercialized, and as capable as
Clavering Of shutting up his
genius in a water-tight conpart-
ment and enjoying himself in the
woods. He was mildly flirta.
: tious, but looked upon emotional
intensity in the personal life Of
the artist as a criminal waste of
force. Halifax Bolton, who
claimed to be the discoverer of
the Younger Generation Gn fic-
tion) and was just twenty-eight
himself, was a critic of formidable
severity and the author of at
least five clacques. The intense
concentration of writing routed
his sense Of humor, but he had
as many droll stories in his rep
ertoire as Todd. His wife. the
famous alberta JONES'" fierce
Lucy stones, was the editor, at a
phenomenal salary, Of one of the
"Woman's Magazines" and wrote
short stories Of impeccable style
and indifferent content for the
Century and the Dial.
They were all intimate friends
and argued necessarily and ami
ably. And they were all devoted
to Mr.. Dinwidie, whom they ad-
dressed as Excellence, without
accent.
Very Attractive
When Mary and Clavering ar
rived at the camp in response to
the dinner bell, Eva Darling, who
wore very pretty pink silk bloom
ers under her sport skirt, was
turning handsprings down tho
living room, while the rest Of
the party applauded vociferously.
and Mrs. Larsing, who was enter
ing with the fried chicken, nearly
dropped the platter.
Just in time, Nine. Zattiany,"
cried Minor This is the sixth
round and she is panting-"
But she interrupted him.
Mary from this time on. L
insist. You make me feel an out
slider. l won't be addressed in
that formal manner nor answer
to that foreign name again"
Mary, Mary! Mary" shouted
the party with one accord, and
Clavering drew long breath.
He had wondered how she would
manage to feel Mary Ogden under
the constant bombardment of a
name that was a title in more
ways than one. But he might
have trusted her to manage it!
In the afternoon Mrs. Minor
suggested having tea in the
woods. and they all walked
single file-five miles to drink
their tea and eat their cakes
The Washington times., 1924-01-04
Dependable Laxative for Sick Baby Child Harmless!

Hurry Mother! Even a bilious
constipated. feverish child loves the
pleasant taste of California Fig
Syrup" and it never fails to open
the bowels. A teaspoonful today
may prevent sick child tomorrow.
The Washington times., 1924-01-04
Novel Tells How
Beauty Returned
to Old Woman

This serial Is presented by ar.
fangement with Associated First
National Pictures, Inc, in whose
film version COrinne Griffith will
appear as Countess Zattiany.
The Washington times., 1924-01-04

Ask your druggist for genuine
California Fig Syrup" which has
directions for babies and children
of all ages printed on bottle. Moth
er! You must say California" or
you may get an imitation fig
syrup.
The Washington times., 1924-01-04
.IF HEADACHY,
SICK, BILIOUS
Harmless Laxative for Men,
Women and Children

teel rine: No gripping or incon.
venience follows a gentle liver and
bowel cleansing with "Cascarets"
Sick Headache. Biliousness, Gases.
Indigestion, and all such distress
gone by morning For Men, Wom.
en- and Children-1Oc boxes, also
S5 and SOC sizes, any drug store.