Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-02-07
CHAPTER XXXL
Ignored!

~ RACIA VAN ALsTYNE was, at nine
I teen, as spoiled as any girl can be.
She had what is known among mod
ern fappers as a Zine; in fact, every one
present at the dinner that night had line,
with the exception of Mr.. and Mrs. Van
Alstyne, one other man and Gail.
Gail, from the very beginning was lost In
the gay fippanCy that went on around her.
The fact that she was beautifully dressed
had nothing at all to do with her popu-
larlty, and that she was not destined to be
popular was evident before the guests went
into the dining room.
Gail had thought her evening frock beau
tiful before she had seen those of the other
girls, but these beautiful young things were
not only dressed eXQuisitely, but with a
bizarre quality that was highly conspicuous.
Some of the frocks were cut to- the waist
line in the back and had no shoulders at
all, and it seemed the height of fashion not
to show ones hair. Gracia wore an ornate
arrangement bound tightly around her fore
head. From it were suspended little dang
ling ornaments that clinked together when
ever she shook her head, which was often.
The other girls all wore bandeaux of diff
ferent kinds, and beneath them their faces
seemed hard in spite of the fact that most
of them were lovely to look at.
Mrs. Van Alstyne had received Gail gra-
cously but almost Immediately had handed
her over to the mercies of the younger set.
With GraCia, Gail did not fare so we'll, for
her shyness was apparent, and Gracia men
tally vowed her dub and wondered why
her mother had to invite people like that
anyway. 1t was true that, sartorialIy
speaking, Gail was quite perfect In Dales-
burg she would have been a sensation, but
in New York above all, in Gracia Van AL
styne's set, she lacked daring.
For thing, she did not smoke and
when the cigarettes were passed to her she
did not have the presence of mind to take
one and daily. with it. She did accept a
cocktail, which sent pleasant sensation of
warmth through her, but at dinner she sat
IN silence because half the time she did not
Know what the others were talking about.
she became increasingly conscious of the
TACT that the men who sat on each side of
her were bored to extinction. Once in a
while one or the other of them threw re-
mark at her like a piece of bait thrown to
a fish, At such times Gail tried agonizingly
TO respond, but what these men wanted was
coquetry some new form of daring witcherv
to tempt their jaded appetites, and, because
Gail was too uninitiated to understand the
conversation traiIed off into nothing
1t was sheer agony to sit there in
silence trying to appear interested and as
though she were having a good time From
time to time she overheard scraps of CONVEX
satIon around her. The girl in fesh-colored
gauze who sat on the other side Of Calls
dnher partner was evidently not finding it
very difficult to be amusing
Tommy said it was the most scandaIous
thing he had ever SEEN" Gail heard her saw.
IN voice that was discreetly lowered and
yet had carrying quality. "Of course,
there were plenty of costumes quite as
daring as hers, but none with that wicked
little suggeStlyeness so typical of Justine"
She added something more in a still
lower tone, and Calls partner who had
looked bored and supercilious when she had
tried to talk to him, laughed aloud, while
the girl in fesh-colored gauze gigg1ed
naughtily.
Gail felt her cheeks burn, and in sudden
Tear lest she be caught eavesdropping. she
turned away and let her gaze wander over,
the long table. Quite suddenly her look
was caught and held by a pair of very
amused blue eyes They belonged to a man
VINO sat at the other end of the table, the
only one of the dinner guests Gail had NOT
met.