Evening star., 1925-07-26
"Oh" began Kay firmly. 1.-Two
Lie dndoad n11tdnnrS i1iS in Tina


X
A ND that, as Kay's mother would
a have remarked, was the way they
always ended up. They couldn't be
together five minutes without quarrel
ing. For which Kay's mother was not
sorry. Ted was, she granted, attrac-
tive enough. But he was absolutely
irresponsible and irrepressible.
He'll never stick to anything" she
| was wont to remark.
And the Heights agreed with her.
They had seen Ted start off for col
lege, matriculating, as had his father.
at Amherst. But he had not stuck it
out.
"I'd make a dub lawyer and II l
studied medicine-well, Heaven save
my patients" he had explained. 80
what's the use of your Shaving to put
me through?"
Ted's father had wondered himself,
sometimes.
Just what do you intend to do?'
he had evaded.
Ted had hesitated. Then: well
there seems to be money in furniture
moving"
Furniture moving! This is no time
for joking, Ted. Try to be serious for
once in your life"
"I am" Ted had replied.
And a furniture mover he became.
The modern sorsElong distance truck
ing and all that He drove a truck
for a man named Riley; had secured
the job, indeed, even before he told
his father he wanted to leave college
Its because it's outdoors and he's
crazy about engines" his mother had
walled explanatorily. TITS just a
crazy notion. He'll get over IT.
Tn1oad Ted haUa haCOOn6 an
outcast, had he not refused the nomi-
nation. A truck driver he might be,
but that did not prevent him from
looking very well in a tux. And he
danced on his own feet, not his part
ner's, was always in funds and had a
way with him. The mothers of Elton
Heights might not approve OF him,
but their daughters were wiser In
their day and generation. With them
man was a man for a that
And Ted might yet have been
snatched from the burning and re-
formed had he not, in his own phrase,
been fast on his feet. He never stuck
to one girl-he fitted.
"a second-string Romeo, filing in
until the regular shows up that S
me-" was his explanation.
Which added, inevitably, to his repu-
tation of never sticking to anything
long. True, he had stuck to his truck
for all of four years now, but that,
as Kay's mother would have argued,
was the sort of thing he would stick
to.
And she thanked her stars that
| there had never been a grain OF senti-
ment between him and Kay in all
the years they had known each other.
There was no reason. she assured her
self-passionately, almost-why Kay
so much prettier than she herself
had ever been-should not marry
anybody. Meaning. Of course, some
body-somebody with social position
and money, who could give her gowns
and trips to Europe and cars and
servants. All that she herself had
somehow missed, and which, like so
many mothers, she craved vicariously
and inordinately-for her daughter.
And tlKn in April-fowertng of all
her drea ns-Colgate Derr Bromley
had appeared. AS far as Kay's intro
duction of him to her family went,
his coming was casual enough. But
there was nothing casual about her
mothers reaction. Even before Col
gate Derr Bromley had had opportun-
| ity to speak for himself, his car,
glirnpsed from an upper window, had
! spoken for him.
The car was long, low, racy road
ster which suggested power and price
in every line and every accessory. II
looked. in Elton Heights, like a bird
of paradise among sparrows.
Yet the Heights was given to under
stand that all this magnificence was
something that its owner deprecated.
The roadster, 1t seemed, was endeared
to him by long association and ex-
cellent service, so that, though he real
ly ought to trade it In, he preferred 1t
to his other cars.
There were apparently an indefinite
number Of these. But Colgate Derr
Bromley never appeared in them.
Which led Ted to remark that he was
from Missouri.
isn't that where the mules come
fron?" Kay had suggested sweetly.
MO one else paid even that much
attention to Ted's jibes. Elton
Heights is very human; it appraised
Bromley's car and rated it's owner &C.
cordingly. The fact that it bore New
York license plates gave it a final
| flip of distinction.
Everybody in Elton Heights placed
Colgate Derr Bromley as New York
er. BY his sartorial splendor, his ag
~
tism. New Workers are that way
| the successful ones. So they agreed
And there was no questioning Col
gate Derr Bromley's success.
| Five thousand dollars wasn't to him
what it was to the Heights-more thar
any member of the community had
made or ever would make in a year
It was a sum to be rolled off the
tongue casually. contemptuously, al
most.
| This talk about young Wood and
his near million makes me SICK" he
assured the Eltons. "Why, 1 know
chaps that have cleared up that much
in a month. If you've got a bit of
chicken feed-s5 900, for instance-you
! want to play with, I can give you a
tip on something good right now!
This was addressed to Kay's father
who inadvertently swallowed a spoon
/