Evening star., 1925-08-23

was d iollIlclI dllcl IoOilb IIlliu'
uguorous, and full of subtle color
al also of battling promises. But Mr..
* Hollins was only aware that the
tie was the twenty-first of May and
; locality the finest residential To-
ity in the West End of London.
lie was a stout man Of sixty. with a
TX neck, short white hair, and Il
oan-shaven red face, dressed in a
ovinCial style. His figure was such
1t though the edSy-chatr WAS catR-
us he seemed to be protruding out
it or hanging over the front of it.
IS eyes had a wary and dour eX-
assion. as though saying to the
'Wspaper that the newspaper might
.pl half million people, but not him.
''r had had a brother, Herbert Hol-
rs, with a reputation for hearty ty-
nnical ruthlessness and wtllpow-
that rode down all obstacles. Her
i."rt fell i'll of pneumonia and said to
} - doctor, I've got a directors meet
at Birmingham tomorrow, and I'm
DING to it." Il forbid you to go out, ="
ID the doctor. I'm going to that
Getting" said Herbert. Very well,
,en," said the doctor. "As you please,
mt If you go out you'll die" Herbert
III go to the meeting and he did die.
Iir. Jack Hollis used to recount this
rory as creditahle to his brothers
.simSelf-their wives had both failed
o survive the ordeal of living with
inem-left Mr.. Jack Hollis half a
million pounds. Jack was very rich
ven before that. AT first he had made
little money by hard work; then he
ad made a great deal by fiuky in
rNestment in a company that owned
heap restaurants.
But he had very serious and vexa-
I1F hn lyn
money he knew not how to spend. He
privately recognized the defect, admit
ing that he was a bungler in expendi-
ture. He had bought the house in
Carlos Place by a whim. 1t was very
cheap. He noticed that business was
gradually invading the region, and he
thought that the place could be turned
into a private hotel or a block of
offices, at much profit. Having bought
it, he had to furnish it. The cost of
things generally startled him, but he
would pretend not to be startled.
When the furnishing firm had fur
nished two floors he stopped them. not
because the expense frightened him,
hut because he could not see the sense
Of furnishing floors which he could
never use.
He had a dim idea that Carlos Place
demanded a butler, and he engaged
how to treat buffers he did not get
value out of his fine specimen. He
bought the finest cigars obtainable,
and smoked them. but improperly.
He bought the finest wines possible.
but he could not tell a burgundy from
q claret He bought a magnificent
motor car, but the car was all the
same somewhat of a Frankenstein's
monster to him.
The ma agnificent motor car, with its
chauffeur, was below him, waiting at
the curb. 1t had been waiting for
two hours. He argued thus: IT'S
my car. 1 pay the chauffeur. I
might want to go for a ride and I
might not. Why shouldn't the fell
low waltz"
He gazed critically at the car.
Then he read an account Of the new
clinic which Mr.. Shelton Shelton had
built and endowed and presented TO
West Ham. He knew that Mr.. Shell
ton Shelton was the owner of the
newspaper and a very rich man.
y small and insignificant car,
driven by a young man of military
and ariStocratic department, drove
up. An elegantly dressed young
woman jumped out; the aristocrat
chatted an instant with her, saluted
her, and drove off again.
Who's your man, my lass?" Mr..
Hollins gruffly greeted the girl when
she entered the drawing room.
Capt. Coggleshall," said she, in a
tranquil, low voice, with no trace of
self-cOnsciousness
what brand Of a Captain?"
In the First Lifeguards."
who is he anyway"
Hes the eldest son of Sir Maurice
Coggleshall, Baronet, ninth Baronet,
l believe, or perhaps it's only eighth"
Then Samuels, the butler, con-
venientiy brought in tea, of which
Minnie partook, but not her father.
MINNIE HOLLINS opened the
A'A lofty window, and, with the
earnest eye Of an art student esti-
mated the values" of the surround
ing architecture, foliage. pavements
subjects" therein. She also re-
sponded sensitively to the delicate,
calm beauty Of the afternoon. There
was something in the softness Of the
clouds and in the faces of passers-by
that touched her. She was tall, we'll
made girl. with a figure whose ex-
Cellences none would dispute, and a
type Of countenance which most
women would call beautiful and most
tient and benevolent.
Mr.. Jack Hollins continued to read
the paper, just as though he had
been alone. Mrs. HcIlins had been
dead six years. He had then been
faced with the problem Of looking
after a girl, aged II. without letting
her be a nuisance. Having complete
confidence i'll her because she was his
daughter, he had solved the problem
,I,l irl trin ~
in big house in Carlos Place must
he well dressed. He went further and
said that she might be very we'll
dressed. He was as proud of her
appearance as he was of the appear
ance of his car. But he paid all the
bills. She had no allowance, and not
too much poCket-money, considering
her exalted position. Similarly, though
she attended to certain branches of
the housekeeping, Mr.. Hollins was the
sole authoritative housekeeper, paying
all bills and giving nearly all orders.
Mr. Hollins' sagacity told him that
a girl must do something to keep out
of mischief. He saw no harm in her
learning to paint. and so she was per-
mitted to go TO the Slade School. He
saw no harm, either, in her creating a
studio from an attic. At the Slade
she made friends, and the girls she
would now and then ask TO tea, out
in the back room on the ground floor.
and without her father. There was
absolutely no other entertaining. With
the same friends she would go to in
frequent concerts and plays, and semi
public or club dances. Secure in the
conviction that she was no fool, Mr..
Hollins let her be--on the clear. hard
understanding that she let him be.
They went to church together about
once a fortnight; and perhaps once a
year he would take her with him on
a voyage. He seldom questioned her.
He never kissed her.